Librarian Carla Umland was all smiles as the halls of the normally quiet Bill Memorial Library in Groton were filled on night last week with the sounds of egg shakers, drums, layered singing voices and lively guitar chords during a “Musical Petting Zoo.”

At the center of the Sept. 21 event was musician Andrew Barnes of Groton, who led the library’s first free music demonstration and jam session for about 20 children and adults in the reference room.

“It was great. This is the library’s first time doing this kind of thing,” said Umland, who has worked at the library for two years.

Barnes encouraged participants, both experienced and inexperienced, to explore music and express themselves using musical instruments. He passed around the room his own instruments, some of which he made himself. Children and parents experimented with Wal-Mart gallon buckets in place of drums and guitar picks cut from plastic gift and credit cards.

“The kids enjoyed getting a hold of the instruments and (using) their own voices,” said Umland, who also called Barnes a “great role model” for the kids.

Barnes featured traditional instruments such as acoustic and electric guitars, a full-sized keyboard, amplifiers and speakers, and an electronic drum pad.

The instruments were all from his own personal collection, including one guitar in particular that caught the eye of Groton resident Don Luduc. It was a black B.C. Rich JRV Standard electric guitar, which Luduc, an experienced guitarist, was unfamiliar with.

“It took some getting used to figuring out how to hold it, but it’s nice,” Luduc said as he re-situated the V-shaped body under his arm. “I’m going to feel it in the morning on my fingers though. I haven’t played in a while.”

Luduc said the event was a “good thing.” He enjoyed the event to the end as he played riffs from the song “Come as You Are” by 1990’s grunge band Nirvana.

Barnes also brought his personal computer to introduce the program Studio One to the audience. He used the program for music production and recording but noted that being able to “see” the sounds was helpful for learning how to create music, whether it was “technically simple” ambient music or more “complex” guitar layers with piano, strings and drums.

“I’m kind of proof that you don’t need formal training to gain experience or a background,” Barnes said. “I think music is more fun when you explore it on your own, and you learn more about yourself in the process.”

Barnes’ interest in music stems from childhood, when he would watch an older cousin play with friends in jam sessions and band practices. His cousin gave Barnes his first guitar around the age of 10, and he has been a self-taught guitarist ever since.

“I can remember as far back as fifth-grade that I was obsessed with music and dismembering the compositions and the lyrics,” he said. He later wrote his own lyrics in middle school and played with friends in high school.

Once graduation came into view, Barnes got the idea for what is now his 10-week Freeplay Music program, sponsored through the City of Groton Parks and Recreation.

Founded and instructed by Barnes, the program was made open to the public and featured the same activities at the library, but with additional instruments like classical and bass guitars as well as Italian zither instruments.

“I wanted to do what my cousin did for me, which was to give other children the opportunity to play whatever instrument they wanted however they wanted,” he said.

Barnes’ family supported him fully when he initially decided to pursue music, much to his surprise, after he opted out of going to college to pursue it.

“They told me, ‘you can be a musician if you want; you can even sit down in the basement and watch paint dry if that’s what you want to do,’” he said. “‘It’s your life. If you don’t want to go to college, you don’t have to. You can do whatever you want with your life.’”

As for future musical events at the Bill Memorial Library, Umland said that they “definitely” look forward to hosting more.

For more information about library programs, call (860) 445-0392 or visit billmemorial.org.

For more information about registration for Andrew Barnes’ Freeplay Music program, contact the Groton Parks and Recreation office at (860) 446-4129.

Editor's note: This version corrects the telephone number for the Parks & Recreation office.