Junior Jeff Sturgeon and first grader Christian Combs standholding their violins in the cramped practice room. Music and noisetrickle in from neighboring rooms. Christian steals a glance at thedoor, but Sturgeon tells him not too worry about what's going on inthe outside their closet-sized room.
Sturgeon reminds Christian to keeps his instrument in the properposition. "That's why it's called your shoulder rest," he tells himof the padding on the back of his child sized violin. Christianglances at his mother, Nicky, who is sitting a chair in the cornerof the room.
Christian concentrates on his stance, but soon the concentrationshifts to remembering the proper notes and finger placement on thefour-string instrument. Sturgeon reminds Christian several timeswhere the instrument should be, and he finally resorts to making itinto a game. He tells Christian to keep playing if the instrumentstarts to slide off his shoulder, but he will stomp his foot toremind him to keep it in the right position.
Christian begins to play a simple song called "MississippiHotdog" and as he concentrates on the where his hands should be, hehears the stomp and the violinist quickly pulls the instrumentup.
After the song is finished, Sturgeon tells Christian he didbetter, but the instrument was still sliding. He noted that when hestomped Christian knew what to do and corrected himself. Christiansticks out his tongue, wiggles a little and smiles as they continuethe lesson.
Sturgeon, 20, demonstrates his love for music while volunteeringas an instructor for the Ball State University String Project, aprogram that allows students to volunteer their time giving privateand group lessons for string instruments. He is energetic duringthe lesson, showing his vibrant personality; But his instructionsare precise, demonstrating his knowledge and love for themusic.
Although he plays a violin while giving lessons, Sturgeon'sfirst musical love is the viola. While he spends many hours a weekwith his bow and viola, Sturgeon's real enthusiasm is revealed whenhe plays the flute in the marching band.
Grasping his flute in his hand, Sturgeon yells chants from thestands during Saturday Ball State football games.
"He tries to keep us all spirited," marching band flute playerTiffany Rogers said, "even when there is nothing going on in thegame."
Sturgeon stands with the rest of the flute section in the frontright corner of the band section during football games. Exchangingconversations with fellow band members as well as strangers passingby the stands, Sturgeon enthusiastically switches between hissocial repartee and playing his flute.
"If it gets boring, he just knows how to spice it up," Rogerssaid. "He keeps us motivated."
Sturgeon's lively persona is evident even when he is notperforming. He is also the social chair for the marching band.
The week before fall semester begins, the band starts practicingwith a week of 12-hour-long practices. Sturgeon organizes bandolympics that take place in the middle of the day and a socialevent for each night.
"It's just a bunch of things where we get together and meet eachother so they all know each other by the end of camp," he said.
Activities he planned this year include dodge ball, a giant gameof twister, a dance, a euchre tournament and bowling.
As social chair, Sturgeon is a band officer who can help makedecisions about the band along with three other officers.
With 14 in the band's flute section, Sturgeon also serves as theassistant flute section leader.
"I keep the section in line and try to know what's going on," hesaid.
As a member of the marching band, Sturgeon spends six hours aweek practicing and an additional five to six hours with the bandon game weeks.
Sturgeon began playing the flute when he was a junior in highschool. The '60s rock band Jethro Tull inspired him to pick up theflute.
"Ian Anderson's my hero," Sturgeon said of the band's fluteplayer.
Although Sturgeon spends many hours a week with his flute, histrue musical love is his viola. He began playing the viola in thefifth grade after a recruitment performance. Musicians demonstratedvarious instruments and he decided he liked the viola the best. Hethen started to practice and play with the school's orchestra.
Sturgeon continued to play and when he entered high school, thenew orchestra director, Mr. Kupf, inspired him to study musiceducation.
"He was this crazy, wild guy and had all these crazy, new, wildideas," he said. "I thought my director was so cool and I thought,'Maybe I could do something like this too.'"
Sturgeon described Mr. Kupf as wild and energetic, words manywould use to describe Sturgeon as well.
"When (Mr. Kupf) wanted us to sit up straight in our chairs hewould say, 'Electromagnets on.' Like there was metal in our headsand we would have to sit up," he said.
Sturgeon now has his chance to inspire children through musicwith the Ball State String Project.
The String Project is a part of the National String ProjectConsortium, designed to help expand music education programs forelementary students and to help alleviate the shortage of stringteachers in the public school systems.
The program allows undergraduate students a chance for hands-onteaching experience while expanding music education in localschools.
"It's wonderful," Sturgeon said. "I get to lead the students ina classroom setting when we do the Suzuki group class. Then when Ido private lessons it's more ways I can find problems that theyhave and solve whatever it is."
With the Suzuki method, music is memorized so the student canfocus on techniques of the instrument.
"Suzuki method is something that isn't really taught inschools," he said.
During chamber group lessons, the String Project has also givenSturgeon a chance to conduct, which is something that he has littlechance to do otherwise.
Sturgeon did not learn by the Suzuki method when he beganplaying, instead he began in a classroom setting, beginning privatelessons later in his career.
"The one thing about when I was a kid was I never performed bymyself," he said. "These kids have a chance to perform solos infront of the class."
Sturgeon said he believes the weekly performances given by thestudents during lessons are helpful.
"I'm still really, really nervous about playing in front of acrowd by myself," he said. "I can play in an orchestra fine, butwhen I am doing it by myself it's just like the scariest thingever."
Christian Combs just started taking lessons with Sturgeon. Intheir second lesson the two acted as if they had been doing lessonstogether for much longer.
"He and Christian really seemed to click," Nicky Combs,Christian's mother, said. "Christian really liked him."
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