Emma has always loved music, and on many occasions she has felt that it is her refuge. She grew up in a modest house, without many luxuries and with a limited musical education because she could not afford to study at a good music school. But that was no impediment to learning to play the saxophone and several other instruments on her own. Since she was little, she was always very humble and liked to make everyone feel good, especially sharing her passion for music. Her grandfather also lived with them at home. He was getting old so he needed help from his children, who was Emma's mother. They had taken him to live with him to take better care of him. The thing is that he taught her to play the saxophone, since that was his job before he retired.
During the years that her grandfather lived in the house, he also taught her some rules about music and generally shared with Emma the most important of his musical knowledge so that if one day she wanted to play, she would have a basic notion. Well, that was exactly what happened in the future. When Emma grew up and became independent, she became a singer and participated in many bands. She did not belong to any in particular because she liked to be a soloist, however, she often did collaborations.
The years passed, and Emma ended up living in the same neighborhood where she had grown up, because she somehow felt connected to the place. Although of course now there were more cars and fewer children playing in the streets. However, something was missing. Emma noticed it especially one afternoon, while walking to the store. A group of young people were sitting on a corner, apparently with nothing to do. There was laughter, but the place felt monotonous, because besides the noise of the people there was no music or any fun in the city. Well, there was no amusement park in the city and the provinces where there were more opportunities were very far away and a trip there would be expensive. So she came up with an idea to bring some fun back to the neighborhood, something that at the same time fulfilled 2 objectives, to teach people and to feel fulfilled doing what she liked.
In reality the idea was simple, it consisted of being able to hold some kind of event where young people could participate showing their musical skills or if they did not know how to play any instrument, Emma would help them learn one of the ones she mastered. The idea was good but at that time she did not know how to carry it out.
However, a couple of weeks later, while talking to Doña Clara, a neighbor who was always on top of things, she mentioned in passing her desire to do something for the neighborhood's youth. Clara was a person who had always had conservative opinions about youth or how things should be done with them, in other words, she was a bit harsh, but she surprised Emma by telling her that she thought it was a good idea. That there was no fun in the neighborhood and something like that was needed even for the older ones, since that's how they spent their free time learning to play an instrument or sharing their talent with others. After that conversation, Emma didn't call a mass meeting or put up posters on the walls. Instead, she started talking to some kids she knew by sight. She asked them if they had ever thought about playing an instrument or heard any songs they would like to learn to play.
Most of them seemed indifferent, but a couple of them, a boy named Leo and a girl named Sofia, seemed interested. Leo admitted that he had tried to learn guitar by watching videos on his phone, but that he had never had one of his own. Sofia, on the other hand, said that she didn't know how to sing or play, but that she had always wanted to learn. That's why Emma asked the two of them if they wanted to learn. They both said yes. So they agreed to meet at Emma's house the following Tuesday at 2 pm. As soon as Emma arrived, she began to prepare the garage of her house so that it would be the place to do the small project she had in mind, since there was room for everyone and the place was well insulated from noise.
The first meetings were a bit disorganized, as she only had a couple of instruments and some sheets of basic sheet music. They didn't have a clear plan or a methodology, but what they did have was a shared desire to create something. The kids, at first, seemed to be there more out of curiosity than real interest, but little by little things began to change. Emma contacted her friends to lend her a good variety of equipment and instruments, as well as music books so that interested people in the neighborhood could learn. It didn't take long for Leo to manage to play his first simple song on the guitar. Of course, he made a lot of mistakes and it wasn't perfect, but it was the beginning. And Sofia, who was a bit shy, began to sing her first songs in front of the others. Emma had a good knowledge of being a singer, so she put a lot of effort into it, and that effort had achieved that result.
However, not everything was so easy because some weeks, Emma felt that the project was going nowhere. Mainly because some days when Leo and Sofia couldn't come because they had to go to school, no one else came. So she felt that the people in the neighborhood were not caring enough about her good initiative. So she decided to change the dynamic to see if she could spark the interest of more young people and even people from the neighborhood. She decided that from now on it would be better to do the practices outdoors in some park in the city. And that is precisely what they did.
Thanks to this change, positive things happened. One day, while they were practicing outdoors, a man in his forties stopped to listen to them. He turned out to be a musician who had stopped playing due to health problems. He was a trumpet player, but his lungs were affected and he could no longer play his trumpet. That is why, after a while, he approached them and offered a couple of technical tips to the new guys who had joined. That meeting marked a before and after. That man, whose name was Raúl, began to attend regularly, and his experience turned out to be very good because with his help some of the young people that Emma was helping were able to learn to play the trumpet better, and his inclusion was also a godsend for the growing group because Emma was not fluent in the trumpet.
They continued with this dynamic for the following weeks, more and more young people and even older people from the city joined, the small group was now almost a small band, Emma had to ask her friends for help to give some classes on the weekends. When they came to open their eyes, there were already enough students with good skills to give a local presentation where each one could test their skills in front of everyone. So they announced it around the neighborhood so that people would come to the small activity the next day. Everyone was very excited because the neighborhood went from being united in monotony with nothing to have fun with to being involved in a useful and healthy project.
The next day it was time for the performance. It wasn't perfect, though. There were some out-of-tune performances and some people forgot their parts, but what mattered was the energy, which was always the goal. Besides, it wasn't a talent show, it was just about sharing their knowledge with others, and everyone saw it that way, which is why it was so much fun. A large part of the neighborhood watched the performance and applauded for a while when it ended. Even some journalists came to document what had happened. For the first time, many neighbors saw the potential of the project and how it had transformed young people. Emma noticed how the community's perception was beginning to change, even if it was slowly. And many more asked to join. It was like a dream for her, because there was nothing that gave her more pleasure than sharing her talent with others.
Credits: The images used are free to use and royalty free. They were taken from pixabay.
