This looks amazing!! I only wish we lived close by so we could join. I TRULY miss all the fun we had with you in class and in the community setting. The magic created in your classes and in the community settings you created is just so wonderful. I felt it was one of the most embodied, heart felt things I got to do with [my daughter] each week (and sometimes [my husband]) and it just brought us so much joy and such a wonderful way to play with music and dance and in community. I remember a mom that was an Occupational Therapist saying that she thought your classes were better than OT!
- LF, Boulder CO
I’m curious if [my daughter] remembers these weekly classes that I lived for! She was only four when we decided to leave city life …, but she said something interesting [when] I asked if she remembered [Ryk]. She said “I remember him not being reactive”. She is ten. How does she know what reactive even means? I get what she meant though… She hasn’t gone out in the world yet and had tough experiences. But she understands to an extent calm and accepting behavior. I hope that when she does venture out she meets folks like [Ryk was] for us in music class- keepers of the peace, who can let her be her- crawl around and feel things out, process things on her own time and own way, don’t take her reactions personally, and can invite her into a space where she can discover other people she can share life with.
- AH, Truckee CA
My daughter and I attended weekly music classes with Ryk starting when she was 9 months old until she was 3. Ryk was always a calm, warm, kind presence and his classes were joyful and fun. As a professional musician myself, I was impressed both by the strong musical foundation of the material he used and the creativity with which he adapted it week by week. I learned so much from Ryk about sharing music with babies and very young children. My daughter continues to have a deep love of and connection to music and we are so grateful to Ryk for starting her on her musical journey!
- KW, Oakland CA
When I was a new mom, I searched for something enriching and entertaining I could do with my child. We found Ryk’s class and I’m so glad we did! Ryk was always welcoming, encouraging, and somehow managed to take music and music education seriously while still engendering a sense of fun. Having older and younger kids together, along with parents, grandparents, and other caregivers, showed us all that making music can be for everyone and doesn’t require a lot of special skills. Throughout our (6-year-long!) participation in Ryk’s classes, my family enjoyed making music in all kinds of ways – singing together, trying instruments, and always with a sense of adventure and no judgement.
- DM, Albany CA
Some of my closest friends today are the ones I made in those music classes. They were authentic bonding moments for us in those raw and delicate times of being new mothers and building our families. Your classes reminded me of being a backpacking traveler… The feeling of being welcome, of finding a place, belonging, sharing, singing with others for the joy of it and feeling the love and emotion that comes from making music with other humans.
The range of world music and your warm delivery of them gave me the feeling that all are welcome no matter the race, ethnicity, gender, parenting style, etc…just the way that I felt when I was traveling and people from all reaches of the world came together to explore and find beauty. This makes sense now that you mention neurodiversity! What a way to smooth the way for an individual’s path than being a part of and creating a community of music-makers.
- AH, Truckee CA
Ukulele class with Ryk has brought so much music into our lives** and with that comes joy that we can access at any given moment. I can’t count the number of times that we’ve broken into a song that we learned from class with Ryk. Those musical moments bind us as a family and in the hard times that we’ve faced, those bonds are a wonderful gift.
- FS, Emeryville CA
[Ryk is] such a gifted ukulele and music teacher! Prior to the pandemic, his in person classes had us ’embody music’ through games and movement, while also learning the basics of the ukulele. This is such an underappreciated way of getting to understand how to play, have found no other teacher does it, but I call on it even now as I’ve advanced my skills. During the pandemic, [Ryk’s] zoom class really kept me grounded as we explored music, how and why we connect with it, and how it works. As someone who missed out on learning music and instruments as a child, I’ve enjoyed learning it as an adult–and hear music differently as a result of his teaching approach. As a player, I continue to explore the versatility of the instrument and the many ways to engage with it, and the way it encourages others to join in!
- EM, Takoma Park MD