北京市私立树人瑞贝学校的教育不只是帮助学生们学知识，考高分。成绩固然重要，但我校的教育宗旨是为学生们提供智力与个人全面成长的优良环境。

Education at Shuren-Ribet isn’t just about academics and top test scores. While these are still important, our mission is to provide a stimulating environment for both intellectual and personal growth for our students!

我校的目标是培养学生们成为自信且高效的沟通交流者、有责任心的全球公民、均衡发展且自律性强的个体，以及有创造力及分析能力的思考者。

We aim to help our learners become confident and effective communicators, conscientious global citizens, well-balanced and self-disciplined individuals, creative and analytical thinkers.

大家可以在校门口看到我们“中西贯通，品智达优”的教育理念，这不仅仅是一句口号；它描绘了教育的未来。

“Holistic Growth for Global Success” that we have at the entrance of our school isn’t just a slogan. These four words describe the future of education.

人们认为除了科学和数学，艺术、音乐和戏剧也有很光明的未来；成功往往会眷顾那些拥有广泛的跨学科能力的人。律师学习编程？医生著作小说？科学老师还是一名专业摄影师？非常有可能哦！

Some people believe that alongside sciences and mathematics art, music, and drama have very bright future; and success will come to those who have a wide range of interdisciplinary skills. A lawyer learning coding? A doctor writing a novel? A science teacher who is also a talented in-demand photographer? Very possible!

品智达优的理念不仅体现在学生的成长上，也体现在教师身上。

The idea of holistic growth is manifested not only in growth for our students, but also teachers.

我们一起认识一下Dominic Garcia老师吧！许多同学都认识Garcia老师，知道他是树人的一名英语老师，但大家知道他是一位天赋异禀的音乐家吗？

Meet Dominic Garcia! Many students know Mr. Garcia is an English teacher at our school, but didyou know that he’s also a talented musician?

今年，他为小学高年级以及初高中的学生们开设了古典吉他俱乐部活动。同学们非常喜欢加入他的课程，在学音乐的同时学英语！

This year, he hosts a classical guitar club for the students of upper-primary, middle school and high school. Students enjoy attending the club very much and learn music and English at the same time!

他为我们讲述了他与音乐的故事，儿童在学习乐器时常见的困难，以及给家长们的小建议。

He shares with us his story of falling in love with music, experiences about the difficulties children face learning to play musical instruments, as well as useful tips for parents.

Garcia老师在北德克萨斯州大学中学习了音乐。之后他在美国创建的吉他班成为了达拉斯的课程；他的学生赢得了全美大量的独奏与乐团奖项。

Mr. Garcia studied music at the University of North Texas. His guitar program in the U.S. grew to be the biggest program in Dallas; his students in the U.S. won many solo and ensemble awards across state.

音乐伴随着他长大，他对音乐的兴趣极其浓厚。在高中，他遇到了他的挚友，同样也是一名吉他爱好者，鼓舞他学着弹奏吉他。

Growing up, he was always interested in music. In high school, he met his best friends who both played guitar and inspired him to learn.

为什么选择古典吉他呢？

Why classical guitar?

我认为，吉他是世界上最有表现力的乐器。贝多芬有一句名言——“一把吉他就像一支小型管弦乐队。”换言之，管弦乐中每一种乐器的声音都能够通过吉他演奏出来。从铜管乐的激情，到弦乐的甜美，甚至是打击乐的声音，古典吉他都可以表现出来。

In my opinion the guitar is the most expressive instrument there it is. Beethoven famously said, “That the guitar is like a mini orchestra”, in other words, every type of sound produced by the different instruments of the orchestra can be produced on the guitar. From the aggressive sound of the brass section to the dolce sound of the string section to even the sound of percussion section, the classical guitar can do it all.

虽然Garcia老师从高中才开始弹吉他，但他相信学吉他的黄金年龄是四五年级的时候。“学生的高级运动能力在这个年纪才会成熟，帮助他们在弹奏中释放表现力。”

Even though he began playing in high school, he believes the perfect age to start learning the guitar is 4th and 5th grade. “At this point in time the fine motor skills have developed enough to play the instrument expressively”, he says.

正如许多青少年一样，Garcia老师年轻时也喜欢听重金属音乐，他最喜欢的音乐家是Metallica 乐队的James Hetfield。他说大多数人都不会觉得重金属和古典乐有相似性，但是他们的弹奏技法都是相同的！

As many young people of the time, Mr. Garcia listened to heavy metal and back then his favorite musician was James Hetfield of Metallica. He says that most people would never assume how similar heavy metal and classical music are, but they are both the study of technique!

Garcia老师认为对于儿童们来说，学会演奏一名乐器的两个挑战其中之一便是拥有足够的耐心来学习弹奏技法。

Having the patience to master the technique is one of the two biggest challenges he outlines for children aspiring to learn to play a musical instrument.

“无论你学习演奏吉他、钢琴还是小提琴，的两个挑战往往是相同的：

最初的学习曲线；每一个人开始学乐器时都是会面对大量的未知探索，但复杂性一旦上去了，人们往往会放弃。

热情；我发现学生如果只专注于课上的内容，则会渐渐丧失兴趣。”

“Whether you’re learning to play the guitar, the piano, or the violin, the two biggest challenges are always the same:

The initially learning curve; whenever someone begins to learn an instrument there is a great deal of discovery, but once things begin to become more complex, people tend to give up.

Enthusiasm; I’ve found that students begin to lose interest when they only focus on what is taught in their lessons.”

Garcia老师认为，要克服这些挑战的唯一出路便是保持住学习的热情。“一定要选择能够激励你的音乐。如果你在热爱的音乐上投入一些时间，就一定能够战胜这些困难。”

Mr. Garcia adds that the only way to overcome these challenges is to preserve enthusiasm. “Always go to the music that inspires you, if you devote some time to playing the music that you love, you will always overcome these challenges.”

他为家长和同学们提出了三点建议：

1.让孩子们自由地选择能够激励他们的乐器！

2.无论孩子弹奏哪种乐器，你首先需要注意的是音调。如果音调不准需要改进，请告诉孩子们慢下来，把注意力集中在声音上。

3.带着感情去演奏。音乐是一种艺术形式，目的是传达语言所不能表达的情感。

He adds three tips for parents and children:

Allow your children the freedom to play the music that inspires them!

No matter what instrument your child plays, the first thing you should listen for is their tone. If their tone sounds like it needs improvement, tell them to slow down and focus on the sound.

Play expressively. Music is an art form, the goal is to communicate what words cannot.