You’ve heard of a petting zoo for animals, but what about a petting zoo for musical instruments?
The Northampton Community Music Center (NCMC) will host its second “Instrument Petting Zoo” on Tuesday, Aug. 26, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Guests will have the opportunity to walk through the NCMC and listen to a variety of classical and rock instruments played live and to try out playing those instruments themselves. Each room in the building will be set up to feature a different instrument or instrument family (string, percussion, woodwind, etc.).
“For young people who have never explored the idea of learning a musical instrument, it’s a great way for them to see the whole gamut of opportunity available to them in one day in one space,” said NCMC executive director Jason Trotta. “It’s exciting to walk through a building and hear all the different sounds, all the different possibilities.”
The purpose of the Instrument Petting Zoo is to give children – especially incoming students at John F. Kennedy Middle School, whose band director Shelby Serio co-hosts the event – an opportunity to experience instruments they might not have seen in person before in a low-stakes way. For those who are interested in taking lessons or engaging with other programming at NCMC, the event is also an open house, allowing them to meet their future instructors and see how the organization works.
“Our hope is we are gonna light that spark by just having them in the space,” Trotta said, “and that’s the exciting thing about not only the open house, but also the [NCMC]: you are exposed to so much music coming out of every room and through the walls, and there’s so much to look at and listen to, and that exploration for children is what ignites that spark.”
An Instrument Petting Zoo also helps kids to understand some of the logistical factors of playing an instrument, like if they’re the right size for it. (This reporter, for example, was too small to hold the proper hand positions on her cello as a child. Serio, likewise, started playing trombone in the fourth grade and was too small at the time to reach sixth position.) Serio said many of her students had previously watched someone playing an instrument on YouTube without having seen it in person, so an event like this helps manage their expectations.
“You see someone playing an instrument [online] and say, ‘Oh, I want to do that,’ without realizing how big does your hand have to be to reach the keys on a saxophone,” Serio said. “Being able to see and hold the instruments in person, if they haven’t had an opportunity like that, is really important as they move forward.”
The petting zoo will include violin, viola, cello, bass, rock guitar, piano, flute, snare drums, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, and euphonium, among others.
The event isn’t just for incoming middle schoolers, though. The NCMC hopes to attract older adults who may want to join its New Horizons Band, whose members are seniors with little to no formal music education who perform in the community. Sometimes, those members may want to learn an instrument as their grandchild does, too.
Serio, who performs with the Florence Community Band, said that collaborating on a concert with the New Horizons Band last year was rewarding.
“It was so fantastic, especially as a public school music teacher, to see how music can still influence people throughout their lives,” she said.
The petting zoo is also open to parents of children under 5, who are able to take part in NCMC’s Music Together program.
Serio said anyone who’s on the fence about learning to play an instrument should take the chance and try out the Instrument Petting Zoo.
“You’re not signing up to commit to anything; you’re not signing your life away,” she said. “You get to explore things at your own pace, you get to talk with people who are very knowledgeable on what the start of your journey might be like, and just have a little faith in yourself that music is something that can positively impact you at any age.”
“It’s like anything else in life,” she added. “It’s gonna take a little bit of work, but if you are excited and interested in doing it, it’s a worthwhile and rewarding hobby to have.”
The Instrument Petting Zoo is free and open to the public; registration is not required. For more information about the Northampton Community Music Center, visit ncmc.net.
Carolyn Brown can be reached at cbrown@gazettenet.com.