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Kids Learn Guitar Skills In Moapa Summer Program

By MYRNA FOSTER

Moapa Valley Progress

Members of a Parks and Rec Guitar Class taught by Zila Johnson in Moapa play the tune, “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” PHOTO BY MYRNA FOSTER/Moapa Valley Progress.

In a classroom at the Moapa Rec Center, Moapa resident Zila Johnson teaches a guitar class for children 6 – 12 years old. This year, she has five students. They all bring their own guitars so that she can teach them beginning fundamentals.

The class has been going for over a month now, but Johnson said they have a few weeks left.

On Tuesday, July 15, Johnson’s students started class by playing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” Johnson asked them to show her how they were fingering their “A” and “E” chords. Then she had them practice playing the chords. She showed them how to bend their fingers just right. Each student received one-on-one attention from the teacher.

The students each had a song sheet and an assortment of other papers for the lesson. Some of the papers were fingering charts with star stickers to mark the chords they were learning.

Next, the students played “Skip to My Lou.” They had the chords they were supposed to play written on the song sheets in front of them, but most of them looked like they had the song memorized.

One of the students had a guitar that kept slipping, so Johnson let the student play her own guitar.

Johnson had her students play “Skip to My Lou” as a group a few times. Then she had them play individually for her, helping them with notes and technique.

“These guys, they are just gung-ho!” Johnson said. “They have been playing quite a bit already.”

Next Johnson gave them three songs to choose from. She let them take turns choosing a song. Then she’d call out and demonstrate different techniques as they played. All three songs had just two chords: the “A” chord and the “E” chord.

After the students finished working on technique with her, Johnson taught them how to play “Oh My Darling, Clementine,”“Tom Dooley,” and “Hey Diddle Diddle.” The students wrote the chords and called them out with her as she played the songs for them. Then they’d play the songs and call out the chord changes together.

By this time, some of the students were complaining about tired fingers, so Johnson reminded them that it was important to practice. “You know what would help you guys?” Johnson asked. Then she replied, “If you would practice a few minutes every day. You’re working your fingers a lot.” She said there were lots of things they could do to make their fingers more familiar with their guitars.

Johnson ended the lesson by teaching her students how to play the “D” chord. She had a chart with colored dots that showed the fingerings for the chords they’d learned. Then she went to each student and helped place their fingers so that they’d have the chord right when they played it.

Johnson said she started teaching summer guitar classes for Clark County Parks and Recreation in 2009. In 2009 and 2010, she taught in Overton, Logandale, Moapa, and Bunkerville. This year, she’s only teaching in Moapa.

She also teaches private lessons throughout the year. In fact, a mother of two of the boys in the class said that she wanted to set up private lessons for them when she picked the boys up after class.

Johnson, who was born and raised in New Zealand, has been playing the guitar since she was five.

She drives a bus for the Clark County School District during the school year.

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