School of Rock |
|
| Industry | Music Education |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | The Paul Green School of Rock Music |
| Founder(s) | Paul Green |
| Headquarters | 300 Frank W. Burr Blvd. Suite 9 Teaneck, NJ |
| Number of locations | 72 schools in the USA and Mexico |
| Key people | Chris Catalano CEO, Brandon Turner COO |
| Services | Art, Entertainment, Recreation, Education, Childrens, Small Business, Performing Arts, Children's Art, Children's Education, Music Lessons |
| Website | www.schoolofrock.com |
School of Rock (formerly known as The Paul Green School of Rock Music) is a performance-based music program for those between the ages of 8 and 18.[1] This for-profit educational company operates and franchises after-school music instructional programs in the United States and Mexico. Paul Green began giving music lessons in his home in 1998,[2] establishing the Paul Green School of Rock Music in 2000.[1] In 2002, producers from VH1 filmed for four days at the Philadelphia location for a proposed reality TV series, then stopped returning phone calls.[3] In 2003, Paramount released the film School of Rock about children learning to play rock music. Green considered a lawsuit, but decided against it.[1] Green opened additional locations, and in 2010 was bought out by his management team. The name changed to School of Rock and by October 2011 72 schools[4] have opened in 26 states with five locations each in New York, California, Florida, Illinois and Texas, seven in Pennsylvania and eleven in New Jersey. The School has plans to grow to more than 300 locations in the United States and Mexico.[5]
Contents |
The schools operate year round, offering a variety of programs. During the school year, they function as an after-school program, and during summer, winter and spring breaks they offer a day camp for intensive instruction. All students get weekly lessons in the instrument of their choice in Rock 101 classes. Once they have basic competence in an instrument, they can move to the Performance Program where they have a weekly private lesson and three hours weekly of group band rehearsal that culminates in a concert before an audience. Alternatively, they can move to Lessons+ that features the private instruction only.[6]
The most skilled students of each school form a band and perform at various venues in their city, opening for established regional and national acts. The best students from each region's schools tour as the "All-Stars". Many schools have songwriting and recording programs as well. In 2011 they have introduced two new programs – Band Coaching for existing bands to improve aspects of their performance and Epic Albums where students spend three to four months recording their own version of Nirvana's Nevermind, Radiohead's OK Computer, Led Zeppelin IV, Green Day's Dookie and Black Sabbath's Master of Reality.[7]
Instructors are encouraged to stress the fundamentals of both popular music and music theory, using songs from popular bands and artists like Led Zeppelin, The Who, Pink Floyd, and music from genres such as 80s glam metal, punk rock, and grunge. The teachers generally specialize in a single instrument, though many have skills in additional instruments and students are encouraged to learn multiple instruments. Instruction is available in electric guitar, bass guitar, drums, keyboards, and vocals.[8]
There are occasional Guest Professor workshops featuring accomplished musicians, which include discussions about past experiences, songwriting, live performance, and handling fame. The guest may also spend time assisting the students on their technique.[9]
The school has "the ultimate goal of performing live in front of real crowds"[10] and the official motto of the school is "To inspire kids to rock…on stage and in life".[11] The founder of the school stated in the documentary about the school "Don't come to watch kids play music. Come to watch kids play music well".[12]
Students of the program sign up for three shows every year. They are given two to five choices of different shows to be in per "season" (depending on the size of the branch). Although there are some shows that are harder to play, no matter what the age or skill level, students can sign up for any show (although approval by the show's director is occasionally required). These shows are themed either by band, genre, or time period, and usually consist of 20 to 25 songs chosen by the show's director (usually one of the teachers at the school). Three-hour rehearsals are held every week in preparation. The shows are played at local clubs twice, usually on Friday and Saturday nights; however, some of the schools do have their own venue for the performances. Tickets are sold to defray the rental cost of the venue, usually for $10.
Shows done in the past include Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Queen, The Beatles, Metallica, The Allman Brothers Band, King Crimson, Jimi Hendrix, Devo, Van Halen, Pink Floyd's The Wall, Punk and Reggae, Thrash Metal, Radiohead, Rocky Horror VS. Hedwig, AC/DC, Best of the 80s/90s, Punk rock, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Who's Tommy, Iron Maiden VS. Judas Priest, Frank Zappa, Old School Blues, Women Who Rock, The Doors, Grunge, Guitar Gods, Yes, Progressive Rock, Rush, Prince, Green Day, The Clash, The Police, Talking Heads, Bruce Springsteen, Motown, and many more.[3]
Some locations produce a "Best of Season" show that is a compilation of songs from previous shows, usually to raise tuition for a scholarship.[13] Locations are a mixture of franchised and company-operated, some having been established as independent entities prior to the founding of the Paul Green School of Rock Music and maintain their own traditions and values.[1]
The School of Rock All-Stars is a group of the top 2.5 percent of the students in the program,[10] selected via an audition process of one Led Zeppelin song with a backing band, and one solo song of their choice. Auditions occur in September, and the chosen students practice together during the school holiday period.[14] They tour such venues as B.B. King's in Times Square, The Knitting Factory in Los Angeles and New York City, The Roxy and Crash Mansion in Los Angeles, Stubbs in Austin, various Hard Rock Cafes and House of Blues, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and many of the biggest festivals in the country such as Lollapalooza, and Austin City Limits.
Originally, there was a single national All-Stars team, but since expanding the number of schools, there are All-Star teams for five different regions to keep tour length manageable. The 2010 All-Stars tour was billed as "Live-Aid Remade" with a set list drawn from the original Live Aid concert 25 years previously.[15] The 2011 All-Stars "Rock The House" tour was a benefit for Ronald McDonald House Charities.[16]
They often tour and play with famous musicians from rock's past and present, such as The Butthole Surfers, Slash, Les Paul, Brendon Small, LeAnn Rimes, C. J. Tywoniak, Perry Farrell, Jon Anderson, Peter Frampton, Eddie Vedder, Alice Cooper, Adrian Belew, Napoleon Murphy Brock, Stewart Copeland, John Wetton, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, Ike Willis, and Ann Wilson. Students have performed with Roger Waters' on his 2010 tour of The Wall.[8]
Rock School is a documentary about the School of Rock, as seen through the eyes of its founder, Paul Green. A New York Magazine film critic said, "Paul Green is letting his students in on a secret of life that goes beyond school, even stuff that looks easy is hard to do well". In the film, Green shows off his wide variety of teaching tactics and also how the school affects the lives of the students who attend. Green is seen several times jumping up and down, screaming at kids, and kicking students, all in order to teach them. Manohla Dargis, writing for The New York Times, notes that "Mr. Green's pedagogic style appears predicated on the idea that if you spare the insults, derision and eardrum-piercing assaults, you spoil the child."[1]
NPR rock critic Ken Tucker said, "I'd hand out DVDs of Rock School to everyone in the country with a teaching degree, and dare them to match this level of commitment."[17]
In June 2007, the Paul Green School of Rock Music unveiled its first School of Rock festival. The two-day event at the Jersey Shore in Asbury Park, New Jersey, attracted almost 10,000 people. The festival consisted of 400 students from School of Rock branches across the nation on stages side-by-side with acts such as Ween, Bad Brains, the Benevento/Russo Duo, and the Bouncing Souls. Special events included a lecture from Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys and a shred contest sponsored by PRS Guitars.
The 2008 festival was held over the course of three days, from June 27 to June 29, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The festival included themed shows from schools, as well as the now-independent bands of former students. The All-Stars performed before the headlining acts on each day. The first day was held at the Electric Factory, with performances by Andrew W.K. and the Butthole Surfers. The Festival Pier at Penn's Landing hosted the final two days, with The Hold Steady and Devo on Saturday and Goldfinger, Less Than Jake, and The Dropkick Murphys on Sunday. There was also a Shred Contest sponsored by Gibson Guitars.