Summer Guitar Workshop for kids in San Ramon, Matagalpa, Nicaragua, Part 2

In the midst of the second day of classes here in San Ramon. So far things are going well. There were a few snags in the plan (for example, more than 12 students showed up that hadn't registered properly), but for the most part our class is well on its way.

Here are photos of the "Centro Promocional Cristiano por la Paz y por la Vida," where the class is located:

The street it is on (note that most of the unnamed streets here are cobblestoned in the traditional hexagonal shaped bricks called "calzada," very common here in Nicaragua, in fact there are entire highways paved this way):

The Centro has arranged to have four classes which each meet twice a week, and since there are four guitars here already (all in working order, just had to change a few strings), we can have up to 12 students per class.

This means I will have approximately 48 students while I am here. I suspect some students will drop out and others will attend. Already I have had students with some experience playing chords and some melodies (the ones who have guitars at home and a parent to teach them), but the majority of the kids are complete beginners.

So far I have students from ages 7 through 18 and they are attentive and respectful to me as their "profesor" (or "profe" as they say it).

Here are some photos of the first class session:

More info and more images to come! ...

Summer Guitar Workshop for kids in San Ramon, Matagalpa, Nicaragua, Part 1

After having done a very enjoyable workshop for kids in Suchitoto, El Salvador, July 2010, I'm excited to be back in Central America and working with a new group of beginner students.

In July 2011, I went on a tour of projects sponsored by ProNica, a Quaker-based non-profit organization which provides support for several community health, child welfare, peace promotion and education projects all around Nicaragua. It was on this tour that we visited a wonderful community service institution which agreed to host the July 2012 guitar workshop.

The institution that will host the workshop is in San Ramon (near Matagalpa) and they are called "El Centro Promocional Cristiano por la Paz y por la Vida," also known by their earlier, simpler title "Casa de los Ninos." The Casa de los Ninos was originally founded in the 1980's by a group of women as an organization dedicated to improving the health and nutrition of children in the area (in response to high rates of illness and malnutrition). Over the years they have added arts education and women's health promotion to the many free services they offer to the community.

How this July 2012 guitar workshop came about:

I have been to Nicaragua numerous times, spending several weeks here each summer since 2008. I have a special love for the people and the culture here, especially since folkloric music, and more specifically, the nylon-string acoustic guitar is such a large part of the Nicaraguan musical heritage. Nicaragua has a deep and rich history of folk music which makes it a true gem for lovers of folkloric culture, like myself.

During my travels here, I was constantly on the lookout for an established institution that would be favorable for a workshop for children. My intention was to donate guitars and spend some time training new students how to play the guitar. Ideally, I would also get to work with local musician-teachers in order to promote on-going guitar classes to continue throughout the year.

From my experience in El Salvador, I had found that there are several factors that are important when finding an organization to partner with in such an endeavor:

1) The organization should be an established community institution dedicated to promoting education and/or training in the arts for children.

2) The organization must be able to store the instruments that are donated. Especially important is a history of proven reliability with property that has been donated or purchased. Specifically, for guitars, the organization needs a place to keep them under lock-and-key and away from environmental factors like heat, rain, moisture, rust and/or mold.

3) Ideally the organization should have an office that efficiently communicates to parents of potential students about class times and student enrollment. It is also useful if said organization can help deal with any students who are having problems with attendance, discipline and/or focus.

(For example, in El Salvador I unfortunately had to un-enroll one 8-year-old student who was constantly disrupting the class, and seemed to prefer to run around outside than to learn guitar. The administrative staff helped contact the parents and in a very gentle manner kindly asked the parents to have the student re-enroll later, perhaps when he was a little older and better able to maintain focus on the class activities).

4) The directors of the organization should be are enthusiastic about adding guitar training to the services they provide the community. If the administration is excited about the opportunity to expand its musical education services, it helps makes the whole project run smoothly and it makes everything more fun for teacher and student alike.

5) The organization offers it's education services to any families who are interested free of charge. I believe it is important to empower children regardless of family affiliations or income. As you know, a student's economic background has little to no correlation to his/her aptitude for learning an instrument.

The Casa de los Ninos had all of these qualities as well as the highest personal recommendations from ProNica staff (Lillian Hall, director and Carmen Gonzalez, delegation coordinator).

So during our visit to the Casa de los Ninos I met with Rosario Gonzalez, the current director, and she was very interested in the opportunity to have guitar classes for the children of the community. She was also very supportive in having as a volunteer to organize and run this workshop scheduled for July 2012. Over the intervening months, I gathered guitars and prepared for the workshop, which I will start on Monday, July 9.

Obtaining the guitars for the workshop:

A crucial ingredient in running a workshop (and starting a regular guitar class) is providing the instruments for students to learn on.

In this case (as in the Suchitoto, El Salvador workshop), I simply purchased the guitars myself from a wholesaler in Houston, Texas for approximately $27 per guitar (most were purchased from JSL Imports). These guitars are built in China. (In the future, I hope to further investigate where and how they are constructed, but suffice it to say, they are decent instruments for students to learn on.) These particular instruments have good intonation and come with sturdy cardboard boxes that can serve as storage cases providing a good deal of protection from the elements.

Two years ago, I had the guitars shipped to El Salvador in boxes (there were 21 guitars in that instance) as freight. Unfortunately this wasn't the best method as it was (a) fairly expensive to transport, and (b) the Salvadoran customs administrators refused to treat them as a donation and, according to their policies, charged a hefty customs charge before releasing the instruments to the art center in Suchitoto. (Which the art center fortunately paid... see the blog entries regarding the 2010 workshop:

This year I instead found "delegates" (students traveling to Nicaragua for educational tours) who were willing to carry the instruments one at a time. Each delegate transported one guitar each as a second baggage item for only $40 airline fee. Upon arrival there was no questions asked nor were there any charges levied for the instruments. I was put in contact with these delegates by direct recommendation from ProNica staff. In this case a group of Trinity University (San Antonio) students led by Dr. Meredith McGuire brought down five guitars in this manner. I then brought two more instruments with me as additional baggage. Lastly, today, I purchased one more here in Managua at a local music store (after canvassing all the local guitar dealers for the best deal in 2011).

So for this workshop I am bringing eight new guitars (five full-size and three half-size). The director of the Casa de los Ninos says she already has three instruments that we can use for the classes though I have not seen the condition of these instruments.

I am sure there are better and more inexpensive ways of obtaining instruments (like perhaps purchasing them wholesale locally). For future workshops I will attempt to optimize this process.

Preparing for the workshop:

Thankfully the Suchitoto workshop has prepared me for teaching kids guitar in Spanish and optimizing repertoire that they can master in 2 or 3 weeks. In future posts I will discuss the repertoire and procedures I use to teach these kids. The plan is to have 16 to 20 students per day for 4 days a week, followed by a recital (open to the parents and community) at the conclusion of the workshop. I have asked for students to be selected by interest and aptitude in the age range of 8 to 15 years old.

I intend on teaching notes in the solfege system used throughout Latin America ("Do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-SI-do"). I make use of the ingrained practice of copying into their personal notebooks whatever the teacher writes on the board. In this case I have them write the locations of notes (with note names, strings and fret numbers) and the "text" version of the songs we are learning.

Example: "Estrellita" (Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star)
do do sol sol la la sol
fa fa mi mi re re do ... etc.

I will teach them several famous melodies, and depending on the time and pace of the class, we may even get to music notation and/or chords.

In future blogs, I will report the on the progress of the class, and I will post photos of the kids with their guitars.

Thanks to everybody who has supported me on this effort and I am excited to be working with this new batch of students!

Duo Concert at HCC West Loop wth Grisha! (Apr 21, 2012)

I'm VERY pleased to announce a fun, upcoming concert
where I have the honor of performing with Flamenco Virtuoso,

Grisha Goryachev

(click here for his website)




7pm, Saturday, April 21, 2012 at

Houston Community College, West Loop Campus

Everyone is invited! But you must call for tickets IN ADVANCE.

Here is the flyer:





Click below for other performances in April 2012,

INCLUDING Latin Carnaval performing music of Argentina at

the Houston International Festival 2012...
Click for Edward's Performance Page

Texas State Legislature and Governor want to "Save Money" and Cut Education

Here is an open letter to all of the Senators and Representatives of the Texas State Legislature who are considering a new budget for 2011-2012 that would cut funding of education STATEWIDE. In large school districts, like Houston ISD where I teach guitar and Multimedia, this would mean a drop in 15 to 20 per cent of funding, likely resulting in reduction of staff, faculty and other important programs.

From: Edward Grigassy
Instructor,
Bellaire High School,
Bellaire, Texas (Houston I.S.D.)

Dear State Senator or Representative,

It has come to my attention that the current Texas State Legislature is debating a new budget that would severly cut funding to education and school districts throughout the state of Texas. As an instructor at Bellaire High School, in the Houston Independent School District, this would impact hundreds of staff, faculty colleagues, students and parents that I personally work with, either directly or indirectly, on a daily basis.

According to Houston ISD's News reports:

“The first draft of a Texas budget for the next two years would slash public school funding by more than $9 billion. This represents the worst budget crisis for Texas since World War II, and comes at a time when Texas schools are being asked to educate an additional 84,000 students each year. For the Houston Independent School District, such a deep cut would mean the loss of $202 million to $348 million in yearly funding, or a 15-20 percent budget cut.”

HISD also predicts “that fine arts programs, sports teams and anything else that is not related to teaching core subjects such as reading, math, science and social studies would be on the chopping block as principals decide how to spend their limited funds.”

Other estimates by HISD have mentioned having to fire one-third or more of all teachers in the district. Can you imagine how overloaded the public school system of a major city like Houston would be with only two-thirds or less of current teachers and even more students to teach than in previous years? (Student numbers are expected to rise next year as they have for many consecutive years past).

In a recent State of the State address our governor, Rick Perry, who recently ran on a campaign of the “supposed” stability of our state's economy – as compared to the rest of the country – vowed “we must protect” and “preserve the Rainy Day Fund,” which has between $9 - 10 billion available for state expenditures. (Speech given Feb. 8, 2011).

As an instructor in Fine Arts and as a constituent of the area of Texas that you represent, I, therefore URGE you to RECONSIDER such severe budget cuts to education throughout the state. In addition, if no additional new funding is available for the proposed 2011-2012 budget, I URGE you to ASK FOR FUNDS from the Rainy Day Fund. I am certain only a fraction of the fund would be necessary to maintain a budget that saves thousands of jobs and helps to ensure a stable, appropriate education for the millions of children enrolled in Texas public schools.

As an example of the kind of quality programs that are in jeopardy due to these proposed budget cuts, I offer to you one example of an event we are sponsoring at Bellaire High School where I am a Guitar instructor (at our school, guitar class is a state-mandated Fine Arts elective that nearly 300 students enroll in each year). We are hosting the 2011 First Annual Houston ISD Guitar Festival which brings together guitar students and teachers from guitar programs at 8 area elementary schools, 6 area middle schools, as well as our high school program. We will be serving almost 300 students at this festival, inspiring them through guest artist performances, teaching through expert-led rehearsals and workshops, and giving each student the rewarding feeling of accomplishment through their performance on the main stage for an audience of proud parents, friends and supporters. Enclosed you will find an invitation to this festival.

Without funding from the state, many of the participating guitar programs are in jeopardy. Students at every age love learning to play music, and in this case, the guitar.

Fine Arts education has been proven conclusively to raise test scores in other areas, increase student motivation and involvement in their studies and to provide an increased sense of community and positive identity with their peers and instructors, thus enriching their overall academic experience. I can't tell you how many students I have taught over the years that have said how much they appreciated guitar class, some even mentioned they would have dropped out of high school if not for their favorite class, guitar. If the Fine Arts get cut in the school districts throughout the state, reason dictates that test scores will plummet, drop-out rates will increase, and overall academic excellence will decline.

Please don't place more value on dollars than on actual people, siding with money and vested interests over students who want to learn and achieve great things here in Texas, the state of their residency. By investing in students you are investing in the future of Texas, and in my opinion, the education of our young people is something you cannot afford to sabotage without serious consequences for our collective society.

Thus in summation, I ask that you listen to the arguments presented to you by thousands of teachers, parents, school district leaders and community members throughout Texas, and re-consider designing our state's budget with basic allowances for education. It is an crucial time in the history of our state, and this decision is an important opportunity for you to be a HERO to millions of educators and students who need your help right now for this basic human need: the right to a quality education. Please don't be a villian and snatch away the very classes that are your son's, daughter's or grandchildren's favorite interest and their deepest passion!

Thank you for taking the time to read and consider my arguments, I hope you will think about the many educators, administrators and students who will be affected by your upcoming decisions.

Sincerely yours,

Mr. Edward Grigassy
B.A. Music (UT Austin 1996), M.M. Guitar (NE Conservatory 1998)
Instructor, Bellaire High School
5100 Maple St.
Bellaire, Texas 77401

TEXAS RESIDENTS: Please help!! Call or send a similar letter to your representatives and to the Texas governor, feel free to use any or none of my text above.

Who represents you? Texas residents click here.

And now the good news that the 2010-2011 Texas and HISD budget made possible:

---

The Houston Independent School District
Elementary and Secondary Curriculum,
Instruction, and Assessment
Fine Arts Departments

Invite you to the
2011 FIRST ANNUAL HOUSTON ISD
GUITAR FESTIVAL
February 26, 2011
11:00 am – 5:30 pm
Bellaire High School Auditorium
5100 Maple Street
Bellaire, Texas 77401
Corner of South Rice and Maple Street
(Two Blocks North of South Rice Street and Beechnut Street)

Agenda:
Check-in / Registration: 11:00 am – 12:00 pm noon
Opening presentation: 12:00 pm – 12:30 pm (Open to the public)
Workshops (classrooms): 12:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Snacks / Break: 3:30 pm – 4:00 pm
Final Concert: 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm (Open to the public)

Hosts and Co-directors
Mr. Edward Grigassy, Ms. Amy McIntyre, Mr. Mark Moore
Presented by the Guitar Program at Bellaire High School
In Collaboration with the Houston Independent School District

Dear Parent(s) or Guardian(s),
Congratulations! Your student has been selected to participate in this year's First Annual Houston I.S.D. Guitar Festival, a gathering of guitar students in guitar programs from Elementary, Middle and High Schools from around the district.

The festival is on February 26 at Bellaire High School. We invite parents/guardians to bring their students to registration and attend our opening presentation from 12noon to 12:30pm. Students will then participate in workshops and fun music activities from 12:30am until 3:30pm. During the workshop section of the festival, guitar teachers (and qualified chaperones) will monitor students.
At 4:00pm, family members, students, fellow teachers, and guests return for the "Festival Concert Finale" featuring all of the HISD guitar program student participants. In order to motivate your student, attendance of family and supporters at the finale concert is highly encouraged. The concert is free and open to the public!

Thanks, and we look forward to seeing you at the festival!

Concert and Diplomas for Taller de Guitarras

On Sunday July 18, 2010 at 4pm in the Plaza Central of Suchitoto, El Salvador we had the final concert of the workshop.












On Monday July 19, 2010 we returned to the Centro de Arte for diplomas, the watching of the video (from the concert), and to write down the notes and chords for La Bamba (for the students to continue practicing at home). Most of the students who participated in the workshop will be able to check out a guitar from the Centro, or rather their parents will be able to check out a guitar for them to use. (Note the lovely indigo tapestry behind us, a handicraft of a local artisan named Irma Guadron. Indigo is harvested locally by hand and cured into a deep blue dye for clothing and artwork).










After that I had one more class in the evening (no photos) where I showed the video once again (and I will post it in an upcoming entry), then we cleaned up, and put away the guitars for the next taller. I have been told that the next guitar teacher is coming for at least a month this September (2010).

But before I close I'd like to show a photo of Sister Peggy (talking to my mom actually) from about 2 months ago. She had to return to the States to do more fundraising and, unfortunately, she missed the final concert / graduation ceremony.

She is talking to my mom, Val Liveoak, who has been gracious enough to introduce me to nearly all the people I know in Suchitoto. My mother is a Quaker who works with Friends Peace Teams and she organizes and trains facilitators in Alternatives to Violence Workshops throughout Central and Latin America. Suchitoto is one of her favorite "bases" when she travels. I can see why, it is VERY safe (all times of day) and the air is fresh, cool and clean. AND we both can drink the water out of the faucet directly! (There is an excellent water treatment plant near the town I have yet to visit)



You may have noticed all the artwork around the Centro, in the background. Here is another incredible one of a vaquero with his "blue jeans" notice what the canvas is made from!



I hoped you liked reading about the Taller de Guitarras de Suchitoto!

If you have interest in participating, or supporting or consulting on future workshops similar to this one, please contact me with your ideas or offers of help! I would love to hear what kinds of ideas you all have about this workshop!

Also if you have a craving to volunteer I can most definitely recommend the Centro Arte to you as a place to work or teach. After traveling around Salvador and Nicaragua to several different farms, collectives and foundations, I think Centro Arte is one of the best at getting real and concrete results through educating the kids in the arts. Depending on the situation, they may even be able to cover your housing and meals. And bottled water and coffee are available all day!

Peace and love to all my friends in El Salvador and around the world!
Abrazos y nos vemos!
-- Edward Grigassy

Photos from Taller de Guitarras 2010

The Taller de Guitarras de Suchitoto took place July 5 - 19, 2010 in Suchitoto, El Salvador at the Centro Arte para la Paz.


Photos of me taking the guitars out of the original wholesaler's shipping boxes (which we later used as cases). (July 4, 2010)



The guitars came in different sizes, but all the same color. They were made in China, they had a JSL Imports brand name on the box and on each guitar label. I don't know their exact origin (city or factory).



My own production company, Spaceship Earth Productions, purchased twenty-one guitars and paid for freight from Houston, Texas.



The Centro Arte para la Paz reimbursed me for the duties ("impuestos") they charged at the airport.

The Centro Arte is a project whose mission is to promote peace through art and education training. It is run by Peggy O'Neill, Sister of Charity. Berty Rivas is the General Administrator.




They are wonderful people and it is a stable organization with beautiful facilities In addition to hosting the workshop, they will also be maintaining and storing the guitars for future use, as well as checking out instruments to qualified students and families.

All told there were twenty-one nylon string guitars. Nine full size, eight mediums (3/4 size), two smalls (2/3 size) and two extra-smalls (1/2 size).


The duties were quite expensive, as they were about 27% of value of the guitars ($497) PLUS the freight expense ($548). I later found out that it could have been possible to have the duties dismissed.

Here are the guitars all out and enjoying the lovely view of the patio at the Centro Arte para la Paz.



In order to have the duties dismissed the donation must be officially approved by the national government in advance. This involves requesting or writing all the letters of recommendation and other paperwork required, then petitioning the appropriate government agencies for the donation of the instruments to be officially approved.


Later Sister Peggy O'Neill, the director of Centro Arte, told me that even with letters of approval of the receiving organization, the local mayor, governor and/or parliament members, and all the proper paperwork filed in advance (the minister of customs we spoke to recommended six to nine months in advance), there is no guarantee that the letter of "duty dismissal" would actually sway the office workers at the cargo terminal at the airport.

So even though it was an extra $313 expense, in the eyes of the receiving organization, it was far more convenient and efficient to simply pay the import duties than to go through the rigmarole I have described, only to still face the risk of being denied at every possible step.



Tuning the guitars (21 x 6 strings), that took a while!

Plus all the full size guitars had metal strings on them (that's how they had been shipped to Houston, the wholesaler said "Everyone who buys them prefers metal strings!"). So I had to remove strings on the nine full sized guitars, and replace them with nylon strings.

For this project my music company Spaceship Earth Productions had very minimal costs: 22 guitars at $26 ea. purchase price in Houston + $27 ea. freight cost to San Salvador = $53 and change per guitar.

The first day of class! Eighteen eager students that day had signed up in advance. (July 5, 2010)


For the children and teenagers the class size varied from 12 to 28. Almost every day new students would show up to take the class, and if they were not disruptive, they had a friend to help tutor them, and there was a guitar available, I let them attend. Some of the latecomers actually learned all of our pieces, passed the performance exam and played on the final concert.

Originally the plan had been to have two classes for young people per day and one evening class for the local community, but the morning class only had one student so I asked him to come to the evening class which was attended by young people and local adults.

More photos from subsequent days follow. Evening class photos are somewhat obvious as the lighting is somewhat dim.

The Centro Arte has great facilities, rooms, chairs, whiteboard, fresh water (and coffee : ) and, now, guitars, but there were only 4 working music stands and no footstools whatsoever. This meant I taught Flamenco guitar sitting position, right leg crossed over left, guitar on its side on the right leg. This provides for good, comfortable, natural, "mid-range" angles for both the left and right wrists. Also if the student sits up straight he/she can see the fret board or the right hand with no problems...