Student Spotlight: Jacob Mikoda, AGS Third-Grader
Jacob Mikoda has been playing the piano for three years. He kept his passion for the piano on the down-low at his school, Alice Gustafson, until the day he broke out “Feel It Still” by the band, “Portugal. The Man” in his music teacher’s classroom.
“I knew Jacob played the piano, but I didn’t know he really played the piano,” said Mary Jensen, AGS music teacher. “It’s unusual for a third-grader to play this well, especially with two very different melodies playing with both hands.”
Jacob said “Feel It Still” is one of his favorite songs to play along with “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes. (Can you tell that this budding musician has a bit of an edge?)
Here’s a short clip of Jacob playing “Seven Nation Army” …
Jacob’s passion for the piano started soon after the Mikoda family got a piano for Christmas. Jacob’s parents, Jeff and Kelly Mikoda, said they wanted to foster music education for their children because they didn’t stick with instruments when they were kids.
“We go to concerts as a family. It’s a big part of our life,” said Mrs. Mikoda. “We just really enjoy live music and want our kids to have that experience. Jake just really took off with [the piano] and our daughter Lyla is starting to play now as well.”
Jacob currently takes lessons once a week at Music Matters in downtown Batavia and said he practices at home for about 20 to 30 minutes in the evening.
“We don’t need to cajole him to practice. He really enjoys it, but he does have to put the work in to keep up,” said Mrs. Mikoda.
Not long ago, Jacob and one of his buddies from another town formed a band, the “Rock Monsters,” but like so many bands, it disassembled quickly.
During the brief stint, though, Jacob and his bandmate wrote a short piece that they called, “Dagger.”
“It’s mostly chords,” he explained.
So, what’s next for Jacob?
He said he’d like to learn how to play the guitar and then the drums. Oh, and, by the way, he wants to form another band.
No doubt, he’ll do all these things and more.
