Jazzanooga Youth Music Program kicks in
One key—the key—to becoming a good musician is practice, practice, practice. Most legendary musicians first picked up their instruments at young ages and spent the rest of their lives playing what they knew and practicing what they didn’t.
While music lessons and school programs are a great way to practice, they aren’t always available to aspiring musicians. Luckily, Chattanooga has organizations like Jazzanooga that celebrate jazz through a month-long festival—and year-round programs.
One such program, created earlier this year, is for 12-to-18-year-old Hamilton County students with little or no access to the arts. Designed to “offer progressive, sequential music skill-building and personal learning opportunities” for each student, the Youth Music Academy program is a series of classes held every Saturday for 12 weeks. And it’s free.
“One of our primary goals with this program was to make music education and its overall benefits accessible to our youth regardless of their financial means,” says Jazzanooga Director Shane Morrow.
Starting mid-September, up to 30 students will study jazz and blues music theory and choose between instrumental and vocal training programs. At the program’s end, students have the opportunity to showcase their talents individually and within an ensemble at Jazzanooga events.
For more information about the Youth Music Program and Jazzanooga or to register for classes, visit jazzanooga.org
— Madeline Chambliss