Guitar Program Spotlight Interview With Bayonne High School Instructor: Vin Downes


Thomas Amoriello


Fleminton Raritan School District tamoriel@frsd.k12.nj.us


Ensemble in May. In the past many of his students were selected to be a part of this event and I thought our readers would be interested in knowing more about Vin. Enjoy!


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Please tell us about your school and overall Music Program? I started the classical guitar program at Bayonne High School in


2012. It began with just a Guitar 1 class offering beginning classical guitar technique. Since then, the program has grown to offer Guitar 1, 2 and 3 level classes as well as numerous performing ensembles including: Guitar 2 Ensemble, Guitar 3 Ensemble, Combined En- semble, Chamber Guitar Ensemble and Honors Guitar Quartet. I have had over 100 students enrolled in the program every year. It is one of the most popular electives in my school.


t is my pleasure to interview Vin Downes for our January issue of TEMPO. He is a respected guitar educator in New Jersey who will conduct the 2018 NJMEA Honors Guitar


guitar studies at WPU, I frequently performed with the New Music Ensemble under direction of Raymond Des Roche and Peter Jarvis. I also studied composition with Hugh Aitken and Jeffery Kresky.


What obstacles did you face when you were first hired at


your school? There weren’t any real obstacles, other than it was 17 years of teaching general, vocal and instrumental music in the elementary school before I was given the opportunity to start a high school gui- tar program. I was persistent and asked every year though…and it paid off. This is a dream gig for a guitar teacher.


What kind of guitar level classes do you teach? All of my classes are related to classical guitar. Guitar 1 class


offers students beginning studies in classical guitar technique. Most students who take the class have never played guitar. Students who have had some experience in playing guitar usually do not read mu- sic and have never played fingerstyle guitar, so the course is new for them. Guitar 2 class continues studies in classical technique and is also part of the performance component of the guitar program. Students learn and perform intermediate level ensemble music and participate in all of our recitals. Guitar 3 class continues technique studies with emphasis on more advanced ensemble repertoire, vari- ous chamber guitar settings, as well as developing a solo repertoire. Seniors interested in pursuing music in college work on preparing their auditions. Students participate in all community and school recitals, festivals, and competitions. I direct and coach numerous performing ensembles after school including: Guitar 2 Ensemble, Guitar 3 Ensemble, Combined Ensemble, Chamber Guitar Ensem- ble, Honors Guitar Quartet and BHS Arts Academy Guitar lessons.


What can you say about your own personal musical back-


ground growing up and your collegiate experience? I began playing guitar at age 11. I started out playing rock/ heavy metal guitar and playing in bands in middle and high school. I took private lessons, so I learned how to read music from the start. I took jazz band my junior year of high school, and my teacher David Watson, really expanded my playing and my ears. I began listen- ing to as many different styles of music as I could find. When I came across the guitarists of “Windham Hill Records” (Ackerman, Hedges, Cullen. de Grassi), I decided to dedicate myself to learning how to play fingerstyle guitar, and work towards going to college to study classical guitar. I earned my B.A. in classical performance and education at William Paterson University in 1994. Along with my


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What would you like to say to the non-guitarist music edu- cator that is about to or interested in incorporating the guitar into their program? Even if you are a non-guitarist, a few chords can go a long way.


Pick up a guitar and learn some open position chords and start a guitar club at your school. Guitar is incredibly popular at the middle school and high school level because you can find it in just about every genre of music. It is a fantastic gateway for students who may not fit into the other performance components of a music program to get involved. That’s how I first got involved in my high school music program…the jazz band needed a guitar player. It’s an effec- tive tool to increase your program’s reach to students who might not ordinarily sign up.


JANUARY 2018


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