Recently, a student stopped me in the hall and told me he was doing an article for the yearbook. The theme of his article was "How Learning Guitar Helps Students with Their Careers". I thought about it for a moment, and then told him that studying guitar may help students develop skills that are complimentary to many professions.

After further inquiry, I was able to match workplace competencies outlined by the U.S. Department of Labor [The Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills, SCANS] with skills addressed in guitar class. The following is a list of general skill categories and explanations of each. They are not necessarily in order of importance.

1. Studying guitar helps you gain experience with creative thinking and the creative process. A creative project evolves through a number of steps. In guitar class, the student can experience these steps through the invention of exercises, arrangements and compositions. The student experiences creative thinking from the beginning to end. This includes generating and sketching ideas, saving and developing those ideas, connecting an idea to other ideas, and finally refining, revising and editing the ideas.
   
   Guitar class includes experience with the push and pull nature of an idea: sometimes you need to push it; sometimes it pulls you along. Understanding the creative process, or methodology, is essential to many professional fields. Creativity is necessary in the development of new products and new marketing techniques. Radio, TV, newspapers, government and the Internet depend on creativity for design, layout, writing, planning and all kinds of solutions. As guitar students develop their own repertoires, arrangements, compositions and ensembles they are practicing many of the same processes that are used in the professional world.
   
   
2. By learning to play guitar you gain confidence and experience with independent learning and problem solving. Since everyone's hands and physical makeup are a little different, developing guitar technique is a personal process. Music students in general should develop a philosophical attitude and appreciation for reaching their highest potential. They develop a sense of responsibility towards personal development and excellence. To do this the student must identify technical and artistic problems, and then commit themselves to solving them.
   
   The problem solving process in music is similar to the scientific process. This process includes generating questions, making observations, making educated guesses, experimenting, drawing conclusions and formulating generalizations. The instructor may encourage and prompt the student in the scientific guitar process, but it is the student alone who actually does the thinking, and the student alone who does the learning.
   
   Another aspect of problem solving in the workplace is the ability to obtain, evaluate, and file information. These skills should be addressed in guitar class by the individual student seeking and obtaining materials, evaluating their value, and filing them in their practice portfolios. To this end, students in guitar class should be required to create their own practice portfolios consisting of music, technique and graphics that they have collected and assembled.
   
   Most professions require lifelong learning and problem solving. Students in guitar class become accustomed to, appreciative of, and self-sufficient in independent learning.
   
   
3. Playing guitar contributes to wellness and mental sharpness. All professionals need to take responsibility for their health. Part of maintaining a healthy workforce is the idea of people using leisure time for rest and rejuvenation. Athletes for example, will compliment their specialized training by performing alternative exercises on different days. This approach is known as cross-training.
   
   Workers benefit from complimentary leisure activities which promote relaxation, mental sharpness, strength, and hand/eye coordination- such as playing the guitar. Guitar instructors must emphasize that to excel at playing the guitar (which requires mental and physical abilities) the student must acquire a lifestyle that includes the finest nutrition, aerobics, calisthenics, and adequate rest.
   
   Playing guitar also has a stress-relieving aspect. The process of single-pointed mental focus, combined with the rhythmic body motion of playing the guitar, relieves mental anxiety and physical stress. Additionally, emotions find an expressive and healthy outlet by playing an instrument. The experience of rhythmic, whole-body movement, contributes to physical grace and ease, and the efficient use of energy. Guitar students learn how to move efficiently and moving efficiently saves energy. By conserving energy, people are better equipped for the demands of the work environment.
   
   
4. Guitar students acquire extraordinary hand coordination. My guitar classroom is located in the physical education area of our school. This is an appropriate location for guitar class because guitar class is physical education. In addition to the conservation of energy as already mentioned, guitarist are keenly skilled with hand coordination. Contemporary society requires skills with all kinds of tools, and the strength and ability to work with tools is enhanced by the development of the hands, wrists and forearms in guitar class.
   
   
5. Guitar class improves communication skills by improving the voice through singing, and providing students with creative reading and writing opportunities. A popular and important aspect of playing guitar is the ability to sing and play. A well-trained guitar teacher will also have knowledge of how the voice works, and how to assist the students with the goal of singing and playing at the same time. In the workplace a good voice is valuable asset. A professional speaking voice should have adequate volume, smooth tone and resonance, appropriate pacing, clear articulation and varied pitch. The voice is an essential tool for teachers, social workers, salespeople, medical professionals and anyone working with the public. A good voice can make the difference between excellent or average performance in the workplace. Singing in class contributes to vocal development.
   
   Students in guitar class gain reading and writing experience in different ways. The instructor should provide essays and articles on various music topics that students are required to read. Students are intrinsically motivated to learn about the instrument, and will enjoy reading as a bridge to knowledge rather than as busy work. The guitar room should be equipped with guitar magazines and catalogs that are at students fingertips tempting them to read because they want to. Students will enjoy writing "a letter to a friend" describing what they are learning, in their own words and creating their own diagrams. They may also be asked to write "a letter to the instructor" describing their knowledge, and generating questions. Reading, writing and speaking are considered basic skills that are required in the workplace.
   
   
6. Guitar class improves personal qualities and interpersonal skills. The following is a brief list of personal and interpersonal skills that are developed in guitar class. Guitar students learn to be respectful and helpful with their peers during class-time. Students learn to assist and to teach others, and they learn that instructing others is necessary and appreciated. Through self assessment and peer evaluation students build a sense of individual responsibility and self esteem. Part of working with others is respecting the necessity and value of authority. In the classroom, as in the workplace, authority is a requirement for having an effective working organizational system. Students learn that being on time serves to benefit of everyone. They learn that equipment, space and educational resources must be maintained and cared for in order for the classroom to function. As students rehearse their own ensembles, they learn time management, leadership and group dynamics.

The preceding skills are universal to nearly all professions. The connection of guitar class to professions that specifically use music, hopefully are self evident. For example, discussing applications of guitar skills in professions such as teaching, ministry, or the the music business would be beyond the scope of this article.

I would say that one of the greatest values of studying guitar or any instrument is the student learns to enjoy the process and rewards of working hard and making measurable progress towards a meaningful goal. Sated another way, students experience the satisfaction of self-disciplined and self-generated work which leads to progress. Guitar class should be about much more than amusement. It should be about developing and reinforcing personal qualities, thinking skills, basic skills, communication skills and physical attributes that are advantageous in many areas of life.

Steve Eckels

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