Photo by Marcus Pimentel ’18 | Leif Hilding ’18 plays his guitar on Brophy’s campus

By Edwin Perez ‘18

THE ROUNDUP

Leif Hilding ’18 displays his musical talent on campus with Jazz band and Musicians Ministry and plans to join more.

Hilding has played guitar for seven years now with inspiration coming from his dad introducing him to rock and roll.

His dad showed him his inspirations Jimmy Hendricks and Jimmy Page. Jimmy Hendricks’ Little Wing is his favorite tune to play.

“When I was a kid I looked up to Jimmy Hendricks and Jimmy Page,” Hilding said, “Those guys are insane and really good.”

He has taken his musical talents to Brophy by playing for the Jazz band since his freshman year. He took Mr. Austin Pidgeon’s ’08 guitar class that he offered last year.

Mr. Pidgeon had the chance to teach Hilding and saw his passion for playing music first hand.

“Leif also has a great enthusiasm for writing his own music,” Mr.Pidgeon said. “He’d come to class each day with a new idea, many of which he turned into fully fleshed out songs.”

Mr.Pidgeon was also able to watch Hilding as a guitarist and see the talent inside him.

“Leif is incredibly talented,” Mr.Pidgeon said. “He has quick fingers, a creative mind, and a great understanding of music theory, especially as it pertains to the guitar.”

Hilding has recently joined Musicians Ministry, which plays music during Mass.

He now plans on joining the United Sound Group which goes to Central High School to teach kids who are mentally disabled to play music.

“I will be doing the United Sound Group that heads to Central Tuesdays after school,” Hilding said. “I am really excited for that to get to teach kids to play music.”

Keegan Kalkman ’18, afriend of Hilding, has had the chance to play with him and see his musical talents as well.

“He is extremely musically talented,” Kalkman said “He can sit down in a room full of shouting people with a guitar and have everyone quiet in seconds with just a few strums.”

The skill that Kalkman finds Hilding masters the most is his improvisation.

“His improvisation skills are better than any person I’ve seen in high school,” Kalkman said “This is especially impressive because improvisation is something that takes years to learn, and decades to master.”