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Brandon W. on: Queen’s We are the Champions and Under Pressure

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I will be speaking about the fantastic inspirational band: Queen.  Right off the bat, I would like to explain that Queen is one of my top five favorite bands in history.

First off, the song we listened to was We are the Champions.  I loved this song; I always have.  The song has a meaning, well you know, other than the music, instruments, vocals and the rest of the structure a normal song. We are the Champions has a very strong meaning. It’s pretty much saying he’s been through a lot of what usual people have to face, but he’s not going to give up. He’s a champion and is definitely making it known, no matter how much you push him down he is going to LEAP back up bigger and badder with more and more followers. Till eventually, he pushes you down and you lose. Freddie Mercury was a lot of things, but one thing he wasn’t was a quitter. And, he made it known through this song.

Back to the song structure: I love how it starts off dull and slow and picks up and BOOM, hits your ears like a majestic leprechaun riding a Pegasus, all the while singing We are the Champions. All and all, I love this song and it’s and amazing song from my perspective, it’s Queen’s most strong and powerful song!

The second song we are musing about is Under Pressure. Now, even though this song is slow, it still has a pick-up and it even made me cry a bit. Now, every song has a meaning and yet I kind of only caught half the meaning of it. Ether way, it was still a good song to me.

I loved the rhythm to this song, it just makes you want to hum it, which is exactly what you want in a song. The lyrics are alright, but you know, it’s queen what are going to do? I loved how it picked up during the chorus, it was excellent yet dangerous. This is because when bands usually have that slow of a song and try to speed up the time signature it sounds horrible. However, what Queen did in this son was musical genius, and had such a feel to it that you have to like it. In conclusion, I liked this song. Not everyone does but who cares? I like it and that’s all that matters!

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Sammy on: Nirvana and Kimmi Smiles

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Nirvana:

The artist Kurt Cobain was someone who wasn’t afraid to be different, he is someone who did what he felt. As an inspiration to some younger generations, Cobain wasn’t afraid to write what he felt. In my opinion, Cobain is a man of vision, and a man who dared teens and others to be different – to be truly unique. This is why Cobain is an inspiration to young people. This is why he is an inspiration to me.

Kimmie Smiles:

When listening to Let it Go cover by Kimmie Smiles, I feel that she put a lot of emotion and energy into the song. When singing or even playing an instrument, you have to put energy into it. You want it to express yourself and let the music flow through you. It isn’t important if people are around you. What is important is you put your all into it, and Kimmie smiles accomplished this. So in the end just be you.

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Gerry “King of the Dinosaurs” on: Comparisions between Ahmir and Kimmi Smiles covers of Let it Go

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The Ahmir version of Let it Go makes me get somewhat emotional due to its soft nature and blending harmonies. The Kimmi Smiles version, however, makes me feel energetic and want to get up and rock out! Also, I like the unique style of rock Kimmi does.

Honestly, I do not like how the Ahmir version uses so much auto-tune; The song just doesn’t sound right without 100 percent pure human voice. I also like how Kimmi Smiles  is very sped up. Even though the song was written to be sung slow, she did a very good job of transforming it.

Now to get to the lyrics of the song:  To me, Let it Go is about letting go of all your fears and just going for it! It’s a message that really says to forget about everything else and to be yourself, and to not care what anybody else thinks.  I like the rock version because it better suits the theme of the song. Rock and Roll is all about losing control and doing whatever sounds right to you without caring about what other people are playing or whether people will like it or not.

In conclusion, both versions are great incarnations of the song. However, I personally prefer the rock version because I feel it best captures the essence of the song.

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Josh Tirado was older than the age limit at Rock To The Future, a free music workshop for city kids, when he started picking up his little sister, Samira Long, there four years ago. While he was waiting for her to finish band practice, the 14-year-old, 5’9”, 230-pound high school football player would sit down with other students and assist them with their math homework.

One day, RTTF program director Josh Craft approached Tirado.

“He said if I keep helping kids with their math homework, he’ll teach me how to play guitar,” remembers Tirado.

Tirado quit football and visited the Kensington-based workshop after school nearly every day and most Saturdays for the next four years. While other kids in his Fishtown neighborhood were stealing bicycles, joining gangs, getting into fights and worse, Tirado learned how to play guitar, bass, piano and drums.

“Thank god I didn’t hang out with those kids,” Tirado says. “I’m not trying to mess up my future or anyone else’s.”

He had been bullied when he was younger but the music lessons gave him the social skills to deal with people. He quit fighting with his sister. Tirado became more disciplined and his grades improved – he was an honors student his last two years at Franklin Learning Center. In June, he became RTTF’s first high school graduate.

“He’s doing things on his own now,” says Tirado’s mother, Catherine Long. “He didn’t have the confidence to think he could do stuff before.”

In August, Tirado ended his RTTF house band career, performing the intricate guitar solo in Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine” before a small crowd at a fundraiser for the organization. He started classes at the Community College of Philadelphia this semester. He plans to become an X-ray technician.

Over the summer, I volunteered for the Rock to the Future summer camp. This involved teaching children how to play, read and perform music within only a week. Generally, it seems to be a living nightmare to teach young kids how to play instruments under the pressure of a deadline that lands on the end of the week. I admit that I was nervous upon entering the building; however, it proved to be the highlight of my entire summer.

While I watched the students learn and grow (both socially and musically), I discovered the delight of teaching somebody a skill and watching them–gradually but surely–understand and try. You connect with the students, and they respect you. They begin to ask you to help them, to teach them more than what is expected. That, in itself, is the most refreshing experience that I received over that week.

My students picked up their instruments for the first time on Monday, but Friday was not the last time. After the final showcase that Friday evening, I received a series of long hugs and goodbyes, but also promises – that they will continue to practice their instruments and perhaps participate in the following year’s summer camp.

Although I was not a student in this situation, I still found myself learning, side-by-side with my students. I discovered the different styles of teaching, the different personalities of individuals, different tactics to use when coaching, and, most of all, I discovered myself. – Cheyenne, 15 year old guitarist in MusiCore after school program and volunteer guitar instructor at Rock*A*Delphia and GuitarStars summer camp

 

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“Walking through the doors of Rock to the Future’s Rock-A-Delphia Summer Camp was both overwhelming, and exciting. Overwhelming because, well, I was five minutes late, and it was my first time volunteering at the summer camp. Exciting because I knew these teens were talented, and ready to learn. I was also excited to be helping with bass lessons. Although, my schedule was changed, and I was supposed to help with drum lessons. “I don’t know how to play drums! I don’t even have rhythm!” I said to myself. I followed the instructor, and the students to where we were going to be playing drums. Nervous, I set up the iPad, and listened in to what the instructor was saying. He taught them the basic rock beat, then continued on with drum fills. To finish his lesson, he gave the drummers certain sections to play for a group song (one drummer on the snare and bass drum, one on the high-hat, another on the floor tom, etc.). Now, my second day on the job, I know more about playing drums than I did before, and the students can play through the whole group song with little to no mistakes!” – Destinee, 17 volunteer from MusiCore after school program

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“This summer’s Rock-A-Delphia’s summer camp has officially begun! Twenty kids and teenagers from ages 13-17 came out from various parts of the city to come and have fun! So far, over the course of these last few days the kids have done many activities together such as decorated their guitar straps, paint their drum sticks and make banners for their pianos and play games in the morning. They also practiced their instrument of interest. These instruments consist of guitar (bass guitar, acoustic guitar), piano, and drums.

The kids are broken up into four bands in which they create song lyrics and come up with a melody for it in order to make a song.

Lessons go well for the kids because they learn pretty fast and well and they love what they’re doing. They are very energetic and that makes the flow of the program so much easier.

Right now, we’re preparing for the showcase on Friday so that the kids can play in front of their parents and friends. We’re really excited!” -Lynn, WorkReady summer intern

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