![]() “Looking back, I realize that I’ve always been a goal-oriented person,” Shepherd said. But he doggedly kept at it, and by the age of 13, Shepherd was being invited to join established bluesmen on stage to play. His first electric guitar was a cheap Fender Stratocaster copy made by Yamaha. Shepherd became more proficient on the guitar by playing his favorite songs over and over on a cassette tape recorder, which allowed him to learn the song one note at a time. If it wasn’t playing in the house, it was on the car radio.” King, Hank Williams, Aretha Franklin, Muddy Waters, you name it. “I picked up the guitar because I loved music and I loved playing that instrument," Shepherd said. When he wore the guitar out, she got him another one. ![]() When he was four, Shepherd’s grandmother redeemed her books of S&H Green Stamps to buy him a plastic guitar with nylon strings. He grew up in household filled with music and a father who was the program manager for a Shreveport, Louisiana, radio station. While still in high school, the 16-year-old was signed to a record label and made his first album, "Ledbetter Heights." To say he was a child prodigy is probably an understatement. The fact that the self-taught guitar virtuoso has never learned to read music has been a plus, freeing him to create and play his own way.” - Shepherd Express, August 2011īy his own admission, Kenny Wayne Shepherd hit the jackpot more than 30 years ago when he began playing professionally as a teenager. We made them public so anyone could enjoy them on YouTube channel Little Drummer Emet.ĪJT: Where do you see yourself as a grown up?Įmet: Musician, fireman, teacher, police and music teacher.“Shepherd is still standing high atop the blues-rock guitarist heap, blazing his way with a sound and fury rarely heard today. Since I am the music teacher at Ahava Early Learning Center, where Emet goes to pre-K, once the pandemic hit, we started leading music classes online from my recording studio. Michael: We’ve made several livestreaming and pre-recorded videos for kids and families online. He is gradually getting better at chords and melodies.ĪJT: How do you use Facebook during the pandemic? He can improvise on piano very well and his rhythms are impressive. He is still learning chords and notes on uke. Emet also plays ukulele he can strum complex strumming patterns easily, based on his drum experience. Michael: Many of the skills learned from drums can transfer to piano, guitar. Practice is only a small part.ĪJT: Can Emet cross over to other instruments? Michael: We jam in the home recording studio two to three times a week. ![]() For his fifth birthday, we got him a Mendini full drum kit, still child-sized, just a little bigger than his First Act kit.Įmet: We listen to music on car rides, watch YouTube videos of drummers, and make up silly songs. ![]() That kit was super easy to transport compared to a full-sized adult kit. I got Emet a small First Act drum kit for $10 on the Nextdoor app then added other drum kit parts. True, drums are less portable than guitars, etc. Since Emet was able to learn how each drum part sounded at an early age, he could recognize them in songs, and learn beats by listening, while imagining playing.ĭad Michael Levine recommends getting children to tap out beats even as infants, using knees and making silly songs. It’s also easier to identify the main drum kit instruments (like bass drum, snare drum, hi-hat) when listening to music. ![]() Michael: Drums are great for children because tapping is easier than playing chords and melodies, and one can practice anywhere by tapping your knees (or anything around) to work out rhythms and stay in tempo. Young children can feel rhythms better than they can hear them, so bouncing, tapping, rocking is more understood than just hearing beats.Įmet played his first real paying gig at age 3 at the Children’s Museum of Atlanta.ĪJT: Why drums? They seem hard to transport. When Emet was a baby, I would often tap his body to the music while holding him. I just naturally sing and tap to beats all the time. When young, it’s less about hard work, and more about joyous exposure. The more children hear a variety of music, especially in fun, loving, meaningful ways with parents, friends, the more their brains literally develop connections that give more refined recognition of musical facets. Michael: Like language, children develop proficiency in music with exposure. Emet Levine, now 5, started playing drums when he was 1. ![]()
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