Hilltop Music Lab, new business in the Collective

The Crier sat down with Julia Graham at her new teaching studio, Hilltop
Music Lab, in the Collective. Graham moved into the space just a few
weeks ago, but tells us that already, 45 students are taking lessons and
learning about music at Hilltop.

Graham spent about a year giving lessons out of her home in Idyllwild,
and taught for many years down in Orange County. She has been playing
instruments her whole life: keyboard at age 6, guitar at around age 10,
drums at age 14. Graham is well connected to Idyllwild: “When I was a
kid, my grandma lived here, so I would always come on the weekends and
for summers. My mom grew up here, my parents actually met up here, now
my family lives here: four sisters, both my parents, a grandma, three
nieces and a nephew.”

Most of the students at Hilltop are elementary to high school age, but a
new group class for toddlers is starting Fridays, and neighbors also see
the occasional adult show up with a guitar in hand and leave with a
smile on their face. The studio is an attractive and light-filled space
full of guitars, basses, keyboards and drums.

“The goal is to give kids the chance to learn how to play music with
each other, as a band, and put on little shows for family and friends,”
she said. Complete beginners are introduced to the basics, the count and
how beats fit into it, how the notes are laid out on guitar or piano,
how it all fits together. The mission is: “Giving kids the tools they
need to go home and be able to play the instrument and have fun with
it.”

The sign out front reads “music and acting,” and Graham’s friend Sammie
Busby will soon start acting classes for adults in the evening. The
music lessons run from around 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“A lot of the kids who come here know each other. It’s a small town.
It’s exciting for them to feel like they can go home, and hang out with
their friends and play. The power of music, and that form of expressing
yourself is awesome.” Graham notes how a lesson can lift spirits and
make a student’s day.

Graham knows how to individualize lessons, pitching to the student’s
interest. “At the first lesson, I always ask them who their favorite
artists are and what kind of music they want to learn.” With that
emotional connection, students begin learning something they already
know and relate to. “A lot of times they are surprised at how easy is to
play a whole song with just two or three chords.”

Graham has recently been approved to be a vendor for Mission Vista
Academy, so lessons can be seamlessly integrated into a homeschooling
program. With band classes, Hilltop is an opportunity for homeschoolers
(and others) to get together with peers in a creative group activity.

Hilltop Music and Acting, www.hilltopmusiclab.com, 54440 North Circle
Dr.