Since 2001, B.B. King has been an official supporter of Little Kids Rock, a non-profit organization that provides free musical instruments and instruction to children in 1,700 less-privileged U.S. public schools. Given the chance, many of these talented youngsters may rise to become the next King of the Blues.
It all started in 1996 when elementary teacher David Wish was frustrated with the lack of funding for music education at his New Jersey school so he created his own after-class program. Making sure kids still got a chance to explore music, David offered free guitar lessons to interested students. They were interested! The classes became very popular, and as more kids wanted to learn music, Wish and his volunteers saw the need to take the program to the next level. With support from music heavyweights like John Lee Hooker, Bonnie Raitt, and Carlos Santana, Little Kids Rock was born as a national program.
Since then, the organization’s Modern Band curriculum has inspired tens of thousands of students across the country.
Little Kids Rock
271 Grove Ave., Bldg E2
Verona, NJ 07044
Phone: (973) 746-8248
http://www.littlekidsrock.org/
In this Fox Memphis story, teachers take part in a two-day workshop on how to teach the program:
Memphisin4Days 