Guitar teacher still giving lessons after 60 years

LOGANSPORT, Ind. (AP) - Al Rodriguez and Chelsea Corn recited the notes as they strummed their guitars in a room at the Cass County Family YMCA.

They each rested their instruments on a leg elevated by a small stool. A smartphone with a tuning app shared a music stand with an open binder filled with sheet music. Books about the guitar and music theory lay stacked against a wall.

Rodriguez has been teaching guitar lessons in the area for about 60 years. A gift he received as a teenager growing up in Mexico sparked an enthusiasm he brought with him to north central Indiana. The 86-year-old's passion perseveres despite a disorder affecting his motor skills.

He was 14 living in Mexico City when his uncle bought him his first guitar.

"The worst guitar you've ever seen!" the 86-year-old recalled with a laugh.

But it was good enough to instill an interest that's lasted over seven decades.

Rodriguez received a scholarship at age 15 to attend the Conservatorio de las Rosas, a music school in Morelia, Mexico.

While his studies there satisfied his appetite for music, it couldn't be through the instrument his uncle bought him.

"The guitar was profane at that time because it was played in bars and this and that," Rodriguez said.

Instead classes were made up of curriculum like music theory, voice lessons and composition.

"It was nothing but music," he said. "It was my life."

Rodriguez had dreams of continuing his education in Spain and Italy, but had to drop out of the music school after contracting typhus a few years into his studies.

After recovering, he enrolled in business school and eventually started working at a hotel in Mexico City, where he met vacationing farmers from Burnettsville, Indiana, in the 1950s.

A year later, they sent him a letter offering him a job on their farm, which he accepted.

He returned to the guitar and taught lessons during his free time in Burnettsville, drawing students from as far away as Indianapolis.

Later, he and his family moved to Logansport, where he worked at local movie theaters and a hotel.

When he took a job as a claims deputy for the state's unemployment service, he started teaching guitar lessons in the evenings. He began at a former music store on the corner of Fifth Street and East Broadway before moving to one on 22nd Street, where he taught for more than 30 years.

Rodriguez eventually started teaching in Kokomo as well and had about 80 students at one time.

He played solo and in bands at bars, country clubs, schools, nursing homes and the weekly Acoustic Round Robin at the Logansport Cass County Public Library. His favorite kinds of music to play are jazz and classical.

One aspect above all others has driven him to stick with the guitar.

"The challenge," he said. "It's a very challenging instrument."

The instrument hasn't been the only thing posing challenges for Rodriguez lately when it comes to playing music. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease about a year ago. It causes his right hand to shake slightly, which prevents him from being able to play individual notes. He is still able to move his hand fluidly enough to strum the strings, however.

It's not the first physical challenge he's had to overcome with his playing. While working in the former pizza parlor next to the State Theatre on East Market Street, he lost his right index finger above the middle knuckle in an auger used to grind cheese.

He ended up training his pinkie finger to make up for the loss.

Rodriguez takes a mind-over-matter approach to these kinds of obstacles.

"Conquer it," he said.

He doesn't let his Parkinson's diagnosis interfere with his desire to continue with the instrument.

"I was awesome," he said with a laugh. "But not anymore. But I can still teach."

Rodriguez returned to teaching last fall when he started holding lessons at the local YMCA. His students range in both age and skill level. He teaches voice lessons as well.

Corn has been studying under Rodriguez since last fall after receiving her guitar for Christmas the year before.

"He's very patient with me and goes at my own speed," she said.

Taking a break from their lesson, the two recalled how their academic affiliation has evolved into a friendship complete with outings for ice cream and Chinese food.

Rodriguez's experiences outside music aren't lost on the budding guitarist.

"I learn a lot of guitar from him, but I also learn a lot of life from him," Corn said.

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Source: (Logansport) Pharos-Tribune, http://bit.ly/22lbelm

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Information from: Pharos-Tribune, http://www.pharostribune.com