Matt Fern of The Creative Treatment featured Ian on his running series, “The Daily Dakotan.” Hope you enjoy!
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Recent Posts
- What To Do When They Don’t Make the Cut: Kids and Competition
- The Peoplehood of the Traveling Swirly Pan: Where Education Meets Tasty
- The Search for End-of-Semester Motivation
- Talking to Kids About Boston: What Kind of House Will You Build?
- Computer Coding for Kids
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- Education Through Gaming: Math and Science Roundup
- Eva’s Take on Minecraft as History Class
- Education Through Gaming: Descartes Cove
- Minecraft in the Classroom
- Mexi-Hexi-Flexigons!!!
- Ian’s Newest Song: A Little Story and Video
- New Year Family Goal-Setting Time: Creativity
- New Year Family Goal-Setting Time: Science
- Ian is Featured on the Daily Dakotan
- A Holiday Opportunity to Support Young Talent
- Listening Session #6: Back to the Elementary Students
- Listening Session #5: The Middle School Students
- Listening Session #4: The Principals
- Listening Session #3: The Teachers
- Skyping, Creativity, and Literacy
- Eva Skypes to Share Literacy
- Listening Session #2: the High School
- And We’re Off! Listening Session #1
- What Should School Be: The Listening Sessions
- The Joy of Postponing Gratification
- Guest Post from Eva Ridenhour
- Why Spooky is Good for Kids
- Managing a Budding Music Career
- Selling Books and Taking Names!
- Confidence Building 101
- The Ridenhour House of Horror
- Cell Biology Addiction!
- What Do You Do If You Don’t Have A Passion?
- History: Exposing Children to Scandal Since 1770
- Building Biologists
- Who Said? – Ian Records His First Solo Music Video
- The Dream School: a Visioning Document
- Thinking Beyond Curriculum: Music
- Entering the Victorian Era!
- A Context-Based Approach to History/Social Studies
- Dreaming About a Dream School
- Engaging in Summer Creativity
- Final Report Card: No Grades Allowed!
- Ian: the High School Student. Eva: the Skype an Author Author. Me: Lost in Moving Boxes.
- Neil Gaiman and the Art of Being an Artist
- The Power of Positive Advocacy: Personal Update
- Affirmation + Tools = Creativity
- What’s a Percussion Recital Like?
- Riding the Wave of Intensity: Education and Advocacy From the Parent Perspective
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i am so impressed! i’ve been paying particular attention to how you’ve fostered, encouraged, and supported eva’s writing and ian’s music. i love how he was able to express what it is that he loves about music: the composing, playing, conducting, performing. i appreciate that he found learning chord progression to be helpful with his songwriting; that’s what i think will help my budding pianist/composer with her own work. my young son was really, really excited to see ian as a conductor – that’s what he would really love to do.
thank you so much to ian for sharing what he loves. he lets other young musicians know that they are not alone in their interests, and that there are others who take them seriously for their work, with age not being a consideration.
Thanks for the comments and feedback Dawn! My blogging has been… less so this year, and it’s nice to hear that it’s still helpful to folks. It motivates me to get back on it!
Yes yes, no age is too young to compose and conduct – it all depends on what’s naturally flowing around in those little heads to begin with. Finding a music theory teacher was key – he has taught Ian so much about how music works, and also about tech tools like Finale that allow him to put the music in his head on a reproducible document. And by the way, the first work he did was using a pencil and paper – you can find blank scores pretty easily online. Try http://www.blanksheetmusic.net/ as one example.
Other songwriting tools include the family video camera, which we use to record him singing or playing out the tunes in his head, or even his cell phone, which has rudimentary recording capabilities. If there’s a will, there’s a way. We try to look at music as an expanse of learning opportunities. Whereas I only learned how to sight-read classical music as a kid, Ian has immersed himself in theory and improv, and in every instrument out there, whether or not he plays. And he’s taken on dozens of genres, not just classical or rock or pop. That broad-based approach is so important to becoming a true musician, and though rocket-fast stardom success might not be the result, a rock-solid foundation and true mastery of music will be, and we hold on to that.
Anything I can do to be a support to your kiddos, please let me know. Ian will be happy to talk to your kids too, if that would help!
i’d love to continue this discussion via email, if possible. there are so many things i’d love to correspond with you about…being a librarian, music, writing, gifted ed, homeschooling, monty python, …and thanks for the info about the tool “finale” – that’s what i was going to ask about next – is that what ian is working with in the video?
Yes, Finale is what Ian is working with in the video. My email address is gwynridenhour at gmail.com. I look forward to continuing our conversation!