The MVHS Music Department recently reintroduced the Guitar course for the 2025-26 school year after its temporary hiatus from the course offerings. Choir and now Guitar teacher Lofn Young partnered with Homestead High School choir director and music theory teacher Jeff Morton to write the proposal to the district and develop the class.
Working together with the assistant principals at each respective campus, the two teachers submitted an A-G approval application for certification from the University of California education system and attended two board meetings to gather general student interest data and write unit descriptions for the course.
The course is currently offered at MVHS and HHS, and is open to all students of any experience level. Young initially wanted to bring this class back when she realized that there weren’t many beginner-level classes offered at the MVHS Music Department because a large number of MVHS freshmen entered high school with several years of prior musical experience already. Guitar is currently the only class in the music department without a concert or performance requirement as part of the course, and Young wants to provide accessibility for students who are new to music.
“One of the things I like about music is that the curriculum is a little more flexible and you’re able to meet people where they are,” Young said. “I’m really enjoying the groups this year. It’s a large class, so we’re working in cohorts of five to seven based on experience level, and I think creating these smaller groups within the larger class has been really successful.”
As a newcomer to guitar, sophomore Avishi Bansal believes that Young’s organization of the class is helpful for those like her who haven’t played guitar before. Her peers in her skill-level cohort were all supportive of one another during classes.
“Generally, I feel like when you do things with people who are much better than you, they tend to judge you a lot,” Bansal said. “Like, ‘Oh my god, you can’t even play it.’ But since everyone is around the same skill level in our cohorts, we would help each other more than judge, because we all understand what it feels like in the moment.”
Bansal, who had no prior experience in music beyond playing the keyboard at age 10, was excited when she saw the new course offering at MVHS. As a big fan of pop superstar Taylor Swift and the K-Pop boy band Stray Kids, Bansal wanted to learn a new instrument.
“Since I’m taking quite a few hard classes this year, I thought it’d be a chill class where I can relax and just get to play as well as learn something new,” Bansal said. “I just love to learn new stuff all the time.”
On the other hand, freshman Amena Elhak is a student in the Guitar course with three years of guitar experience. Despite this, Elhak has gained various skills from the class, such as playing with other guitars, and plans to try to perfect her music scales. She also mentions that the class’s overall welcoming experience increased her excitement and inspired her to work toward her initial goal of learning new songs.
“My favorite memory so far in the class was when me and two other students in my group decided to learn ‘Umbrella’ by Rihanna,” Elhak said. “We were just playing it and singing along, and it was really fun.”
The class is currently working on learning basic chords and strumming patterns. Young will soon transition from rhythm to melody, then to individual string picking, and will also explore electronics in the spring. She is taking this class at a slower pace, ensuring that each student grasps all the basic knowledge.
“With it being truly a beginner course, we do move at a pretty slow pace, and I love that there’s no performance pressure that we have to really put on ourselves,” Young said. “I think the way the class functions for everyone’s peace of mind is really nice. It’s really just a very calm and uplifting atmosphere. It’s a really great community so far, and we’re only two months into school, so I’m really excited to see where it goes.”
Young planned a series of icebreakers and class bonding activities to help build healthy class relationships at the beginning of the new year, including an MBTI test that determined each student’s personality. Bansal, who originally expected the class to require a high level of commitment, believes that these bonding opportunities helped the class form unexpected connections and friendships between both the students and Young.
“It’s a good way to get to know each other more and to see, ‘Oh, someone’s really good at this thing. Maybe they have similar interests to me,’” Bansal said. “We get to know people from outside our cohort and people who we don’t spend as much time with when we are actually learning guitar.”
Similar to Bansal, Elhak also believes that the new class provides the students with a valuable chance to unwind during a busy school week and to reconnect with each other through music. She mentions that taking a music class in school or learning an instrument is a good way for students to relax, and try out something new they might not have experimented with before.
“I think that learning music is very carefree,” Elhak said. “It’s kind of a break from the rest of school life for most people. I’ve heard that music and math are on the same side of the brain or something, and so it might be good for you if you play guitar. And it’s just a fun hobby to have. It’s just like a break from other things in your life.”
As the Guitar class continues to pilot its curriculum throughout its first year back in session, both teachers and students say they maintain high hopes for the direction the course takes. Young plans to incorporate an optional final performance opportunity for the students to showcase their learning while experimenting with introducing new content and curriculum, and remains excited about the future of the class.
“I couldn’t be happier,” Young said. “I’m so happy to get to meet a whole new group of students at Monta Vista. I feel like they’re just plugged in in such a great way. It’s such a great class, and it just kind of feeds our souls. We just get to sit around and jam together. It’s a low-stakes course than some of the other classes, and it’s just a really great opportunity for students to be able to connect to themselves differently and have community with each other in a way that I hope adds to their quality of life here at Monta Vista.”
