Students in the Guitar Building Focus Program at Kingston Collegiate Vocational Institute (KCVI) showed off the guitars they’ve built themselves at the program’s annual Guitar Show.
Kingston high school students create their own instruments in guitar-building class
The Guitar-Building Focus Program showcases design, technology, wood work and electronics
Students build guitars at Kingston Collegiate as part of a Limestone District School Board focus program.
As they create their own instruments, the students learn the skills required to achieve the highest standard of craftsmanship. They develop their design, create production jigs and templates and build a full-sized model prior to building the actual guitar. “We do everything by hand,” explains Gary. “We don’t buy any of the parts.”
Fourteen polished, playable six-string axes, each one crafted by a GBFP student, grace the cover of the Lee Valley Spring 2016 catalogue. Circulation: 570,000.
“I think that every year things get better. The quality and craftsmanship gets that much better, the students’ dedication to the project gets that much more better,” Pattenden said during the program’s open house at the school.
“What we see here today is the guitars are of fabulous quality, they set up really well, they play incredibly, they sound wonderful.”
“Basically for me the music I play is my own coping strategy,” he explains. “To me, I think one of the best things about music in general is it’s really the only thing I’ve ever found that can disconnect you from reality, but at the same time, bring you back to reality. You can get lost in the emotional aspect of playing, playing from your heart, but then all of a sudden do something different and then your brain kicks in.”
Gary runs a program in Canada at the Kingston Collegiate Vocational Institute Kingston, Ontario. He has a committed group of students who build guitars as part of their Furniture Technology course. […]