LIHUE — If you’re a kid who wants to learn how to play the violin, viola or cello, there’s a new style of lessons on the island that might be for you. The Kauai Youth Orchestra starts on Tuesday at
LIHUE — If you’re a kid who wants to learn how to play the violin, viola or cello, there’s a new style of lessons on the island that might be for you.
The Kauai Youth Orchestra starts on Tuesday at the Bandwagon Music Center in Lihue, and is a place where kids, ages 8 to 17, can learn how to play stringed instruments together as a group instead of in a one-on-one, private lesson setting.
“Learning as a group really helps teach cooperation with others,” said Terra Jean Otto, the orchestra’s teacher and conductor. “There’s also something special about making something together, this sound that is more than you could make on your own.”
The class is open to students who are new to playing music, as well as intermediate musicians.
“For those intermediate kids, they can play with the community orchestra, but they’re not playing songs that most teenagers would be interested in,” Otto said.
Otto’s classes are directed toward that age group.
“My classes focus on the heart, head and hands,” Otto said. “We work on an emotional piece that touches the heart, technical pieces that challenge the hands, and I throw in bands like Cold Play to keep their teenage heads engaged.”
Classes are eight weeks long and the music is provided. Students need to bring their own instrument and music stand. At the end of eight weeks, there will be a performance.
Otto has been teaching private lessons for 25 years. Two years ago, she moved to Kauai from Olympia, Wash., where she had spent the past 12 years as a strings specialist at the Olympia Waldorf School.
“When I moved here, I realized that there just aren’t that many strings teachers on the island,” she said. “And there are no group classes. I saw the need and I decided to go ahead and start teaching.”
Otto was introduced to the strings world with a violin when she was 10.
“My parents saw that I had talent,” she said.
She loves playing all kinds of music, from jazz and metal to classical and contemporary. She incorporates all of those styles into her classes.
“We focus on technique and playing the song right, of course, but we’re also really focused on having fun and creating something together as a group, too,” Otto said.
Classes, about 20 students in each, will be held every Tuesday for about an hour. The beginner class will start at 6 p.m. and intermediate orchestra class at 7 p.m.
Info: (808) 346-1522 or terrajviolin@gmail.com.
