Long hours alone in the practice room can make playing music seem like a solitary enterprise. But jamming with other musicians can make all those hours practicing pay dividends in the form of special friendships.
A new children鈥檚 picture book offers that and other inspiring messages about the powers of making music with others.
Written by David Weiser and illustrated by Derek Lavoie, showcases a talented young protagonist with a passion for music and serious guitar skills. Over the course of the book, she makes some extraordinary friends and learns that musical skills are nothing without fellow musicians with whom to share them.
As Weiser notes in a recent video interview, The Girl Who Wanted to Rock is the sequel to The Boy Who Wanted to Rock (2021), in which the title character 鈥� inspired by Weiser鈥檚 five-year-old son 鈥� embraces the challenges of learning the fundamentals of music and playing a musical instrument.
No stranger to the technical intricacies of music and the nuances of musical collaboration, Weiser brought his own rich professional musical experience to the storylines of both books. He鈥檚 a veteran Broadway keyboard programmer and has collaborated on some of the world鈥檚 best-loved Broadway, West End, touring and televised shows, including Phantom of the Opera, Cats and Les Mis茅rables.
The title character of The Girl Who Wanted to Rock was also inspired by one of Weiser鈥檚 Broadway colleagues. Audio engineer Maxine Gutierrez is a much in-demand sound mixer for Broadway shows and is currently working on The Lion King and Sunset Boulevard.
鈥淲颈迟丑 The Boy Who Wanted to Rock, we already had a visual subject 鈥� we had my five-year-old son. And so, for the new book, we needed a girl, and I thought, well, gosh, (Gutierrez is) one of the most accomplished women I know. Girls and women are underrepresented in rock 鈥榥鈥� roll and in music technology where I work. And so, I thought it was especially important to pick a real person to base it on who is a woman who鈥檚 working in music technology, who is highly accomplished,鈥� Weiser said.
In our video interview, Weiser also shares his thoughts about the rich benefits of music education and how playing music can enable kids to make friends with people from a range of backgrounds.
In the end, The Girl Who Wanted to Rock shows that the journey of music, with all its challenges and joys, can open whole new galaxies for young people. And it shows that the journey is made all the more colorful by the fellow travelers you meet along the way.
鈥淲hen kids are learning music, especially early on, it鈥檚 very unforgiving. It鈥檚 very difficult and boring and painful and repetitive, and it doesn鈥檛 give back much the way other pursuits do,鈥� Weiser said. 鈥淏y showing how much fun it is to play music with other kids, it gives children something to look forward to.鈥�
Interview Transcript:
Jennifer Hambrick: I鈥檓 speaking with author David Weiser, who is the author of The Girl Who Wanted to Rock. David actually wrote this book in collaboration with illustrator Derek Lavoie. So, David, thank you of much for your time today.
David Weiser: Oh, it鈥檚 a pleasure to be here. Thanks for having me.
Hambrick: Sure thing. To begin with, tell us, if you would, in a nutshell what the story of The Girl Who Wanted to Rock actually is about.
Weiser: The Girl Who Wanted to Rock is a follow-up to our first book, The Boy who Wanted to Rock. This was written for my son, who was five at the time. And the first book, The Boy Who Wanted to Rock, is geared towards an absolute beginner who knows nothing about music, like a four- or five-year-old. And The Girl Who Wanted to Rock is a tiny bit more advanced. Our girl character is a competent musician, and the story focuses on the importance of playing music with other people. So, the girl who wanted to rock, she rocks all alone and longs for a band that she could call her own. That鈥檚 sort of the schtick behind the book. And so, she meets some unlikely friends who show up at her doorstep, and together they figure out how awesome it is to play music with friends. And this is a message that little kids don鈥檛 get. With both books, I tried to focus on chances for music to give back to children. When kids are learning music, especially early on, it鈥檚 very unforgiving. It鈥檚 very difficult and boring and painful and repetitive, and it doesn鈥檛 give back much the way other pursuits do. And so, by demonstrating in the book, by showing how much fun it is to play music with other kids, it gives children something to look forward to.
Hambrick: What or who inspired this story?
Weiser: The actual girl character was inspired by a dear friend of mine who works with me on Broadway. Her name is Maxine Gutierrez, and she鈥檚 one of the most highly sought-after sound mixers on Broadway, currently working on The Lion King and Sunset Boulevard. Girls and women are underrepresented in rock 鈥榥鈥� roll and in music technology where I work. And so, I thought it was especially important to pick a real person to base it on who is a woman who鈥檚 working in music technology, who is highly accomplished.
Hambrick: As you mentioned even earlier in this conversation there are some very interesting types of characters who appear in The Girl Who Wanted to Rock. I don鈥檛 want to give away the store here, but I鈥檒l say that the title character of The Girl Who Wanted to Rock meets some friends who are a little bit out of this world.
Weiser: That鈥檚 a great way to put it. That鈥檚 exactly the same wording that I use to describe it. Some friends who are out of this world. The fact that the other children, the friends she meets are so different is a secondary lesson in the book, that it teaches kids to be able to make friends and become familiar with people who are very different than yourself. And I thought that can鈥檛 be taught too early. That鈥檚 something that should be engrained early on with children.
Hambrick: Sure, and that鈥檚 a really important musical lesson, as well. Because, as you make the point, that music is best done, and in some instances really only done with other people in community, you have to know how to work with other people, you have to know how to do music and everything else in community. And communities tend to be diverse, right?
Weiser: Yes, absolutely. And the more different types of people you鈥檙e able to get along with, the more you鈥檙e going to succeed in music. As a kid myself who had learned music from very early on, I thought I knew all there was to know about music when I was 12 years old. And then at 13 or 14, I started playing with other people, and it opened up a whole new world. It was mind blowing.
Hambrick: Sure, sure. And as, I think, so often happens when kids start playing an instrument and then they play in their school bands, they play in their school orchestra, they play in a band that they form at home or what have you, they develop social skill, they develop other types of skills kind of through the back door, without even realizing they鈥檙e developing those skills.
Weiser: Oh, sure.
Hambrick: It鈥檚 a very powerful experience for them all around musically, but also beyond just, as it were, the notes on the page or the notes that they鈥檙e making.
Weiser: Oh, Sure. Music education 鈥� a small percentage of kids who study music in school actually go on to become professional musicians, but yet it benefits them in so many ways. It benefits them for their ability to listen and to process what those around them are doing and saying and speaking. It enhances their ability to comprehend what鈥檚 going on in real time and the ability to improvise. That teaches kids how to think on their feet. So, music education and learning about music also creates well-rounded adults, which we all need desperately.
