For Zach and Daniel, Music is Everything.
Zach and Daniel are a duo that have interest in perfecting an art: Guitar.
Zach, a Community Participation Supports Specialist at Valley Community Services, has been a proponent of learning with Daniel, an individual which he supports. “He is very good at it, and I get better because I’m learning alongside him”, Zach says.
Although he is based in Westmoreland County, Zach has the propensity to travel to many regions of the Agency. With VCS services expanding up to Mercer County, Zach will be one of the first to be there.
Band Together Pittsburgh is a musical organization dedicated to empowering and creating a new generation of disabled musicians. Many of their students have Autism or another Intellectual Disability.
Tom, the instructor who has been teaching both Zach and Daniel, is an experienced musician of multiple decades: “I’ve been teaching guitar since the early to late 90s”, he mentioned. He just recently started teaching for Band Together, soon after he met Zach and Daniel.
Even as a music instructor, Tom is very cognizant of how important it is to cater to every student. He goes a long way to create a music-focused Person-Centered Support Plan: “When you’re trying to get a repertoire going, the method I use is geared toward that individual.” He continues by saying “It focuses on what their strengths are, so we can move them forward with increased motivation to play.”
Band Together Pittsburgh also organizes Intellectual Disability and Autism Awareness events, as well as disability-friendly open mic nights, among others. Most incredibly, they also provide students with instruments. If they stick with the instrument for a year, they donate the instrument to the student!
Since picking up a guitar for the first time, Daniel has enjoyed learning some songs. “I’m learning Jingle Bells and Country Roads”, he said.
Additionally, Daniel plans to use his new skill for good, as he plans on serenading his fiancée.
Daniel doesn’t know where music will take him next, but learning guitar has been a great experience when he gets to learn from Tom and Zach. “It went pretty good”, he said after a lesson near Christmas.