Music Days at Upward Bound House

Gabriela Forgo is a student at Santa Monica College. She wanted to share her love of music with some needy children in her community. Create Now referred her to Upward Bound House, where she’s been teaching piano to a group of young children who were homeless, but are now in a transitional living shelter. Gabriela tells her story below.

As a child I always knew I had a strong passion for art and music, yet it wasn’t until later I realized the positive and at times inspirational influence art has on everyday life. I wanted to take advantage of my creative talents and use it to make a difference; I just never knew where to start.

Create Now has given me the opportunity to teach music to a group of amazing children in a transitional living shelter called Upward Bound House. Ranging from ages 3 to 9, while there is a significant age gap between some of them, all are eager to learn more. Even months after our first music session they still come running up to me with big smiles on their faces asking: “Is it Music Day? Is it Music Day?” I smile back at them and reply, “Yes today is Music Day!” They don’t scream with excitement, but you can tell they want to.

I will never forget the very first time I had a Music Day with the kids, it was so simple, yet truly a meaningful first day. It all started with clapping different tempos, and even with something as simple as clapping in unison, you could feel this energy in the room.

It’s hard to get ten kids to play the piano at once, so one by one I told each of them to just mess around and do whatever they wanted with the piano. What struck me the most was how every single child approached the piano in a different style.

Romeo was cautious and strategic, pressing one key down delicately with one finger at a time, letting each note ring. Briana pressed the keys down hard, her hands moving quickly across the piano. Laky pressed several keys down all at the same time, as if giving the piano a high-five. Alex pressed two or three keys at a time, like a chord. At the time they did not know anything about music notes or how to play the piano, but they certainly had their own distinctive sound. There are no words to express how magnificent it was to watch. They were expressing themselves through sound, and in a weird way it all came together like a song.

As of right now the kids have learned all the names of the piano keys, the art of rhythm, and several songs. I don’t assign any homework or tests; I like to think of the music sessions as a time to have as much fun as possible, and we do. I myself have and am continuing to learn a lot from this experience. I think many of us forget what it’s like to be so young. When our imagination is endless, anything is possible.

There have been numerous occasions where at the end of Music Day, the child asks their parent/guardian to come into the piano room to watch what they learned. I remember Briana begging her mom to come into the piano room so she could show her all the notes of the piano, or the time she wanted to show her mom that she learned how to play “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”

They leave Music Day feeling a little more confident, a little more proud. Teaching these children about music has truly been a fun and uplifting experience that I will continue to take part in.

Here are some comments about our Sound Off music workshop at Upward Bound House:

“Gabriela teaches a lot of stuff. I learned how to play ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and that makes me feel proud." - Elias, age 9

“I like when we play the piano. We sing Christmas songs and play all kinds of different instruments.” - Brianna, age 6

“The kids are always excited to begin their piano lessons and are always eager to learn. The amazing part about this workshop is that the kids teach me! They really enjoy learning and I enjoy watching them learn.” - Adrienne James, Youth Education Specialist