November Student of the Month: Sydney M.

Sixteen-year-old Sydney M. has been taking guitar lessons at Music & Rock School since July of 2009, making her one of our longest-running students at the school. For the first two years, she was mainly focused on guitar, eagerly getting involved in all the MaRS student concerts, including both Peakfest and the Apex Jazz Festival recently, and even participating in one of our studio sessions. However, she recently decided to take it one step further and signed up for voice lessons as well!

“What’s cool about Sydney is that she wants to know everything about music,” says John, her guitar instructor.  “She’s a bit of a perfectionist, but it I think that’s what pushes her to continue learning.” Sydney doesn’t necessarily deny the perfectionist label, claiming that her favorite thing about lessons is that “when you ask a question, the instructors make sure you understand the answer completely before moving on.”

Sydney cites her main musical influence as Tom Morello, but when we asked her which songs she currently has on her wish list to learn how to play and sing, it’s clear she also looks up to the strong female vocalists of bands like Paramore and Flyleaf. “I’d really like to be able to sing and play ‘All Around Me’ by Flyleaf,” she says.

“It’s been exciting seeing her progress from an absolute beginner on guitar to someone who’s playing some advanced stuff, writing music, and now branching out to singing too,” John says. With her great attitude we know we certainly can’t wait to see what she has to show us at the next performance!

To see a video of Sydney's solo performance of "Blackbird" by The Beatles at our 2011 Summer concert, click here!