The City of Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department is offering a free after school music program for junior and high school students at the Abel Maldonado Community Youth Center.
The program runs Mondays through Thursday from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m
Students can learn lessons in guitar, ukulele, keyboard and hand drums.
Local music instructor John Payne teaches the lessons.
"Some kids dream about guitars, others drum on pots and pans, and then there's the aspiring concert pianists, but they all need a chance to learn and play," Payne said. "I hope to help local kids discover exactly what kind of musician they are, build the skills to play for themselves, but also together, to start bands and write songs."
The program includes opportunities for more in-depth music education and also has listening sessions, music history and music theory.
“Learning music is a process, it takes time you're not going to be good just overnight you need to put the work in,” Payne said.
Anyone with questions about the event can reach out to the department at (805) 925-0951 extension 2260.
