ethan darrin, 12

Did you know that Marquette has a local music store right on Third Street?

Jim’s Music and Teaching Center has been here for over 30 years in various locations. They do a lot of stuff for the youth in our county. They offer music lessons, music clubs and so much more. One of the clubs is the ukulele club, which meets every first and third Thursday, and if you don’t have a ukulele, you can use the ones provided. Lessons are also a big part of the music store. They teach all kinds of instruments from saxophone all the way to piano.

I have been taking guitar lessons from Jimmy Olson at Jim’s Music and I have learned a lot. The lessons are 30 minutes long and the dates vary. Usually when you come in to take lessons you pick an instrument to use, if you don’t already have one of your own, and then you meet with your teacher. Then, they will start you off based on where your experience is, and day after day you will learn more. Jim’s Music has been my go-to place for music ever since I started lessons there. They have instrument repairs and parts always for sale too.

I have been playing guitar for over two years, and I am still learning more with these lessons. I started playing guitar when my aunt bought me one for Christmas and I still have that guitar with me today. My first guitar lessons were from a music group in Banner Elk, North Carolina, called the Appalachian Jams program. The Jams program was a music group that taught kids music and was trying to keep old folk music alive. One of the teachers there was Mr. Townsend and even after the program ended he kept teaching me guitar. My first ever song that I learned to play was Glycerin by Bush, and after that I was playing guitar all the time. When my grandfather passed away, my dad was given his electric guitar and soon I started playing that too. Years went by and playing guitar was the only thing I was doing. I started playing guitar with the youth group at Lake Superior Christian Church and was getting guitar lessons from my youth pastor. I also got to play there for some youth services with other kids in the youth group.

The guitar has been a big part in my life because being able to play music and hear myself progress is an awesome thing. I have always loved music from an early age, so even before I started playing guitar I was already connected with music. I have also been trying different instruments such as drums, piano and ukulele. I got a piano from my great grandmother a year ago and I have also been trying to learn that. It’s a cool thing to see how pianos and guitars are related. I’m finding out that the notes and chords are almost identical. I think that learning more than one instrument can help you learn more about music. I always try to learn new things on guitar every day and keep playing for the fun of it. I will still keep playing guitar from this day on and hope it will get me somewhere in life.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Ethan Darrin is 12 years old. He has been a member of 8-18 Media since October 2017 and music is his passion.