Rockers” program he is beginning this fall.
Music. It is one of those cultural vehicles that transcends culture, ethnicity, or social status. Every race and all of civilization has used music for religion, art, rites of passage, even death.
A local pop artist and teacher is looking to extend his love of a certain genre of music to youngsters.
Teach Kids Music, a certified 501 C3 nonprofit organization (TeachKidsMusic.org,) has launched its new “Little Rockers” program. This program, an 80-page book written by Teach Kids Music founder John McCarthy, teaches children about music starting as young as three years old in the pre-schematic stage of artist learning.
“It is proven that when children start to understand the language of music at this young age they excel at any instrument they choose,” said McCarthy. ”Children learn the basics of music, rhythm & timing and actually get their first lessons on piano, guitar, drums, ukulele and singing.
McCarthy is a lifelong resident of West Haven and owns the Rock House School of Music, located in West Haven and Wallingford.
Teach Kids Music plans to implement this program in community centers, YMCA’s and schools nationwide, according to McCarthy. The book is uniquely designed to guide teachers or parents to teach each lesson effectively even if they don’t have any musical experience. Lesson notes are provided after each lesson with tips on how to present the lesson to children. The Little Rocker book will also be distributed worldwide by Hal Leonard Publishing.
The D’Addario Foundation has partnered with Teach Kids Music to help launch the Little Rockers Program. D’Addario and Company is the world’s leading manufacturer of musical instrument strings and a top producer of musical instrument accessories. The D’Addario Foundation is a unique 501 c3 non-profit grant-making organization providing monetary and product support to high-quality sustainable music instruction programs on the frontline to improve access to music education.
Suzanne D’Addario Brouder, executive director of the D’Addairo Foundation is excited to become part of the new series.
“The D’Addario Foundation is thrilled to partner with John McCarthy and Teach Kids Music to launch the Little Rockers program,” she said. “Innovative programs and dedicated folks like John and his team are changing the face of music education making it easy, engaging and effective. We believe more strongly than ever in the value of music as a creative outlet for youth. Learning to play an Instrument is always time well spent.”
The Teach Kids Music mission is to help children learn music by offering instructional programs, instruments and organizing performance opportunities in local community centers. A few of our main programs are:
Little Rockers Classes – These group classes start children on their musical journey! Starting with rhythm and timing exercises using clapping and tapping patterns and percussion instruments then moving on to the children’s first music lessons for guitar, piano, ukulele, drums and singing. We plant a musical seed that will grow an entire lifetime! We provide tutorials and train people to teach these classes in community centers around the world.
Musical Instrument Drives – How many used instruments sit in closets or under beds unused? Our goal is to get donations of gently used instruments and put them directly in children’s hands. Giving children who may not have the resources the opportunity to play and instrument can be life changing! We hold these drives in cities across the United States and help children fulfill their dream to play music.
Youth Open Mic Nights – We help organize live performance gatherings in local community centers. These events give children learning music an opportunity to meet other children learning to play music and interact musically with each other. These highly successful musical events create excitement and many times result in children forming bands that continue afterwards.
TKM Fundraising Concerts and Events – Teach Kids Music has some of the best musicians in the world on our team as “Music Ambassadors.” They make appearances, perform concerts and help to inspire children to play music and do positive things in their life. Carmine Appice (Rod Stewart, Vanilla Fudge, Jeff Beck), Doug Wimbish (Living Colour, Rolling Stones), Dan Jacobs (Atreyu) and David Elffson (Megadeth) are just a few music icons that are part of our TKM team. These concerts attract thousands and help to fund our mission.
“We are so excited to have the opportunity to work with the D’Addario Foundation to launch this groundbreaking program” McCarthy said. “We hope to grow interest in music with our youth in a time when music programs are being cut from many schools. When children get a solid foundation in music at a young age they often times go on to play multiple instruments and excel academically as well.”
Those who take the program will learn from someone who has honed his musical chops.
McCarthy is a musician, author, educator and creator of the Rock House Method system of learning. Since 2001, The Rock House Method has sold more than 3 million instructional programs worldwide of which McCarthy writes, composes, and demonstrates in. In the past McCarthy has written columns for Guitar School magazine and a monthly column titled “Metal Rising” in Guitar Player magazine.
As owner of the Rock House School of Music since 1981, McCarthy has developed a curriculum for learning to play music that covers guitar, piano, ukulele, drums, bass guitar, singing, children’s music development and music theory with over 50 titles in print as of September 2020. His awards and accolades include CTNOW “Best Place to Learn Music”, Music & Sound Retailer award for “Best Tools for Schools”, Music Merchandise Review (MMR) “Best Instructional Product of the Year”
If you are interested in donating or to get more information on implementing one of our programs please contact John McCarthy [email protected].