The Rolling Stones, The Who, and The Beatles are all bands that made it big, but they had to start somewhere, right? Well, Tarbut has a wonderful program to help young rockstars find their musical talent called garage band. There are three different garage band classes: seventh grade, eighth grade and high school. All grades vary in music genres based on the class’ strangest and weakest points. This means songs for each group are different. Mr. Bachelder, the garage band teacher used to be in a high school band and chooses songs based on suggestions, cord progression, ability and the strongest points of the band.
Mr. Bachelder has been involved in music his whole life. He started off playing piano but hated it and switched to trumpet. Along the way he has picked up drums and guitar. Mr. Bachelder also is a singer in a band called Northern 45. He started singing in his college choir. In college he studied for a degree in jazz. From this he learned how to write his own music, a skill he uses in his classes.
Mr. Bachelders’s largest class is his high school class which has 20 members. The band leader is the amazing saxophone player Alex Sable. Mr. Bachelder feels the high school band gives him more options. “The high school band gives me lots to experiment with,” says Mr. Bachelder, “... I have a surplus of new ideas.” The songs that the class performed for the concert were Bittersweet Symphony, Shine, Clarity, September, and Mr. Bachelders’s personal favorite 25 or 6 to 4.
The eighth grade garage band class is a bit smaller but still has talent. There are 16 members of this band. They have preformed Bohemian Rhapsody, Proud Mary, Kashmere, and Shark in the Water.
The seventh grade garage band is smallest with eleven band members. The seventh grade class has played Half of my Heart, I’m Yours, Soul Sister, and Mustang Sally.
Mr. Bachelder is very grateful for his garage bands. He has gained skills such as patience, writing arrangements and has taken people from all different levels and taught them at the same pace. “Seeing a class (of) students... come together and make amazing music is (my) favorite part of my job,” he said. Garage band is a creative art elective at TVT that has sparked new interests in many students.