One, two, three, four.

One teacher, two community groups, three schools and four decades of music make up the core of the after-school guitar program organized by Andrew Weller.

Guitar Instruction for True Stars is designed to empower students by exposing them to the artistic and creative energy in musical performance. Experts will study the different groups of students at each school for nine weeks and discover if creative expression helps improve their social behavior or grade point average. After only five weeks, the students and instructors have already noticed improvement in certain areas.

“You guys have developed because you practice,” Weller said after he visited 2ith the students. “If you play every day, you’ll learn more than if you practice for four hours on the weekend.”

The students also commented on their improved hand-eye coordination.

Each week, the students learn a new song from a different genre or era and take the guitars home to practice. “I can see improvement since just last week,” said Linda Smith, executive director of the Decatur County Arts and Cultural Council.

The Council is the fiscal agent for the program and manages the money from a grant awarded by the Decatur County Community Foundation. The program has already caught the attention of the Gibson guitar company, who donated 10 new guitars to the program. Gibson executives, like Weller and Smith, are impressed with the progress the class has already made.

“You have set the standards for all other classes, and it will be tough to beat,” Weller told the Greensburg students. “You are making better progress than normal students with private tutoring.”

The students are eager to learn because the environment is friendly and open and gives the students an opportunity to meet new people and mix with pupils from different grades. Many of the students told jokes and goofed around while they waited for the lesson to start, and Greensburg sophomore Kelsey Dugle has met lots of younger students.

“It’s very relaxed,” he said.

Dugle wanted to participate because he loves music and plays drums in the band. He’s glad he signed up and would recommend it to the other students because it’s so much fun.

“Andrew shows you how to do everything himself and he explains it very clearly,” Dugle said. “It’s not like learning out of text book or being tutored.”

Many students, including Dugle, have developed a passion for playing the guitar and he enjoys playing along with songs on the radio.

“I listen to the radio until I go to sleep,” Dugle said. “Even if I don’t know the chords, it’s a good way to practice keeping time.”

There will be a student concert in March, to help promote the program, but Weller isn’t surprised that the students are excited about learning how to play the guitar.

“The guitar is a universal instrument and it’s easy to pick up and play,” he said. “The students are eating it up.”