MORE THAN MUSIC

By Spencer Carney

Before every lesson, music teacher Linda Ripke starts with a prayer.

Once the lesson is over, she takes a few minutes to ask about events in the student’s life, writes her notes and a bible verse in the student’s lesson journal, then the student gets a piece of candy and a hug from her, regardless of whether they’re young or old.

For Ripke, her teaching is more than just learning music.

“To me, it’s a ministry,” she said. “I want to be instrumental in people’s lives. I want to teach, but I want to make a difference for them. I want them to be able to say later that a good strong character trait that was impressed on me was whatever, but I want them to be able to say that they learned it because of me.”

Ripke first began learning music as a child by teaching herself how to play by ear. She later took lessons wanting to learn how to properly play the instruments, and eventually found that her lessons were important for her to be able to teach other people to play music properly. Before teaching, she worked with Aflac insurance.

“The teaching just came around by accident!” she laughed. “A couple of people asked me to teach them guitar, and so I said ok, and then a lady wanted me to teach piano, and the next thing you know I have people on the waiting list and it really just grew.”

She said that her favorite instruments to teach are the mountain dulcimer, which she finds very soothing and relaxing, and the banjo for its sense of spirit and fun. She also teaches and can play guitar, piano, ukulele, psaltry, Native American flute, harmonica, the hammered dulcimer, mandolin and is trying to learn the cello.

“I just think that she’s a really great teacher,” said Jeff Williams, 58, one of Ripke’s students.

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She always talks about how her playing skills have kind of dropped cause she doesn’t have a lot of time to play, since she’s always spending time on her students, but when I’ve heard her play she’s been amazing.”

Williams has been taking guitar lessons with Ripke for three years. He said that he had originally looked at a teacher in Wilson when Ripke was recommended to him; he stopped in to talk to her and asked if he could take lessons, and she said she had a spot open.

“It really just went from there,” he said. “Just the interaction that we have, she’s so well rounded. She’s not only concerned about your progression, or your music and everything, but she’s also concerned about your soul. It’s really Christian based, you as a whole, your spiritual being, your well being and everything, and she focuses on all of that when she teaches.”

Another student Gail Clayton, 71, said that her favorite thing about taking lessons with Ripke was how encouraging she was.

“She would never say that anybody’s too old to learn,” said Clayton. “And if you feel like you’re not doing too well, not making progress, she’s the first one to tell you that it’s not true, that you are making progress.”

Clayton lives in Raleigh, and said that while she enjoyed learning banjo and dulcimer with Ripke, it was hard to fit in the time to travel to Rocky Mount for lessons, and sadly had to find a teacher closer to home.

“I miss her, she’s a good friend now as well as having been my music teacher, and I miss that I don’t see her every week like I did before,” she said. “If I’m passing through then I stop in and speak to her but I’ll always think of her as a good friend and a good prayer partner as well.”

Ava Moore, 14, said she started taking piano lessons with Ripke six and a half years ago.

“I always saw the sign in her driveway when we drove past, and I asked my mom how would you feel about me taking piano lessons?” Moore said. “I like taking lessons with Mrs. Ripke because she always pushes me to try my hardest, and she challenges me and I get to play a lot of the music that I like and hear on the radio.”

While she came about teaching music by accident, Ripke said that her students have made it enjoyable for her.

Ripke said, “My favorite part about teaching music is the people, and the relationship that I have with my students, watching them learn and watching them grow. I’ve had students quit playing music, but come back just to talk to me, and students grow up and come back to see me. I love my students, and want them to know that.”

She’s not only concerned about your progression, or your music and everything, but she’s also concerned about your soul.

- Jeff Williams,

student