Post by carlita on Sept 26, 2003 10:01:48 GMT -5
Grooming the next guitar goddesses
By Cara Solomon
Seattle Times Eastside bureau
Treasure Connors has it all worked out. It's simple, really, why so few girls play guitar.
"It's kind of like soccer or skateboarding," said Treasure, an 11-year-old from South Seattle. "People just think it's a guy thing."
Women in the music business have been trying to change all that, giving guitars and amps, free lessons and live performances. The Ground Zero Teen Center in Bellevue has been the beneficiary of it for years now.
It started off several years ago with singer/guitarist Bonnie Raitt, guitar maker Fender and a national campaign to get more girls playing guitar. For Ground Zero, which got funding and 13 guitars, the program has been the gift that keeps on giving, providing guitar workshops for Treasure and more than 100 other girls through the years.
In total, the Raitt program gave about 1,400 guitars to Boys and Girls Clubs of America across the nation, making only two demands: Let the girls play, and let them play for free. A few months ago, Ann and Nancy Wilson of the rock group Heart continued that legacy with a $1,000 rock scholarship through Ground Zero earmarked for girls. The money will go toward private lessons for graduates of the guitar workshop who want to continue with their study.
Amy Stolzenbach, who teaches the Raitt workshops, said she sees the all-girl classes as a confidence builder. The girls feel more freedom to make mistakes around each other. She tried adding boys to one workshop, with poor results.
"It completely changed the chemistry," said Stolzenbach, who plays with Carrie Akre and the band Glorious. "They asked all the questions, they played the loudest, they played the most."
Beyond the guitar workshop, Ground Zero gears other music activities toward girls. Every few months, the center sponsors a "Girl Jam" with musicians and rock journalists from across Puget Sound. The musicians set up shop in the center, craft a song, teach it to the girls and perform it. The idea, said music director Amy Mahardy, is to inspire girls who want to make music.
"It can be really intimidating if you're a girl and all you see in the media are dudes on MTV rocking out," said Mahardy, a singer/songwriter.
Beyond all the technical skills of guitar playing, Stolzenbach teaches the girls how to talk rock. Music shops can be intimidating, she said — all those men milling around, some convinced you don't know what you want. Stolzenbach teaches them the lingo, gives them the confidence to ask for what they need.
On Wednesday afternoon, Treasure is the only girl to show up for the weekly workshop. Playing the guitar is a luxury for her — like letting go of everything else, she said. It feels like freedom, playing around with all those notes, making them sound "mangled" or "soft."
Every week, she finds chords she didn't know about before, writes them in her notebook, tries to fit them together. Soon enough, she will have a song.
For now, she shows Stolzenbach the new chords she has found, picking away at the black electric guitar.
"Nice — I like all those," said Stolzenbach. "It's cool that you heard that and ventured outside of what you knew."
Cara Solomon: 206-464-2024 or csolomon@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company
More information:
• On the guitar workshops or any other music programs at Ground Zero, call 425-452-6118 or email: gzmusic@hotmail.com
• On girls and women in music, check out these Web sites: www.rockrgrl.com and www.indiegrrl.com
By Cara Solomon
Seattle Times Eastside bureau
Treasure Connors has it all worked out. It's simple, really, why so few girls play guitar.
"It's kind of like soccer or skateboarding," said Treasure, an 11-year-old from South Seattle. "People just think it's a guy thing."
Women in the music business have been trying to change all that, giving guitars and amps, free lessons and live performances. The Ground Zero Teen Center in Bellevue has been the beneficiary of it for years now.
It started off several years ago with singer/guitarist Bonnie Raitt, guitar maker Fender and a national campaign to get more girls playing guitar. For Ground Zero, which got funding and 13 guitars, the program has been the gift that keeps on giving, providing guitar workshops for Treasure and more than 100 other girls through the years.
In total, the Raitt program gave about 1,400 guitars to Boys and Girls Clubs of America across the nation, making only two demands: Let the girls play, and let them play for free. A few months ago, Ann and Nancy Wilson of the rock group Heart continued that legacy with a $1,000 rock scholarship through Ground Zero earmarked for girls. The money will go toward private lessons for graduates of the guitar workshop who want to continue with their study.
Amy Stolzenbach, who teaches the Raitt workshops, said she sees the all-girl classes as a confidence builder. The girls feel more freedom to make mistakes around each other. She tried adding boys to one workshop, with poor results.
"It completely changed the chemistry," said Stolzenbach, who plays with Carrie Akre and the band Glorious. "They asked all the questions, they played the loudest, they played the most."
Beyond the guitar workshop, Ground Zero gears other music activities toward girls. Every few months, the center sponsors a "Girl Jam" with musicians and rock journalists from across Puget Sound. The musicians set up shop in the center, craft a song, teach it to the girls and perform it. The idea, said music director Amy Mahardy, is to inspire girls who want to make music.
"It can be really intimidating if you're a girl and all you see in the media are dudes on MTV rocking out," said Mahardy, a singer/songwriter.
Beyond all the technical skills of guitar playing, Stolzenbach teaches the girls how to talk rock. Music shops can be intimidating, she said — all those men milling around, some convinced you don't know what you want. Stolzenbach teaches them the lingo, gives them the confidence to ask for what they need.
On Wednesday afternoon, Treasure is the only girl to show up for the weekly workshop. Playing the guitar is a luxury for her — like letting go of everything else, she said. It feels like freedom, playing around with all those notes, making them sound "mangled" or "soft."
Every week, she finds chords she didn't know about before, writes them in her notebook, tries to fit them together. Soon enough, she will have a song.
For now, she shows Stolzenbach the new chords she has found, picking away at the black electric guitar.
"Nice — I like all those," said Stolzenbach. "It's cool that you heard that and ventured outside of what you knew."
Cara Solomon: 206-464-2024 or csolomon@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company
More information:
• On the guitar workshops or any other music programs at Ground Zero, call 425-452-6118 or email: gzmusic@hotmail.com
• On girls and women in music, check out these Web sites: www.rockrgrl.com and www.indiegrrl.com
