KTBA Donates Acoustic Guitars to Gallego Intermediate Fine Arts School!

School Name – Gallego Intermediate Fine Arts School

Teacher Name: Mr. Hayashi

TUCSON, AZ – Thanks to your donations, KTBA donated three (3) new acoustic guitar packages to the music program at Gallego Intermediate Fine Arts School!

“My students are in a district with low income demographics,” Mr. Hayashi explains. Although I teach fourth through eighth grade at this school, the class for which I am hoping to receive funding is comprised of the middle school grades, six through eight.”

“Although my students are generally from economically disadvantaged homes, their attitudes are certainly not disadvantaged; they have a healthy desire for learning and creativity.

We are a music class that is part of an outreach program through the local university. This outreach program has 28 other classes just in this city alone. (There are other classes in three other states.) Our class progress is far ahead of any other class in the program curriculum and the program supervisors are quite impressed. My students enjoy learning and enjoy being a part of a creative outlet,” Hayashi adds.

Their success in the music classroom translates to success in other classes as well. This correlation is crucial when attempting to receive funding for music projects.

“My students are AMAZING. They, in spite of our need for better equipment and in spite of them living in sometimes trying circumstances, are leaders in their program. In the 28 similar programs under the auspices of our local university, our talented classical guitar class is far ahead of any class in the curriculum progress.

They have done this with some guitars that are damaged, and some students play with guitars that are too small for them. We have been the grateful recipients of the limited funds from our school district, and from donors in our community. Three more new full sized guitars and protective bags will finally fulfill our needs for this year.”

By funding this project, KTBA has empowered students who needed the proper tools to express their creativity, develop patience, develop the ability to reach long-term goals, and foster collaborative team work.

“The students come to class every day, they learn to tune their guitars, play exercises together that develop technique, and learn repertoire that encompasses traditional folk songs to Mozart and Bach to multicultural pieces. It is more difficult to accomplish these things when the instrument is too small. This highly affects technique, which in classical guitar, is coordinating a bass or melody line with the thumb while playing the melody line or the harmony with the other fingers of the hand. Size of the guitars affects the detailed distances that affect coordination, posture, and arm and hand placement. A properly sized guitar would enhance their learning and progress.”

Thanks to the generosity of Joe Bonamassa fans and music lovers like YOU, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation was able to fund Mr. Hayashi’s music project.

Mr. Hayashi expresses his gratitude:

Dear Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation, Inc.,

THANK YOU!!!! THANK YOU!!!! THANK YOU!!!! Wow! We so appreciate your generous contribution that funded the whole project! I cannot wait to inform my students tomorrow. They will be so excited that the whole class will have proper instruments of the correct size on which to learn. There will no longer be a friendly competition race to the classroom to get a full size guitar!

With gratitude,
Mr. Hayashi

Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation is a 501c3 organization that makes a donation to a school in need of music instruments, supplies, sheet music, and more every week! Your donation helps us to keep music in schools, while preserving blues heritage. Without your support, we would not be able to reach as many students around the country. We are grateful for your generosity.

To date, KTBA has reached over 60,000 students.

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Thank you for keeping music education in schools!