Playing the Keys With Bright Stripes

Bright Stripes Learning Academy is a music school and preschool that aims to bring music education to children in the north. Owner Nambili //Gamxamub wants to impart her love for music onto the children of Ongwediva.

Bright Stripes recently had its largest contingent take part in music exams at the College of the Arts in Windhoek. Nine pupils took the Trinity College London music exams, which saw them tested on their practical and theory knowledge.

Piano Love

//Gamxamub’s interest in music was sparked when she saw her older sister playing piano.

“My father noticed that I had an interest in the piano, and he enrolled me at the College of the Arts for lessons.”

Her piano teacher, the late Valery van Biljon, moulded her into an avid pianist.

“I was about 11 years old and playing through the University of South Africa system up to grade 5. After that, I switched over to the Trinity College London system.”

Through Trinity, //Gamxamub obtained a performance certificate, and she is currently undertaking the next level.

The Move North

A teacher by profession, Windhoek native //Gamxamub moved to Ongwediva in 2011 to pursue new prospects in a new town.

With the move, she had to leave her piano behind, but a great longing grew.

“I realised there was a need for music in the north, and I decided to send for my piano to come up,” she says.

“At the school where I taught, my first class consisted of only two pupils.”

Being a full-time teacher meant that she could not expand her classes at school to help develop some more pupils. After a few years, //Gamxamub made the decision to take the next step.

New Beginnings, New School

In 2017, she resigned from her teaching job to start her own school. The idea was to incorporate a preschool as well, and it would give //Gamxamub the opportunity to teach what she enjoys – music.

“It was to focus on creating a foundation school of music,” //Gamxamub says. “I noticed that in the north, there’s not much extra-curricular activities available for children.”

She adds that many parents were people who had moved to Ongwediva as well, and who were looking for activities to keep their children engaged after school.

“These parents were very supportive in getting the word out there about Bright Stripes,” she says. “They wanted their children to be exposed to the same things they were.”

This has seen her class size expand from four to a much larger group.

Her pupils start from primary school level up to high school, with one exception of an adult pupil who is studying music in order to play and not to achieve music levels.

Expertise

//Gamxamub’s speciality is classical piano, which is also the basis of her teachings.

“Most of my pupils here performed their exams for piano.”

She also learnt guitar to provide another dimension to her school.

“With the guitar, it was a self-taught approach, as I had to still teach my piano pupils their lessons.”

//Gamxamub to expand her pupil base.

It was not an easy undertaking to learn a new instrument, as she had no prior experience.

“When I realised that the guitar was similar to the piano, I slowly began applying that knowledge to the guitar,” she explains.

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