Shya is a 5th grader at Lowell Elementary in her second year of SMP. Navera, her tutor, is in her second year of volunteering with SMP and she's a student at Garfield High School. Shya and Navera have spent the entirety of their time in SMP as a student/tutor pair, and it shows in every aspect of their relationship - from the music they work on to the jokes they share!
Learn more about their work together as they interview each other amongst the sights and sounds of the Lowell hallway.
Read an abridged transcript of the interview below!
Learn more about their work together as they interview each other amongst the sights and sounds of the Lowell hallway.
Read an abridged transcript of the interview below!
S: What does it take to teach a music instrument?
It takes a lot. The effort, obviously, um the musical skills are important of course, but so is the enthusiasm to want to teach a musical instrument. You have to be really engaged in what you’re doing and you want to inspire your student to want to, you know, play the musical instrument!
N: What does it take to learn a musical instrument?
Um, I think… You know… Well first you need to know which one you wanna play! What I did was I said okay, what’s one that looks like me. I imagined myself playing it and I said okay, that clarinet looks good on me. So I learned it, I think my first day was on [an SMP group day]. Ms. Sallie told me that I need to keep my cheeks in, have great posture, and my first note was I think C.
S: Why do you come to SMP?
Oh, well, i come because of you mostly. I mean if i didn't come what would you have left to do right? I think its cool that I can be someone there for you, that I can be supporting you in a way, in music. So I’m teaching you something that I find really important and now i hope you think its important too, right? So, I come to SMP for you.
N: Why do you come to SMP?
Um, same thing. Like I’ve known you for two years now, so it’s like.. I need you. This year if I didn’t have you as a tutor I would be sad, like, “I’m lost Navera…"
[Navera interjects: So you’re pretty good on your instrument. Are you sure I’m the only reason you come to SMP?]
Well, the teachers are nice, like Ms. Meaghan and Ms. Evan. When Ms. Sallie shows up she gives us this prize box…
S: If you could eat a bowl of anything, what would it be?
Well, i like chocolate a lot but I think if i ate that much I would get sick. So maybe something like noodles. I like noodles.
N: If you could learn any song on the clarinet what would it be? Any song.
That's a really hard question. I think I’m gonna have to go with Let It Go, by Elsa [from Walt Disney’s Frozen]. I have the music but I don’t know how to do it.
S: What is your favorite thing that happens during lessons?
Pretty much the whole lesson is really fun for me. Like, every Wednesday after school I think, “It’s SMP I’m gonna have a lot of fun today.” So I think pretty much the whole lesson is pretty engaging for both of us mostly, hopefully for both of us.
N: So what's your favorite thing that happens?
Mostly every lesson we learn notes and when I practice them I keep on learning and trying it over, and finally I accomplish it and I’m really proud of myself. And um… yeah thats pretty much it!
S: Do you have any musical goals?
For myself, I have a lot of pieces i want to try and memorize. For school and out of school. I mean there are a lot of things I want to do. I wanna learn to improvise better. What about you?
N: What about you, do you have any musical goals?
There’s this one note i really really wanna learn [fingers a B natural]. Maybe something in my pitch.
Thanks Shya and Navera!
It takes a lot. The effort, obviously, um the musical skills are important of course, but so is the enthusiasm to want to teach a musical instrument. You have to be really engaged in what you’re doing and you want to inspire your student to want to, you know, play the musical instrument!
N: What does it take to learn a musical instrument?
Um, I think… You know… Well first you need to know which one you wanna play! What I did was I said okay, what’s one that looks like me. I imagined myself playing it and I said okay, that clarinet looks good on me. So I learned it, I think my first day was on [an SMP group day]. Ms. Sallie told me that I need to keep my cheeks in, have great posture, and my first note was I think C.
S: Why do you come to SMP?
Oh, well, i come because of you mostly. I mean if i didn't come what would you have left to do right? I think its cool that I can be someone there for you, that I can be supporting you in a way, in music. So I’m teaching you something that I find really important and now i hope you think its important too, right? So, I come to SMP for you.
N: Why do you come to SMP?
Um, same thing. Like I’ve known you for two years now, so it’s like.. I need you. This year if I didn’t have you as a tutor I would be sad, like, “I’m lost Navera…"
[Navera interjects: So you’re pretty good on your instrument. Are you sure I’m the only reason you come to SMP?]
Well, the teachers are nice, like Ms. Meaghan and Ms. Evan. When Ms. Sallie shows up she gives us this prize box…
S: If you could eat a bowl of anything, what would it be?
Well, i like chocolate a lot but I think if i ate that much I would get sick. So maybe something like noodles. I like noodles.
N: If you could learn any song on the clarinet what would it be? Any song.
That's a really hard question. I think I’m gonna have to go with Let It Go, by Elsa [from Walt Disney’s Frozen]. I have the music but I don’t know how to do it.
S: What is your favorite thing that happens during lessons?
Pretty much the whole lesson is really fun for me. Like, every Wednesday after school I think, “It’s SMP I’m gonna have a lot of fun today.” So I think pretty much the whole lesson is pretty engaging for both of us mostly, hopefully for both of us.
N: So what's your favorite thing that happens?
Mostly every lesson we learn notes and when I practice them I keep on learning and trying it over, and finally I accomplish it and I’m really proud of myself. And um… yeah thats pretty much it!
S: Do you have any musical goals?
For myself, I have a lot of pieces i want to try and memorize. For school and out of school. I mean there are a lot of things I want to do. I wanna learn to improvise better. What about you?
N: What about you, do you have any musical goals?
There’s this one note i really really wanna learn [fingers a B natural]. Maybe something in my pitch.
Thanks Shya and Navera!
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