Last week, I was excited to learn that I would be helping to tutor a music class, within the “IPS Newcomer” program. Music has always been a passion of mine, and something I pursued in various avenues growing up. I jumped around between guitar, drums, and piano in my early years, but by far the one that I have kept up the most is piano. So, when the first words of the teacher when I walked in were “do you play piano,” I took that as a good sign.
The classroom is mostly hispanic students, so there was a bit of a language barrier at first, but it was cool to see the students take to my instruction on how to play basic chords. Many of the barriers I thought were going to be an issue, faded, and I think it is because that is the nature of music. It brings people together who may not have much in common, or concrete means of communication. I am eager to return to class this week and experience more of that feeling.