I would like to offer a different opinion of the Childbloom Guitar Program than Mr. Pipkin. "There is no quality without consistency; the Childbloom Guitar Program produces consistent results in solo and ensemble guitar skills when used properly." My name is Chis Peleshenko, I have taught the Childbloom curriculum for almost 10 years. 7 years as an instructor in the St. Louis Childbloom Program (which I helped grow to the largest in the nation, 3 years as a Director of the Childbloom Program of St. Charles County, MO. In those 10 years I have won numerous Teacher of the Year Awards for maintaining a student retention rate of 85% or higher. I have made an honest living that has supported my family and enriched the lives of over 300 families. The Childbloom Curriculum IS the best and most successful method for teaching young children guitar in the nation. Our beginning curriculum has students playing on their first day. All of our level one material focuses on building high skilled classical technique while focusing on learning in an ensemble format. We help the student and parent create successful practice sessions at home with a well thought out and structured pedagogy. All Instructors and Directors go through training in child development, WE UNDERSTAND HOW EACH CHILD LEARNS . If the curriculum is taught correctly, the results regardless of the students age are ALWAYS the same. Using a set forth curriculum ensures the student's success and satisfies the desire of the parent to see their child succeed. There are 4,000 Childbloom families across the nation who can attest to the curriculum's success. The Childbloom Guitar Program's results speak for themselves. Please feel free to visit the Childbloom website (Childbloom.com), visit any of the individual program sites of Facebook (just search Childbloom), or see our You Tube Page. You will find great young musicians playing music written by Kevin Taylor, Childbloom Founder and President, and staples of the classical guitar curriculum. I have run an advanced player ensemble using Childbloom and non Childbloom material, since my third year with the company. This group has evolved over the years, I call it the 6 String Players, currently there are 6 members from the age of 11 to 15 who give concerts in Retirement Facilities, Nursing Homes, City Events, and perform in master classes for some of the top performing groups in the world. Among those they have performed for The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, The Legendary Romero Family, and the Brazil Guitar Duo. Below are a few quotes from those classes. "Whatever you kids are doing, don't stop, keep it up!" -Pepe Romero "This is fantastic you kids are playing REAL music not little kiddy stuff"-The Brasil Guitar Duo. Students who have graduated from the Childbloom Guitar Programs across the country are entering college playing at a level much higher than most of their peers. Some have studied abroad with some of the greatest teachers in the world. This year at the Webster University Guitar Competition, held at The Mid America Guitar Camp, all three finalists were former Childbloom students. Again, the Childbloom Guitar Program results speak for themselves. Feel free to contact me personally if you wish to discuss how Childbloom can help your child learn the guitar at chrischildbloom@gmail.com If you are an Instructor who is looking for a guitar curriculum to teach and interested in building a successful guitar school, this IS the program for you. YES, you can go and do your own research and build a curriculum. I know some very successful people who have done so. Unfortunately, I know more unsuccessful people who have tried. The Childbloom Curriculum is laid out for you. There are royalties that you have to pay for using it. It contains a wide variety of material MOST of which is staple classical guitar curriculum, but also great musical pieces that are written by Kevin Taylor that the children love to play. I have NEVER been forced or threatened to NOT teach something outside the Childbloom Curriculum. As a matter of fact, I have developed a Rock N Roll Camp, that I teach every summer in the St. Louis area. Mr. Taylor has on 3 occasions flown me to Austin, given me room and board, and paid me to teach my camp to the Austin Childbloom Students. There is a very clear and upfront contract that you sign prior to becoming a Director or Instructor that has certain terms and clauses. Like any contract, once signed is a binding agreement and should be honored by both parties. I have NEVER had a contract dispute with the Childbloom Company, it is a very clear contract that defines the agreement between myself and the company. I have made a living teaching this program for the past 10 years and now support my wife and 2 kids, running the Childbloom Guitar Program of St. Charles County. If you would like to speak with me regarding my business or how to become a Chidlbloom Instructor please feel free to contact me. read more

My name is Kirk Hanser, and I have been and instructor and the director for the Childbloom Guitar Program of St. Louis since 1996. I would like to first quickly respond to Pipkin's unfortunate review of the Childbloom Guitar Program: It is sad to see that any young guitarist such as Pipkin feels they have a bad experience in any program. I do not know Pipkin or the entirety of his background, except that I was aware of his "issues" in his agreed-upon business dealing with the Childbloom Company during his time as a teacher, and can vouch that Mr. Taylor's comments are accurate and frankly a bit "kind" to Pipkin. I hope that Pipkin eventually finds an approach to teaching which works for his temperament, but above all, best serves his students. On to my actual review of the CHILDBLOOM PROGRAM: I have been teaching many styles of guitar for 25+ years, for schools including Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Wisconsin system, Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, VA and others. I am a reasonably accomplished player (see YouTube or Google my name), and have performed - and continue to perform - throughout the world and make a good deal of my living as a concert and recording artist. As a college teacher in the early '90's, it was obvious to me and many others that the level of students entering college hoping for a career in guitar was declining on the whole. I began to focus on developing community programs, both at the universities and in the community (music stores, YMCA's, etc). While I was a decent teacher with much training in giving instruction and decent curriculum at my disposal, the approaches I was trying were not providing the successes for which I was hoping. I researched and used many mainstream programs developed for children, as well as attempting to "adapt" successful college curricula to the elementary-aged child. A friend tipped me off to the Childbloom Guitar Program in 1995, and I contacted Mr. Taylor. We spoke several times, I liked what I heard, and decided to give Childbloom a try. Upon my arrival in Austin to train, I was completely blown away by the level and abilities of his students at that time, their motivation and the absolute joy which they exhibited in their playing and learning. The teacher-training that I received in 1995 from Mr. Taylor in working with kids and teaching this method was SIMPLY OUTSTANDING - this from someone who already at that time had a great deal of experience as a teacher and a Masters degree in Music. I hesitate to "limit" the Childbloom Program by saying it is simply a classical guitar program; rather, Childbloom is a classical approach to education in music through the guitar. By this, I mean to write that Childbloom is a VERY COMPREHENSIVE curriculum, allowing students the opportunity to develop skills appropriate to so many styles of music (as well as music literacy and a great deal of other essential music theory). Our students play in our own large classical guitar ensembles throughout the Midwest, they are the guitarists in many of the area's high school and middle school jazz bands, they have rock bands with their friends, and they even play solo in area restaurants and other establishments! As a teacher of the Childbloom Program for over 15 years now, I cannot say enough good things about the program and its results. My students have won NUMEROUS local, regional and national contests and competitions, in classical, jazz and rock styles, as well as top scholarships at colleges and universities. Several former students have gone on to successful careers in music as teachers and performers, but I feel ALL have developed a love and appreciation of music in a deeper way which will enrich their lives forever. read more

I very much appreciate Mr Peleshenko's response to Joel Pipkin's critique of the Childbloom Guitar program. It is an accurate rendering of the program. We would be hard pressed to find any successful company that did not have disgruntled people. Though Mr. Pipkin is entitled to his opinion, much of what he reported is simply not true. I have been a Childbloom instructor for 17 years. My studio has produced several students that have gone on to major in music in college and have become instructors, themselves. One has a Masters degree and teaches in a prominent university in another state. One was featured in Fingerstyle Magazine and was invited to play on "From The Top," an NPR program for up and coming young musicians. I have had several others who have gone on to minor in music and currently have three students who will be entering college as music majors in the next 2 years. This simply does not happen using curriculum that is "not efficient" or that follows "a very narrow path of old classical music that is dominated by solo playing." I use the curriculum faithfully, but supplement for individual needs as is necessary. I am just one teacher. There are many more like me. It is unfortunate that neither Mr Pipkin nor his teacher took advantage of the ensemble aspect of the Childbloom curriculum. No one who is involved in the program, even at the elementary level, can deny that there is an ensemble component to the curriculum. Anyone can check it out on youtube. These are postings for the fine Austin ensemble. There are groups like this all around the country. Any company that has a good product has a system of quality control. For the Childbloom Program, it is demonstrated in periodic reviews of the teachers. This is done in one of two ways: Any instructor may invite the founder, Kevin Taylor, to his location for a Master Class. Mr. Taylor can evaluate the quality of teaching by listening to the students play. He offers suggestions to both the students and the teachers. Also, for those teachers he does not personally visit, there is a video critique system. Teachers are periodically required to submit samples of their teaching by recording classes. Any teaching that is found to be substandard is addressed. Instructors are advised as to what needs to occur to bring the standard up to the expected level. Most are happy to make those adjustments. Those who refuse are dismissed. Childbloom never terminates valuable teachers. That would be counterproductive. Again, Mr Pipkin is entitled to his opinion, but his attack on Mr. Taylor in unfounded. In addition to being a fine guitarist, he is well studied in child development models and learning styles. He is an incredibly intelligent man with insight into kids like I have never seen. It is fascinating to watch him teach. I would be proud to be is student and would consider it a privilege if I had a child that could study under his tutelage. read more

The Austin Childbloom Program has five experienced teachers: Chris Stone, Jody Moseley, Adam Carney , Katie Kerwin and Kevin Taylor. Chris has won the Childbloom Instructor of the Year several times. Jody Moseley has done the same. Adam Carney is the newest teacher, is also a professional harp-guitarist has many happy students. Katie taught for Childbloom 20 years ago, retired to raise her family, and now has returned. She is fluent in Spanish and is a trained Suzuki violin teacher, also. Kevin Taylor is Founder of the Childbloom Program and he also teaches in the Austin studio. The Childbloom Program is very affordable, is a method that has produced many award winning students and its teachers are devoted to providing a quality experience for kids and parents. The Childbloom guitar program can change your child's life. read more