There Really Is A School of Rock

When I was visiting my sister on the East Coast this summer around the July 4th holidays, I attended a community festival where kids from The Paul Green School of Rock Music were playing. I initially thought this was an effort to cash in on the Jack Black movie, School of Rock, but the organization predates the movie and apparently served as an inspiration for it. I was actually surprised to learn there are franchises all across the country.

In a time when kids aren’t getting interactive opportunities with music in schools, (not to mention the woeful state of the current rock music scene), this school of rock’s approach may bear consideration and examination.

From their Manifesto:

“These are not your old fashioned wait -through-fifty-other-students mangling-their-songs- until-your-child’s- turn-arrives recitals, but real rock concerts at real rock venues in front of real rock audiences.

Shows are picked for their educational merit and content (for example: Queen teaches harmony, punk develops performance and stage presence and Zappa offers a crash course in musicianship). Thus, if they fail, they fail at aiming at the best. And, when they succeed, which is more often than not, they have accomplished something extraordinary.”

I wish I could remember who it was, it could have been in a movie I was watching, but I recently heard someone urge a person to consider if they wanted to be a musician or wanted to be famous. Thinking of that, I was going to suggest that these school were selling the allure of fame to kids. It may be that kids should be allowed to have fun. But there 8 year olds who may dream of being the next Yo-Yo Ma, but are already making a serious commitment to the cello.

Upon further thought, I wondered if there was any significant difference in what a school of rock and a school of cello are selling 8 year olds. Whether an 8 year old performs in a rock concert or a cello competition/recital, there is a sense of accomplishment and recognition. The cellist may have more pressure placed upon them to perform and practice, but that is based on a concern they reach a level sufficient to obtain a position in an orchestra. Few people push an 8 year old to practice out of fear they won’t gain a position in a rock band.

All things being equal in terms of their talent. If a guitarist and a cellist both give up their instrument at age 9 and pick it up again at 18, practicing assiduously, will one be a better performer than the other or enjoy performing more based on the instrument they play? If both practice equally hard from age 9 to 18 becoming excellent with their instrument, is either one guaranteed a better living than the other even though the barriers to entry are much lower for rock bands than for orchestras? The guitarist may have no problem getting into a band, but does that provide him/her a career?

Up until recently, I would say the one landing an orchestra job had a better guarantee of steady income from a single source than did a rock musician. At this point in time, I would say either is equally likely to be able to cobble a living together from freelance gigs –at least in metropolitan areas. The guitarist who devoted 10 years to practice has a much better chance of being supplanted by someone who has practiced two years than a cellist faced by the same scenario because the skills developed over that time aren’t valued as highly in rock music.

Music is a tough career choice, even if you are performing more popular music styles. I am sure along with the dream of fame, this School of Rock is mostly selling the fun and excitement of rock music to kids (hopefully sans drugs) while including some of the rigor required to master the instruments and music. One lesson the schools of cello might learn from those of rock is one of exposure. If you check out their website, the schools have their students playing at every available opportunity. It helps disseminate information about the schools and gives the kids an opportunity to play before audiences. The gig I saw them play was a mixed bag in terms of quality. The good performances did a credible job at rockin’ out.

About Joe Patti

I have been writing Butts in the Seats (BitS) on topics of arts and cultural administration since 2004 (yikes!). Given the ever evolving concerns facing the sector, I have yet to exhaust the available subject matter. In addition to BitS, I am a founding contributor to the ArtsHacker (artshacker.com) website where I focus on topics related to boards, law, governance, policy and practice.

I am also an evangelist for the effort to Build Public Will For Arts and Culture being helmed by Arts Midwest and the Metropolitan Group. (http://www.creatingconnection.org/about/)

My most recent role was as Executive Director of the Grand Opera House in Macon, GA.

Among the things I am most proud are having produced an opera in the Hawaiian language and a dance drama about Hawaii's snow goddess Poli'ahu while working as a Theater Manager in Hawaii. Though there are many more highlights than there is space here to list.

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