Meet the Rock Dojo Student of the Month | February 2020

 

At the Rock Dojo, we love celebrating our students’ hard work in the practice room, leadership skills in the classroom, and their musical progress on the guitar. That’s why we choose one student each month who rocked the hardest!

 

 

Meet the Student Who Rocked Hardest this Month | Zoe 

 

Zoe was inspired to learn to play the guitar by her father, a lifelong guitarist. After asking her dad about guitar lessons, he bought her an amp, an electric guitar, and registered Zoe—who’s in third grade—for the Rock Dojo after-school group guitar class at Laurelhurst Elementary School. Since then, this 8-year-old has been making extraordinary strides on the guitar.

“The first day here, I learned a lot,” Zoe said. “I learned to read guitar tab, so I can play any song now.” 

While Zoe has progressed admirably on the guitar in just a few short months, it’s her leadership in the classroom that sets her apart from the other students. Since learning to read guitar tab, Zoe has been helping her classmates to learn to play new guitar riffs, prepare for in-class performances, and tap their foot as they play.

“You have to really practice,” Zoe said. “Keep on going.” 

 

Zoe’s Take on Musical Literacy

 

At the Rock Dojo, we strive to teach all of our students how to be musically literate on the guitar. On that account, we focus heavily on teaching kids how to read guitar tab, chord diagrams, neck diagrams, and chord charts. That way, students can be empowered to learn on their own. 

For Zoe, musical literacy opened the door to a vast world of musical possibilities. “You can play any song you want if you can just read the guitar tab,” Zoe says, “You gotta know the chords, and then you could do anything with it.”

One Great Reason Why Other Kids Should Learn to Play the Guitar

 

While the guitar takes a lifetime of discipline and dedication to master, it can also be fun and rewarding right from the very first note. That why we teach kids easy and accessible songs like “Smoke on the Water” and “Happy Birthday”  as they become musically literate. When asked about the class, Zoe says, “You learn everything!”

So why should other kids learn how to play the guitar?

“The guitar is an amazing instrument,” Zoe said. “You can play rock, jazz, anything. It’s amazing!”