By Jordan Mareno
“Okay, I want you to be practicing the B minor for next week. But make sure to focus on your biology test. I know that you’re going to kill it.”
These words of encouragement from Elizabeth Raby capture the mission behind Musical Empowerment, a student-run non-profit organization in Chapel Hill.
On the surface, Musical Empowerment is a program that pairs local underprivileged children with UNC student mentors. The university students meet with the children once a week and engage in one-on-one music lessons. From piano to ukulele, the program invites local students to engage with musical instruments that they may not otherwise have available to the them. In fact, the organization even lends instruments to the children, allowing them to practice at home in their free time. However, Musical Empowerment goes so much deeper than its description may let on.
I got the chance to sit in on one of Querli Gonzàlez’s guitar lessons with her UNC student mentor, Elizabeth Raby. Querli, a freshman at Chapel Hill High School, is one of the older kids in the program, as they accept children starting at the age of 6.
Querli arrived with her mother and two little sisters, who waited patiently in the hallway while she met with Elizabeth. The young girl sat down with her mentor and they began to play “Amazing Grace,” a song that they had been working on for a few weeks. Querli sang confidently and clearly, unaffected by the new faces in the room with her. Elizabeth smiled and added words of encouragement throughout the song as Querili led the way.
“That’s really great, Querli. I can tell that you’ve been practicing,” said Elizabeth as she put down her own guitar. She pointed to different areas along the neck of Querli’s instrument, making sure that her positioning was just right. “Try to adjust your index finger just a little bit. Yeah, like that. Okay, for our last run through this song, do you want to hold that note out or just play right through it?”
As the two girls strummed on their guitars, they did not appear to be a student-mentor pair. They seemed to be musical partners, enjoying the melodies that they could create together. After a solid run through “Amazing Grace,” they moved on to a second song, one that really showed off Querli’s vocal abilities. Comfortable with her instrument and excited to hear her voice filling up the room, Querli looked entirely natural with a guitar resting in her arms. Elizabeth taught her the tricky B minor chord and encouraged her to work on it at home.
In between songs, Elizabeth asked Querli about her family and how she liked school. And it wasn’t small talk. The two were genuinely interested in what the other had to offer in conversation. A familiarity existed that could only be the result of quality time spent together. In the hallway outside, kids and parents were giggling and running around, waiting for their lessons to begin. The church basement where the lesson was held was filled with an air of joy in its most pure form.
The girls posed for a few photographs before heading home, displaying authentic smiles and an image of camaraderie. The invisible benefits of Musical Empowerment were visible in Querli as her lesson came to a close.
The program teaches its participants to be confident, to be responsible, and to be dedicated. It gives them a feeling of safety and comfort, knowing that an individual outside of their family is truly invested in their success. And, in tandem, college students have an opportunity to share their passion for music with people in their community and to continue to explore their own musical abilities.
Musical Empowerment brings together people from radically diverse backgrounds and allows them to bond over the beauty of music. The effects of the program are, in their own way, an amazing grace located right here in Chapel Hill.
Photographs by Graysie Carreiro & Isha Garg
UNC-CH Lens 