Young musos at Waimea College got the chance to play alongside Jon Toogood of Shihad fame last month, to fine tune their own musical skills.
The 51-year-old is part of the Musicians Mentoring in Schools’ Programme that places professional musicians into schools.
Last week Waimea College ran a workshop for its young musicians to work with the singer/songwriter.
Jon has produced a dozen albums over the years and has been mentoring in schools for the past decade.
He says music is a way for him to make sense of the world and it is the same for the younger generation of musicians.
“You’re dealing with art students who tend to be slightly more sensitive and emotional creatures. They’re processing the world and feel things more deeply, which is a blessing and a curse. But if you have an outlet like music, it helps you process those emotions.
“I’m a sensitive creature, even after 51 years. But I’m used to criticism now. I’m just trying to teach them to get what they want to say across more clearly and deeply.
“Not everyone is a musician, so sometimes you have to make it easy for humans to hear what you’re saying by changing the dynamics or the chords. It’s so nice doing it on other people’s music.”
Waimea student Mia Kinzett is a budding singer/songwriter who performed in the Smokefreerockquest heats and was asked by the judges to write another three songs which will compete with the top 30 nationally, online.
Jon worked with her on one of her songs, singing and playing alongside her to get the most of out of it with dynamics and chords.
Head of music department, Nick Sharpe, says the experience a top New Zealand musician such as Jon can give students is priceless and something they cannot learn in a classroom.
