Overview:
Guitars not Guns (GnG) is a national non-profit organization dedicated to offering music lessons to at risk/underprivileged youth (ages 11-18) who would otherwise have limited access to music education. Through educational and mentorship opportunities, GnG fosters self-esteem, creativity, and accomplishment, providing students with a creative outlet, a positive environment, and an alternative to self-destructive behavior. GnG is free to all eligible youth, provides all the materials its students need free of charge, including their own acoustic guitar; theirs to keep pending successful completion of the class. More information about GnG, including a comprehensive history and list of other locations can be found at www.gngnca.org.
Classes:
BloomBars has served as a proud host and facilitator for Guitars Not Guns since November 2009. Classes are usually around 10 students, and meet every Sunday for 8 weeks from 3-4pm. Classes are run, organized, and co-taught by BloomBars Artist-in-Bloom Resident artist Gary Prince. All GnG teachers are volunteers. Currently BloomBars only offers Level 1 guitar classes, intended for students with little to no background in playing the guitar. Students who complete Level 1 get to keep their assigned guitar. Students who need to may re-take the Level 1 class as many times as necessary to pass – we are interested in seeing our students succeed, not grading them! Completion of Level 1 is based on having learned the 5 open position chords, the parts of the guitar, a simple song, and other basic guitar skills. In the future we hope to offer higher-level classes as well, so that students can continue at BloomBars after they’ve completed Level 1.
How to get involved:
If you know of a student who could benefit from Guitars Not Guns, or if you would like to volunteer (as a teacher or otherwise), please contact Gary Prince at gary@BloomBars.com to get an application. We will try to accommodate as many qualified students ages 11-18 as we possibly can in each session. If the current session is full, your name will be added to the priority wait-list for the next session. If you or your student is admitted to a class, you will be expected to attend every class, and RSVP if you cannot make it.
Please keep in mind:
Please remember that Guitars not Guns is a volunteer and community based program: the space is volunteered, the teachers are volunteers, the materials are donated. Guitars not Guns, like BloomBars, depends on voluntary donations to exist. Donations are tax deductible and can be made online: here, and by check or cash at BloomBars. If you would like to donate materials please contact Gary Prince.
