A scan of your local mid-priced chain eatery at around 6 p.m. will do a lot to convince you that other people’s children are the worst. The shouting and stomping misbehavior of your hometown’s assembled joy bundles is enough to sap the joy out of even two-for-one margaritas. But despite what that quick societal snapshot may reveal, there are plenty of great kids out there who you’ll never see because they are at home, practicing. With the idea of reminding you that little goobers can be pretty awesome, we’ve compiled some of the most impressive little prodigies that the internet has to offer.
Piano Prodigies
Piano has long-been the go-to instrument for precocious child musicians, but that doesn’t make a 4-year-old lighting up the keys with his tiny hands any less impressive.
Of course, even if you’re a piano maestro before you hit the third grade, folks want to hear the hits. That’s where Jacob Velazquez comes in. The autistic 7-year-old from Miami is a Taylor Swift superfan, and he absolutely destroyed a medley of Swift hits.
Mini-Guitar Gods
Guitar-based rock and roll isn’t exactly what’s hot with the kids anymore, but nobody told Zoe Thomson. Check the 7-year-old out as she rips her way through a cover of “Sweet Child O’ Mine” on a guitar that is larger than she is.
Of course, technical skill isn’t worth much if you can’t keep up with the rest of your band. This 8-year-old guitarist proves she’s ready for the stage by shredding with a bar band.
Aidan Fisher, 11, proved that all that practice can pay off. In this video, he gets on stage with ’80s rockers Steel Panther and whips out “Eruption” and “You Really Got Me,” proving that the hours and hours of practice that he puts in while others waste their time gaming or skipping stones has paid off.
Diminutive Drumming Machines
If we’re building a band, we gotta support all that crazy guitar work with a backbeat, and luckily we have people like Jonah up on the riser. Watch the 7-year-old take on Avenged Sevenfold’s “Bat Country.”
Not to be outdone, 6-year-old Avery took on one of the most famous drumming performances of all-time in his cover of Van Halen’s “Hot for Teacher.”
Compact Crooners
Contrary to what your favorite crust-punk band thinks, vocals are important. No one wants to hear rock ‘n’ roll instrumentals (outside of a Godspeed You Black Emperor fan). So, we can’t neglect the voice in our kid-filled supergroup, and Jotta A has us covered. Watch him absolutely nail a cover of “Amazing Grace” on Brazil’s Got Talent.
Want something a little more brutal? How about 6-year-old Aaralyn and her 9-year-old brother Isiah raging through their original song “Zombie Skin.”
If all these little geniuses don’t restore your faith in the future of at least music, then I don’t know what will.
