Learning Guitar In College
Viki and her guitar.
A Settlement Music Online student spotlight.
Between study sessions and classes, you’ll probably find Princeton student Viki Mancoridis with a guitar, a hobby she picked up just two years ago. “There was this one night where a group of friends and I got together to hang out. One of them is a really amazing guitar player, so he started playing us some music and everyone was listening, singing, and having a great time,” remembers Viki. “I was so inspired after that night that I decided to learn how to play guitar!”
College students are busy, and it can sometimes be hard to find time for learning a new instrument while juggling so many courses. The flexibility of Settlement Music Online has meant that Viki, alongside her guitar and computer, can take lessons without even leaving her dorm room.
But why Settlement? “When I was looking through options for guitar lessons, I thought back to how much I enjoyed Settlement as a kid,” she recalls.
Guitar isn’t Viki’s first instrument. Back in elementary school, Thursdays were for two things: ice cream and piano lessons with Settlement’s Michael Caruso. “My dad used to pick my sister and I up from school and he would always get us ice cream before piano class,” says Viki. “So every Thursday, I’d show up to Settlement with a huge ice cream and my fingers would always be really cold when I started my lesson.”
A young Viki learning piano alongside Michael Caruso.
Despite those chilly fingers, Viki’s love for learning and playing music has followed her to Princeton, where she is majoring in computer science. With two more years left in her undergraduate program, she’s starting to mull over options for life after college. “Some options I am considering are becoming a software engineer or going to graduate school,” she says.
For now, Viki’s enjoying college, making new friends on campus, practicing the folk and folk-rock she’s learning through Settlement Music Online, and getting excited about digging into more percussive guitar playing in her future lessons.
If you’re heading to college and thinking about continuing your lessons with Settlement Music Online, Viki says, “go for it! Whether you’re continuing an instrument that you’ve been playing for years or starting something completely new, taking music lessons can be really fulfilling. Plus, it’s a great change of rhythm (pun intended!) from the college grind.”
