The Genesis of Mage Music

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Hello, and welcome! My name is Matt Redinius, and here’s a little bit about how Mage Music came to be.

My musical endeavor started back in 1979. I was in 5th grade, and began playing the trumpet in the school band in Sheldon, Iowa. Trumpet wasn’t my first choice. I really wanted to play the saxophone, but so did half the kids in my class; and with a last name starting with ‘R’, you don’t get to pick very early on when going in alphabetical order! So, I ended up on the trumpet. I gave it a shot, and played it for about a year, but lost interest pretty quickly. I found that the horn just wasn’t my thing. What I really wanted, was a guitar!

So, in my early teens, my mother purchased my first guitar for me. Bless her heart, but it was a very poorly made thing that could barely stay tuned! I noodled around with it a bit, but didn’t really start to practice and study theory or develop my ear until my late teens, when I bought my first ‘real’ guitar from a friend. Looking back, I really wish I had sought out some instruction in those years. It would have made all that theory a lot easier to understand, and my practice time a lot more productive!

Now, back in those days, before the internet and the ability to get chords or tablature for just about any song in an instant, it was all trial and error. In my case, a lot of error. It was slow going and I would get easily frustrated because even if I knew what I wanted to do, without someone to actually show me, it was hard to tell what I was doing wrong!

But, with persistence comes reward, so I stuck with it and gleaned all I could from watching and listening. I studied music theory wherever I could, and would apply it to my favorite music. I joined a few bands, and got a little stage experience, sharpening my timing and sense of rhythm. I have now been enjoying the journey of music study and performance for over 20 years, and I must say it is one of the most rewarding ventures I have ever pursued.

When my oldest daughter showed an interest in playing guitar, I realized that there is really no way to get guitar instruction in this area without driving to Sioux City. That can add up to a lot of driving and time! I thought that perhaps I could provide an alternative, and make it easier to study music in this area. Hence the idea of Mage Music was born. An avenue to provide quality instruction and quality instruments to residents in west central Iowa, without having to go to Sioux City every time you need a set of strings!

My family and I run Mage Music from our home in Kingsley, IA. For anyone curious, the term Mage comes from an acronym of our family’s names. My name, Matt; my wife, Ann; and our daughters’ middle names, Grace and Eve.

Plus it has that kinda cool, wizard-y vibe thing going on too…

Thanks for having a look around our little corner of the web. I hope we can be of service to you.