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Note by Note

As Victor Mirea (11) sat in front of his students during one of his electric guitar lessons, he heard the students’ uncertain strumming, shaky notes that were weakly plucked faltered through the air. Noticing their struggle, Victor broke the melody into simple, manageable parts, each chord and strum becoming a stepping stone. As he watched them catch on, he couldn’t help but think back to his own childhood, wide-eyed with curiosity, listening to his grandpa play the guitar. Seeing the kids smile, he felt that connection come full circle.

Mirea’s electric guitar journey began at the age of 6, a gradual one that led to him discovering his passion later on.

“I saw videos online of people playing and my grandpa played electric guitar,” Mirea said. “He inspired me, and I played on and off, but later on in fourth grade, I got lessons and that’s when I really found out that I liked it.”

By the time Mirea reached high school, he joined a band with friends he made at School of Rock, a music school he attended.

“At first I was a little bit nervous, but [the band] became really fun,” he said. “We went on a tour in California around LA, up and down the coast. We had one in the House of Blues, and that was packed, but everything else was usually just [gigs in] restaurants.”

Reminiscing on his time in the band, Mirea shares one of his favorite moments during a tour.

“I think one of the most memorable moments is when I did my California tour and in one day, we played at four different venues, back to back to back,” he said. “I remember being so tired, but it was also so cool at the same time. We met other bands and it was the coolest thing ever that we were moving in a van and we would discuss what songs we should play on this next show because we didn’t have a full plan down. I felt like a rock star, it was crazy.”

As he eventually outgrew the band due to a growth in his personal style, Mirea and his bandmates parted ways, leading him to discover his passion for teaching.

“It’s easy for me to teach music because it’s what I know best,” he said. “I never found it a chore. When I was teaching my little cousins, they were so interested when I would show them something on the guitar. [When I started teaching] I thought, ‘They must hate this.’ But then their mom and dad would text me ‘When are you gonna come over for the next lesson?’”

Inheriting a nonprofit called Note by Note from a senior mentor, Mirea expanded the program to many youth in the area through facebook and various advertisements. Focused on free, accessible music lessons for elementary and middle school students, the foundation meets on Wednesdays in the community room at the PQ library. 

“We start their first lesson by asking the kids what they want to learn,” he said. “It’s not very strict. It’s more for fun, helping the kids learn simple songs that they like. We just keep working on the song and once they finish that, we go to the next song, and along the way, they learn the music theory of these songs and grow with it.”

Through the difficulties of navigating how to run a non-profit, Mirea has found valuable moments that make the effort worthwhile. 

“I had this one kid named John that I was tutoring for a year and he was my buddy,” he said. “At first I thought he looked bored during the lessons. But over the summer, [when] we couldn’t do Note by Note that much because we couldn’t get the community room in the library, he texted me and he was willing to pay me to go to his house. So he reached out to me first and I found it sick that he was actually interested.”

Mirea envisions expanding the foundation’s offerings to include group performances, where students can showcase their progress.

“In the future, I would love to have performances of these kids playing together,” he said. “That would be cool but the problem is because we’re nonprofit, we don’t really have anything to start with unless it’s a little backyard show, but I would love to do a tiny performance with these kids.”

Reflecting on his journey, Mirea said as his love for the electric guitar has flourished, he is now able to see electric guitar in music as something that’s more easily done than what he thought it to be.

“Music means a lot to me now because when I first picked up the guitar, I had no grasp on music at all,” he said. “Now I see the behind-the-scenes of how music is made. I think everyone should try learning music. I think if you choose the right instrument for you and stick to it, it can actually become a stress reliever for you.”

 

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About the Contributor
Sophia Tran
Sophia Tran, Staff Writer
Sophia Tran (10) is starting her first year as a part of The Nexus. She enjoys sewing new wardrobe pieces and lion dancing on the weekends.