BOULDER — Jen Pastalo Dacpano calls it an “urban guitar revolution.”
“Music is a birthright,” she proclaims. Everyone should have the chance to explore music as far as they want, she says.
That’s why Dacpano, a school psychologist in Denver, paired up with Boulder teacher Nicole Severson to offer free and discounted guitar lessons to children after school in Denver. The roots were simple: “I loved guitar so, so much and wanted to share it with kids.”
Since then, the mission has deepened, and the influence broadened. Now, Dacpano runs a company called City Strings Guitar that has taught guitar to more than 200 children in 10 schools, expanding to 15 this fall, with plans to expand into Boulder County. She and Severson are writing their own curriculum. And their fundraising efforts continue. Eventually, she hopes to offer one music class for every class purchased at regular price, a model she’s borrowing from Toms Shoes.
“When music is involved, kids reach their full potential,” Dacpano says. “When kids have the ability to express their artistic side, even if they’re not strong in the academic realm, it can be an island of strength to them. It’s dire that music stays in kids’ lives in any shape or fashion.”
Dacpano’s sentiments are not singular. Many local music teachers offer sliding scales or packages to bring the cost down. A typical music lesson can cost about $1 per minute, which can span hundreds of dollars per month — not to mention the cost of instruments.
Some music programs offer scholarships, often set up as memorial funds.
Doe Kelly, a voice teacher in Longmont, says she has thought long and hard about her prices. She says it’s a tough balancing act between getting paid a fair rate and keeping her rates low enough to not push anyone away. She offers a sliding scale that has reached as low as $25 per hour.
Boulder percussionist Nick Summer says he offers drum and bass guitar lessons for all levels at only $10 per lesson, to specifically cater to lower-income students who want to learn. He is classically trained with years of national touring experience.
“My mission is to teach in a fun, clean, environment, while spreading the knowledge of music,” he says.
Then there are the bigger efforts.
The Colorado Music Festival and Rocky Mountain Center for Musical Arts’ Heartstrings program have tuition assistance (this year topping $25,000) and a musical instrument bank, with 250 instruments to rent on a sliding scale for as little as $5 a month.
At any given time, 20 to 35 percent of the group’s 550 students per week receive tuition assistance, according to Kat Fritz, education director. A half-hour private lesson is $27, which can be discounted up to 50 percent, she says.
She says the program also works with the Boulder Valley School District to hold inexpensive instrument fairs for students. One Lafayette middle school teacher rents instruments for needy students out of his own pocketbook.
