THE LITTLE KIDS ROCK STORY One day in 1996, Dave Wish watched a video about French gypsy guitar legend Django Reinhardt. A folk hero and role model, Rein- hardt inspired legions of gypsy children – who didnʼt attend school and had little else to do with their days – to emulate him by taking up guitar themselves. Dave was amazed at the skill these self-taught youngsters displayed. At the time, Dave was teaching 2nd grade in the San Francisco Bay Area and playing jazz at night. He was impressed with how the gypsy kids found creative expression and discovered hidden talent once presented with the proper motivator. He believed his students possessed their own untapped musical abilities. Dave called some musician friends to see if they had old beat-up instruments they could donate, and an early incarnation of Little Kids Rock was born. Dave had already seen fi rsthand the sorry state of music education in his role as a public school teacher. Heʼd also heard from parents and other teachers who were dismayed at the poor quality, if not complete absence, of music education programs. On his fi rst day teaching, he went to the principalʼs offi ce to ask when his class would have music, gym and art periods, as these would offer times for him to do prep work. “The principal just gave me a blank stare,” Dave recalls, “He told me they didnʼt have those departments, and any teachers who wanted to introduce the subjects to their classes would have to develop the curriculum themselves.” The next year, the school did hire a music teacher to come in once a week, but he only spent about 20 minutes with the kids and theyʼd spend the time “singing songs like ʻPolly Wolly Doodleʼ.” Daveʼs class responded even to this limited program simply because children are naturally inclined to engage with music. But Dave knew this didnʼt go far enough to take advantage of their deeper interest in music and their capacity to learn more sophisticated material. “They could sing every Backstreet Boys song by heart,” says Dave. “The songs being taught in the classroom werenʼt con- necting on that level. I knew we were missing something.” Dave wanted to teach his kids the music they were already listening to and fi nd a point of interest that would keep them motivated. This would be more than a nice extra to give the kids some variety during the school day. Little Kids Rock was founded on the idea that music is a necessary component of the educational experi- ence– something that contributes signifi cantly to a childʼs healthy development. “Music is a hugely unifying force. It brings people together, especially during times of strife,” explains Dave. “I personally get a rush and a thrill to see people from different cultures interacting around music.” For children, music provides a creative outlet they wouldnʼt otherwise have. “I believe that once you put someone in touch with their creativity, the cheap www.littlekidsrock.org THE LITTLE KIDS ROCK STORY (page 2 of 3) thrill of destructive behavior becomes less appealing. Thatʼs just human nature. Thereʼs no competition between reach- ing new heights of creative expression vs. breaking a window with a baseball or spraying graffi ti.” For some kids, fi nding a musical voice is their ticket out of whatever tough circumstances theyʼre in. Music becomes their refuge, a safe haven and escape from the diffi culties of everyday life. Some Little Kids Rock students, for example, fi nd a way to channel the pain and confusion of a troubled home life into their own original songs. Others benefi t from being able to express the jumbled emotions that are part of growing up. Some lose interest in the negative infl uences or dangerous activities that diverted them previously once theyʼve gotten hooked on the joy of playing guitar. “Thereʼs a school of thought that says people should be measured in ʻmultiple intelligences,ʼ” says Dave. “We all excel in certain areas, lag in others and are average in most of them. Some people have a proclivity for music – thatʼs their thing.” Without a program that identifi es and nurtures that instinct from a young age, kids may never know they have this gift and the rest of us might never get to share their talents. How many musical geniuses have gone undiscovered because of the ab- sence of music education in the nationʼs schools? The joy of fi nding and drawing out these budding musicians is the greatest reward for Dave Wish and the rest of the Little Kids Rock teachers. “Being a Little Kids Rock teacher is like being a miner panning for gold,” he remarks. “Youʼre tapping into something deep – especially when you get around to composing and improvising – thatʼs the juicy stuff. It is a revelation. When a kid has his or her fi rst guitar solo, theyʼre electrifi ed. They canʼt believe itʼs them. Itʼs like waking up and discovering youʼre fl uent in Mandarin. These kids never knew they had it in them.” Such an experience opens up new vistas of self-expression and new depths of self-awareness. Traditional music education, in Daveʼs opinion, takes a dry, didactic approach, which makes a subject that is inherently interesting and exciting and makes it dull and boring. While budget cuts have forced many schools to eliminate music programs altogether, those that are still running are often tedious and unappealing to young kids. Indeed, Daveʼs students found it “boring and stupid” to learn the old-fashioned, simplistic songs that were in the curriculum for their grade level. “Kids today are exposed to lots of different media, and their taste can be very sophisticated,” Dave explains. “They also hear www.littlekidsrock.org THE LITTLE KIDS ROCK STORY (page 3 of 3) and pick up on what their older brothers and sisters are listening to. They become interested in a variety of genres that arenʼt represented in the school program.” Little Kids Rock applies some com- mon sense logic to music education by focusing on music that kids already love. Dave describes his own experience with music as a school kid as “stereotypical.” He took violin les- sons but hated it – he was into the Beatles and Elvis Presley – so he quit. Years later, he looked back on the squandered opportunity and wished he had stuck with it. At 18, Dave took up the guitar. He learned from friends and books and took lessons with several instructors, each of whom offered his/her own style of teaching and playing. “Those interactions in- formed the way I taught once I got profi cient enough at 20 or 21 and started giving lessons myself,” he says. “My teaching style was a pastiche of all of the best infl uences I was exposed to during my own learning process.” The pedagogical underpinnings of Little Kids Rock draw upon those same early teaching infl uences as well as from accepted practices in the broader fi eld of education. One current trend is to empha- size an organic way of learning, for example, teaching kids how to read by letting them read, instead of by discussing grammar and sentence structure. In the Little Kids Rock approach, students learn to play by playing. “You learn through doing; itʼs more motivational that way. Itʼs more inspirational to make music than to learn about notes.” Dave points to the famous and infl uential Suzuki Method of violin instruction, introduced by Shinichi Suzuki in the 1950s, as a model for success. Founder Suzuki believed that playing music was something that anyone could do. He saw music as a universal language anyone could learn to “speak.” Dave Wishʼs recipe for Little Kids Rock is “Suzuki meets the Rolling Stones meets Dr. Seuss all in a blender.” The Little Kids Rock model works, too, because the teachers are all volunteers with a passion for music they want to share with young people. They are doing it for love and not money. Their pay- ment is the unmatched pleasure of being able to interact with their students in a new and heartfelt way. Like many arts programs, Little Kids Rock is currently relegated to after-school hours. Dave envi- sions a time when it will become a focus nationwide, ultimately elevating the profi le of music educa- tion and infl uencing the way music is taught everywhere. “When people hear the music these kids are creating, they are sincerely impressed with the product,” Dave says. “My goal is that Little Kids Rock will stem the tide of budget cutbacks and help reestablish music education in the schools, and that our approach will be widely adopted.” www.littlekidsrock.org LITTLE KIDS ROCK OVERVIEW How Did it Start? Little Kids Rock began in 1996 when elementary school teacher Dave Wish grew frustrated with the lack of music program funding at his school and started his own after-school music program. Equipped only with a guitar and a passion for teaching kids to express themselves, Dave has since helped grow Little Kids Rock into an organization with a national impact and focus that serves thousands of students. Many music industry luminaries have rallied to support the organization. How Does it Work? Little Kids Rock provides free music classes and musical instruments to children in under-funded public elementary schools. Trained volunteers use donated instruments to teach Little Kids Rockʼs innovative curriculum that focuses on popular music styles such as rock, funk, blues, rap, and hip-hop. These mentors encourage the students to compose, perform and record their own music.