Guitar club strikes chord

A year ago, Arturo Muñoz, 12, was a stranger to the guitar, a complete “newb” as his friends would call it. But on Friday, the Cameron Elementary sixth-grader strummed a flawless warm-up sequence in just 18 seconds, faster than all but one of his peers in the Guitar Club.

“I was inspired by my grandmother,” Muñoz said, ticking off a growing list of songs he has mastered in recent months. “My dad plays, too.”

When the final bell sounds on Friday afternoon, most students race out of the classroom and into the weekend. But for Muñoz and about 40 of his classmates, the end of the week also means the beginning of guitar practice.

An energetic bunch bursts into the school’s cafeteria, many of them lugging guitars as big as they are. The students assemble in a semi-circle and polish their rock-star riffs for one hour each week.

“I can do part of ‘Smoke on the Water,’ ” said Diego Salgado, 8, a third-grader who has also dabbled in piano. “And this one’s Metallica.”

The leader of the group is the capable Isaiah Chavez, a special education teacher at Cameron who also offers private guitar lessons. In teaching the extracurricular class, Chavez has come full circle. Chavez attended Cameron and learned his first chords as a fourth-grader at the school.

“Now it’s cool that I get to come back as a teacher and share this with them,” Chavez said after practice Friday. “It’s an outlet for the kids.”

This year, the students have practiced songs like “Ode to Joy” and “I Gotta Feeling” by The Black Eyed Peas in preparation for the West Texas Guitar Festival next month.

On Friday, Chavez stressed to the young musicians the importance of harmony when performing together.

“We’re going to sound like one guitar,” he said. “Don’t speed up. It’s not a race.”

As the hour winds down, the group lets out a collective sigh as Chavez says they’re running out of time. Every hand shoots up to volunteer for the last song.

As the students go their separate ways, Chavez reminds them to practice at home and complete their homework. One boy leaves behind his guitar folder nevertheless.

Not to worry, Chavez says, all of the music is posted on his page on the school’s website.

“We’re applying a little technology in the class, too,” Chavez quips.