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| Matt Hespelt Awarded Player of the Month for December 2008 Bill Wright's Guitar Studio has awarded Matt Hespelt of Sparta, NJ the Player of the Month Award for December 2008. Matt Hespelt picked up the guitar at age 9. His interest in classic rockers Led Zeppelin and Rush motivated him to become a guitar player, and he showed plenty of motivation from the start, spending time working out each new chord, each new technique, all the while learning to play his favorite songs. His instructor, Seth Fleishman describes Matt as "a great kid. Definitely spends time with his guitar. And has fun doing it." As Matt was preparing to enter Sparta Middle school, he set a goal for himself to play guitar in the school jazz band. He took on additional lessons with Bill Wright, specifically designed to prepare him for jazz band. As always, Matt applied himself to the task and ultimately won the guitar spot in the jazz band. But for a highly motivated student like Matt, that wasn't enough to satisfy his thirst. He has taken on additional lessons with instructor Jeff Gaynor focusing on music theory and composition. Bill Wright sums it up, "What Matt is getting is basically a one-on-one music school. His skills and knowledge now include rock, blues, and jazz guitar, and continue to expand into other areas. He's learning music theory and composition. His knowledge of music history is growing. He's going to be a very good guitar player. He's a great student and we all enjoy working with him." In addition to his jazz and theory lessons, Matt continues to take lessons with his first instructor, Seth Fleishman, concentrating on rock and blues guitar, with a focus on soloing. "We're currently working through some of the all-time great rock solos. And seeing how they connect back to the great blues artists. It's a holistic education. You get the technique and skill, but also learn where it comes from, and how to translate that into your own expression of music." Matt isn't through setting goals for himself. He hopes to attend the prestigious Berklee School of Music after high school. All his instructors agree, if he keeps doing what he's doing, he definitely can achieve that goal. write your comments about the article :: © 2008 Jazz News :: home page |