Gitarre Hamburg
Basics • Style • Origin
GitarreHamburg is a non-profit limited company dedicated to the promotion of young guitarists. Together with the Kultur Palast Foundation and the Billstedt schools Schleemer Park and St. Paulus, Gitarre Hamburg has launched a project in 2018 as part of the nationwide support programme "Kultur macht stark" (Culture makes you strong), in which 44 children receive free guitar lessons. The young guitar beginners are given an instrument for their own use and practice. Lessons and instruments are free of charge for the children. In this way, children whose parents cannot afford music lessons are also given the opportunity to learn an instrument.
Basics
The 66 participants in the guitar courses in Billstedt are between 6 and 9 years old. The courses started 2018 and are held weekly at the Schleemer Park and St. Paulus schools in Billstedt. The children are taught the basics of playing the guitar from professional guitar teachers. The understanding and the ability to read note is also part is of the courses. The group is open to other children who would like to learn the guitar. The aim is to awaken the joy of music and to give the children the basic knowledge and technique of playing the guitar, so that they can possibly become a member of a junior team of the JugendGitarrenOrchester-Hamburg later on. From the very beginning the children are introduced to public performances, which are both an incentive and motivation.
Activities
GitarreHamburg originally was founded in 2000. In 2011 the group bundled all their activities in a non- profit limited liability company. The activities are aimed in particular at Hamburg's children and young people and offer free support for young musical talents. The work mainly focuses on young talents getting prepared for playing in the ensemble JugendGitarrenOrchester-Hamburg (JGOH) and the young ensemble JGOH-Juniorteam. In order to reach that target workshops, coaching, master classes and concert events with international top guitarists are offered. The children learn from top guitarists during events like Hamburger Gitarrentage and the Hamburger Gitarrenfestival as well as a wide range of information about the guitar on the national exchange platform GitarreKonkret. In this way, the GitarreHamburg project has a widely recognized impact beyond merely orchestral work. As an example of the successful word of GitarreHamburg some competitors in the “Jugend musiziert” competition have delivered excellent results. As for the Billstedt project, children between the ages of 6 and 9 are introduced to playing the guitar.
Style
The children in the Billstedt group learn about the various styles of guitar music looking at very simple songs, film music such as the James Bond theme as well as classical guitar music. The music always originates from different countries and epochs. Accompanying traditional group lessons the young beginners perform in concerts along with older guitarists who have already experience for years also in completion such as “Jugend musiziert”. Playing along with experienced children is very inspiring to the beginners. Normally, the smaller children take on easier rhythm tasks while the melody is typically carried out by the more experienced students.
Audience and the pupils enjoy concerts such as at the summer festival at the Kultur Palast Hamburg. "I would like to be able to play like that," said one of the Billstedt guitar children about a performance given by older pupils. The guitar teachers introduce the kids to daily practice. The children wear a uniform stage outfit.
Photos: Felix Zimmermann
Video: Sebastian Vogt
Dates
Children from 6 to 10 years; Beginners
Thursday: 17:15 - 18:15 Uhr
Location: Kultur Palast Hamburg | Tanzstudio 3,
Öjendorfer Weg 30a , 22119 Hamburg
Students from Schleemer Park and St. Paulus schools
Monday: 13:30 - 17:30 Uhr
Location: Schule am Schleemer Park
Oberschleems 9, 22117 Hamburg
Location: Katholische Schule St. Paulus
Öjendorfer Weg 14, 22111 Hamburg