Music Made With Kids

"I don't want to make kids more like grown-ups; I want to make grown-ups more like kids." - Woody Guthrie
  • Elementary School

    "The students, teachers and audience alike are quite spellbound by the experience of writing and performing with Mr. Hersch. This event is a yearly highlight and has become a highly valued tradition."

    Sue Huemann, Music Teacher, Dayton Elementary School

  • High School

    "During the James Hersch week, I learned many things... He helped me learn that songs always have a story behind them and allow the heart to write the lyrics and he also helped me gain enough confidence to play one of my instruments in front of someone other than my grandmother."

    Student Reflection, Nicole Kronzer, Creative Writing Class

  • Camps

    "Each year I feel I'm impacted in ways that only time reveals from a week at Family Camp. Your songs will always trigger my memories of time spent at RTLC. You are such a blessing to our family!"

    Aly

Song Writing // For Learning

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Group SongwritingCollaboration

    Give me one or two hours with your class and we'll amaze you (and ourselves) with an original song that we can sing togther. Springing from great kid-ideas, mixed with a little direction, they'll find an exciting new voice to express themselves and reinforce their learning. Then invite the parents, grandparents and friends to hear our compositions. Make a fuss over it because their work will deserve it. Finally, I'll record the whole thing live and make as many CDs of our new songs as necessary. You may want to make them available to the parents at prices they can't resist and enjoy the reports of endless use.
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    One on One SongwritingProject Expression

      "Every year with my Creative Writing II classes, I bring in James Hersch. He spends the week with us, helping kids write their own songs. On Friday, he (and sometimes they) perform the songs they've created. Inevitably during the performance, someone reveals something they've "never told anyone before," or something "they've suddenly learned" about themselves. As nothing brings a group of teenagers together like raw emotion set to music, each class is sure no one has ever been as close as they are, and never will be again.

      Success.

      James and I have created this magic over and over for the past 5 years, and it is always nothing short of transformative."

      -Nicole Kronzer, Champlin Park High School
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      Classroom PerformanceStimulate

        Whether it's a bunch of second graders inching closer to the sound of my guitar, or a high school sociology class finding their stories in my story songs, I see what's happening when I perform in classrooms. They are drawn to music's power. It creates a focus because we want to understand it. We want to learn it's charm. I will bring some of that charm to a classroom.

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        TechnologyTools for Expression

          Some of my young songwriting partners are full of melodies, some are able to create fun, catchy beats on the spot, and some others are fountains of lyrical and literary ideas. But there will always be a few that fixate on the technology. Sound recording and editing in the modern sense is crucial to each step of our creative path. This visual representation of music as sound waves is enough to capture the imaginations of some young students.

           

           

           

          Cows, Bugs and Aardvarks // The CD

          Cows, Bugs & Aardvarks is the online home for the album "Cows, Bugs & Aardvarks" as well as the music created by thousands of kids with James Hersch. Enjoy :) "The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination" - Albert Einstein "I don't want to make kids more like grown-ups; I want to make grown-ups more like kids." - Woody Guthrie

          Cows, Bugs and Aardvarks CD

          This recording can be found in cars, classrooms and kid's rooms all over the United States.

          about

          My most recent CD releases are 52 Songs projects 2009 and 2012. One song a week for 52 weeks.

          about
          • Custom cds

          • made to order

          Each residency tells it's own story as a group of songs. To give that story a longer life, I make sure that we have a good, clean recording of every song, published professionally on CD and online.

          Contact // Me

              

              

              

          Address Info

          James Hersch
          5283 Oxbow Place, Champlin, MN 55316
          Email james@reachwithme.com
          other websites
          reachwithme.com  |  52songs52weeks.com