Making Shared Magic
Written by Jesse Tollestrup
Is collaboration really worth it? We think so, and so do our students! Read on to hear from two musical duos talk about learning to listen and communicate while also having a ton of fun.
MEET NEVA & VIOLET
Two friends. Shared love.
Both Neva and Violet have been taking music lessons at Backbeat for several years. Neva plays piano and sings, while Violet plays guitar and - as of our most recent rock show - sings. Neva is drawn to country and pop music, but she’ll listen to “literally anything” and is always excited to check out new music. Violet loves rock and pop, but sometimes prefers sadder songs with a mellower vibe. In the last two years they’ve collaborated on two songs: “Lost Boy” by Ruth B for a school talent show, and “The Rose Song” by Olivia Rodrigo for Backbeat’s "Here Comes The Sun Rock Show.”
Violet and Neva go waaay back. They’re both 11 now, but they first met in kindergarten and have been fast friends ever since. From playing bucket drum in music class to singing in the school choir, Violet and Neva have been collaborating in school for years. However, they found jamming together outside of class to be a totally different experience.
At first, both Neva and Violet were surprised by how hard it was to play at the same time. Their secret? Communication. “We have to talk to each other. If somebody wants something, they can’t just instantly change it,” says Neva. “When we first started it wasn’t the best, but then the more we kept doing it, it turned out really well,” says Violet.
Collaborating has also helped expand Violet’s comfort zone. Before she would only sing while “goofing off” or for school productions, but for their performance of “The Rose” Violet gave singing another chance in order to make specific sections of the song more dynamic.
It’s not always easy for Violet and Neva to get together and jam. Their lessons are on different days, and Violet had a schedule conflict with Neva’s lesson. Luckily they have super supportive parents who went the extra mile to make it work. They began having playdates where they could practice their tune. As it got closer to the show, Violet’s parents worked some scheduling magic to move her activity to another day so both Neva and Violet could go to each others’ lessons.
These two have had a blast collaborating and are excited to do it again. In particular, they’ve found joy in making mistakes together. “It’s really fun working with Violet because she’s so creative and encourages you in case you mess up,” says Neva “If I mess up, she messes up, and if she messes up, I mess up, and then it’s fun because we’re doing it together!” says Violet.
“It’s like a playdate, but you also get to do your fun hobby together.”
- VIOLET
“It’s really fun working with Violet because she's so creative and encourages you in case you mess up.”
- NEVA
MEET LAUREN & PEARL
Lifelong friends with a focus.
Lauren and Pearl, both 15, have known each other almost their entire lives - “since we were babies.” Lauren likes a lot of different kinds of music, but is especially drawn to alternative rock. Her top two bands right now are Coldplay and The Beaches. Pearl is primarily into pop and indie folk like Taylor Swift, Lizzy McAlpine, Phoebe Bridgers, and Gracie Abrams.
Despite having different tastes in music, these two still have a blast collaborating. It all started when they saw a sibling duo perform at one of Backbeat’s rock shows and were inspired to do the same. Fast forward a few years and they’ve just performed “Yellow” by Coldplay - their third collaborative song - at Backbeat’s “Here Comes The Sun Rock Show.” Lauren rocked the lead guitar, while Pearl played rhythm guitar and sang.
For both Lauren and Pearl, jamming together has helped them become deeper listeners and appreciate music on another level. “Instead of just focusing on your guitar part, you have to focus on being on time with someone else’s guitar on top of all that,” says Pearl. “Performing with even just one other person puts it in perspective how much work bands have to do,” says Lauren. That said, it’s not all hard work! When they play together, Lauren is able to zone in on her lead guitar, allowing Pearl to focus on her singing while strumming rhythm guitar in the background.
For Pearl, collaborating has made it easier to improvise and adapt. She’s learned that “...you don’t always have to follow the music exactly as it says.” In their most recent collaboration, this has looked like transposing the song into a different key better suited to Pearl’s voice. “I was surprised with how much better it sounds than just playing the song by yourself, says Lauren, "Collaborating has been a super fun experience and I hope we keep doing it for the rest of the years we’re at Backbeat. It’s a great way to spend time with friends and explore music and maybe play different music that I wouldn’t usually play.”
Pearl and Lauren not only have lessons on different days, but they’re both super busy. “The biggest challenge was just finding enough time to get together and work on it, but we made it work,” says Lauren. Two things that have helped make it work are planning at least a week in advance and making each meeting short - no three hour jam sessions for these two!
All the planning is totally worth it, though. “It’s super fun to perform with my friends, especially since we’ve known each other for so long,” says Lauren, “I feel like it adds more depth to the performance too since we have another instrument.”
“Collaborating is not only fun, but empowering too. We can just play a whole song by ourselves and we don’t even need a teacher, which is really awesome."
- LAUREN
HOW CAN MY CHILD START COLLABORATING?
You can start small. Right now, we’re running our infamous “Bring-A-Friend” event where your child can bring along a friend to their private lessons for free. All friends are welcome and friends don’t need to have previous experience learning music. You don’t need to let us know ahead of time, you can simply show up at your lesson with a friend.* Bring-A-Friend runs from June 15 - 27, 2026.
You can also go big and join a Rock Band for the fall. Rock Bands are at the heart of what we do because they encourage constant collaboration and fuel a community that’s centered around making music together. They’re also a ton of fun. To learn more and register, visit our website.
*Due to their nature, group classes and Rock Bands are not included in Bring-A-Friend.
