NEWS AND UPDATES
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Silversound Family,
What a year this has been! Like many small businesses, Silversound Guitar was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Luckily we already had our virtual lesson policy and capability in place, but we had put our performances on hold, which is one of the biggest frustrations for us this year. However, we got through it. My goal with Silversound, and what I love about it, is just being able to share something cool with people. We want to create a community here at Silversound, through our jam classes, performances (coming back in 2022), and our Silversound Discord server: https://discord.gg/3HcyeRZ. Music is such a foundational part of our lives, and we at Silversound are honored and humbled that we get to share that with all of you. |
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| We are so very, very grateful to all of the students who have not just stuck it out with us this year, but have helped us to grow. Those of you who told friends about us, signed up family members, left reviews on social media: Thank you.
We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and an amazing New Year’s, and we look forward to sharing some big things with all of you in 2022.
Mark Young, Owner & Founder |
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Meet Jenn Gebhart
Jenn Gebhart is one of the newer additions to the Silversound. She came onboard as a voice, piano and ukulele teacher this April. “I actually went to UCCS and got my degree in music there,” she says. “I knew Ben and Dylan, that’s how I heard about the position, through them.”
| As a vocalist and instrumentalist, Gebhard draws on a wide variety of influences. “Starting out, a lot of what first drew me to music was things I listened to on the radio,” she says. “I was super into bands like Evanescence, Breaking Benjamin. I loved a lot of classic rock. When I became more trained musically, for singers I really love [opera singers] Diana Damrau and Maria Callas. They’re these vocalists I really loved and aspired to be like.”
When Gebhart started at Silversound, she taught herself ukulele, an instrument that is becoming increasingly popular among Gen Z. “I would say ukulele right next to piano for me, as far as how many students I get,” she says. “Piano is number one, but I have a surprising number of ukulele students for sure. Mark asked me if I would be willing to learn how to play ukulele. I had picked it up years before, trying to play it, and it just didn’t click with me at the time, but he asked me if I would try again and I said ‘Yea, sure.’ I really enjoy it, it’s a lot of fun to play. I think part of why it’s become popular is I feel like a lot of people online play ukulele. They make covers of songs, but then I feel some artists, like Billie Eilish, helped bring a certain audience and intrigue into that instrument as well.” |
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| As a teacher, Gebhart loves helping students unlock the potential of their instrument. “My favorite thing is when you see a new student starting to click with an instrument and they have an ‘Ah-ha’ moment, when something that was challenging suddenly is very simple, or at least much more doable,” she says. “One of the biggest things is one, to not be afraid of failure and making mistakes and two, don’t get discouraged. The biggest thing I share with a lot of my students is learning an instrument is a lot like learning a language. It’s not just learning how to read a language, or just how to speak a language, it’s learning how to do all of it and you have to do all of it at the same time, so it can be really challenging. It’s OK to make mistakes, it’s just part of process of learning and you’re learning to do something really difficult.” |
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Want to pick up skills as a vocalist or learn more about piano or ukulele? Connect with Jenn today!
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Dylan Osgood Brings His Skills to Local Bands
Guitar instructor Dylan Osgood plays guitar in two local bands, Supperpuss, a funky, jazzy project whose album, “If Not Music, Then What?” is available here on Spotify and on Pandora. He is also in Wild Indigo, a Jazz-Funk Fusion Band that mainly plays standards that range from close readings of the originals to completely new arrangements/feels to tunes.
Do you have a band, album, or music event you want mentioned in the newsletter?
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