Reading, Writing, and Rocking Out: Little Kids Rock

These days, plenty of school children around the United States are filling up their free periods with jamming guitar solos, pounding drums, and Axl-caliber wailing, thanks to a nonprofit organization by the name of Little Kids Rock.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on December 20 2007

Did you ever see School of Rock, the film where Jack Black transformed a prim and proper group of prep school kids into a rambunctious rock band?

It may seem like nothing more than a music fanatic’s fantasy – after all, your school days probably involved a lot more algebra than AC/DC.

But these days, plenty of school children around the United States are filling up their free periods with jamming guitar solos, pounding drums, and Axl-caliber wailing, thanks to a nonprofit organization by the name of Little Kids Rock.

Eleven years ago, David Wish, an elementary school teacher by day and rock musician by night, decided to join his two worlds together, offering free rock music lessons to his students after school. To his surprise, the classes were “outrageously popular,” he says. “Kids had to beg and borrow the instruments.”

Wish’s lessons ranged the gamut of rock music history – everything from Elvis to Evanescence. But soon, the kids wanted to come up with their own songs, too. Within months, they were putting out their own CD recordings, attracting the attention of major artists like blues virtuoso Bonnie Raitt, who “were blown away at the fact that students could produce such incredible music,” says Wish.

A single music class had built up so much momentum that Wish knew he had to push it farther. Soon, he decided to establish Little Kids Rock as a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing free instruments and music education taught by volunteer instructors to children.

“Music education is like oxygen for children,” says Wish. “The joy derived from bringing something into this world is one of the most central parts of being human.”

Many schools in the United States don’t have any form of music education at all, however. And for the 20 million students affected by the lack of music resources, an entire world is lost to them. Wish is trying to change all that, focusing particularly on children in low-income schools. He believes that music education can provide incredible opportunities to at-risk children: “A child that is in touch with creativity will be infinitely less attracted to cheap thrill of destructive behavior,” he says. “A lot of children come from very tough backgrounds, and I see the impact that music has in their lives.”

Since the organization’s humble beginnings, Little Kids Rock has snowballed into a major musical movement all around the country. Currently, the group is providing free music education to more than 10,000 children in fifteen different cities, from Los Angeles to Shreveport, Louisiana. Many of the lucky kids in the music classes have had the chance to rock out with musical idols such as Bonnie Raitt, former Metallica bassist, Jason Newstead, and gravel-voiced legend Tom Waits, chiming in on the artists’ songs and showing off their own originals.

And despite its name, Little Kids Rock isn’t just for kids – the group also offers free video music lessons for all ages on their secondary website, littlekidsrock.tv. So if Jack Black never showed up in your classroom with a collection of Gibson guitars, you can always educate yourself with an online lesson direct from David Wish, or check out some of the great kids’ musical creations to get inspired.

Little Kids Rock is still growing at a rapid pace – in the coming year, the organization will double its size, providing more than 20,000 kids around the country with the gift of music. We’re not there yet, but with Little Kids Rock’s help, one day, every school in the country might just be the School of Rock. (Jack Black not included.)

Filed under: Arts and Culture, Features, Non-Profits,

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