The opportunity to develop musical talent is one of the best gifts you can give your child. From personal expression, to the joy of sharing music through performance, to brain development, to the benefits of being in a band, to the deep connection formed with one’s cultural heritage, music yields incalculable rewards to those who pursue it.
The problem every parent runs into sooner or later is that developing into a true musician is hard. So hard, in fact, that most people want to give up somewhere along the way (maybe multiple places along the way). And this is completely normal, because making music is one of the few activities that intensely challenges us physically, mentally, and emotionally — all at the same time.
The good news is that this intense difficulty may be the most valuable benefit music has to offer. The very fact that something so intrinsically rewarding is so difficult gives us the opportunity and motivation to develop the character traits that lead to great success and happiness in life: discipline, curiosity, grit, and, ultimately, the skill of engaging in deliberate practice.
This book is about how children can learn to understand themselves and their own internal motivators to make the challenging process of becoming a musician a joyful journey. If we can teach children to engage in learning such a complex skill as music in ways that work for them, we will have given them one of the most powerful assets of all: self-knowledge.
An award-winning guitarist, Klondike Steadman also shares his passion for music as an educator, entrepreneur, and author. Klondike founded the Educational Outreach Programin 2001 as an outgrowth of the Austin Classical Guitar Society. The low-income high-school students who receive expert, private, free guitar instruction in this program go on to give public concerts regularly as soloists and in guitar ensembles. In 2003, Klondike received the prestigious Studio Fellowship Award from the Music Teachers National Association and launched the Orpheus Academy of Music with his wife, Wendy Kuo. As the co-founder and director, he has built one of the most successful and innovative music programs for kids in the country. In addition to his line of method books,The Complete Guitar, he has also collaborated with Orpheus Academy faculty to create an approach to private music instruction called Adventures Through Sound that uses singing, movement and folk songs to teach guitar and piano students. Among the many students Klondike has taught over the years who continue to make music as adults, several have won prizes in national competitions, been accepted to prestigious music departments, and gone on to significant music careers in classical, popular, and folk genres. But these accomplishments are no more significant than those who have formed bands with friends, play regularly at church, or just play to relax after a hard day at work.
