Music was the gateway to education for NASC student

Nathan T., has been playing an instrument since he was 10 but it wasn’t until he came to Northern Adelaide Senior College did he become serious about music.

“I wanted to come back to school after I had injured myself,” says Nathan.

“I wanted to get my education back and I heard that the music program here was heaps awesome. I thought I wanted to do it. Now I’m in most of the music classes and doing well at the moment.”

Music for Life is one of those subjects.

“Music for Life is an introduction to music as a culture and as a skill. Within Music for Life you can walk in with no skills and learn as much as you would like,” says Connor Earle, Music for Life teacher.

“We explore history, we explore different genres and styles and, all as a group, we learn to play simple chords, understand simple notation and work as an ensemble.

“I think it’s a really comfortable environment in which people can try out music and then maybe use it to discover whether they want to continue pursuing that.”

Music has enabled Nathan to rediscover and reinvent his passion for music.

“The last few years, especially from coming here, my passion for music has grown more and more so I try to get myself into as many music classes as possible,” says Nathan.

“When I heard about this class, I thought that it would help with my career path and my Community Studies B class.

“I want to get into event management for music festivals – that kind of stuff. So I’m using this class as sort of a learning step for the community studies side and it gets me playing music that I love.

“It’s honestly just a great class especially with Connor as a teacher who’s making the class learn really well.

“We’re all improving our skills now and the Community Studies side allows us to have more free rein with our ideas.

“Some people have focused on events; some have focused on creating new songs or working with a band. I know someone is trying to set up an open mic kind of thing.”

Nathan is grateful that NASC listened and tailored his timetable to suit his career goals and provide the experiences needed to be confident at school and life.

“It’s been awesome actually. All the teachers have helped me with learning different subjects,” says Nathan.

“I never thought I would be able to pass because I have a problem understanding English normally. I had a lot of teachers explain it in a way that I could understand.”

Nathan encourages students to pick Music for Life if they’re new to studying music as a subject.

“The two best classes to start off with is Music for Life because of its community side. It’s not hard-to-learn music, it’s fun and easier to learn,” says Nathan.

“Then you have Music Experience, what helps you to learn the basics to prepare you for Music Explorations where it becomes more technical and you’ve got to play more seriously.

“I would honestly say that if you’re umming and ahhing for joining music, it’s worth a shot. You may like it, you may not.”

“It’s one of those things that’s always fun to join because you may end up loving it and it becomes a hobby. It’s something you can learn and it’s a skill that everybody loves.”

Interested in Music for Life or any of our other music subjects? Contact Northern Adelaide Senior College to book an appointment to discuss your options on (08) 7285 1600.