Staff Photo Nick Brothers
Students at the School of Rock, at 2857 N College Ave., rehearse “A Hard Days Night” by The Beatles. The students will eventually go on to perform alongside their peers at a Beatles tribute show in late spring.
Say ch’ello to the brand new music program in Fayetteville dedicated to providing an applicable rock n’ roll education.
That Jack Black “School of Rock” pun was intended and bad, but joking aside, the folks at School of Rock in Fayetteville are committed to setting their pupils up with what they need to perform in a real live rock band with their peers. The school combines private lessons with group rehearsals led by local musicians to prepare students for real life gigs at real music venues.
Branching out locally from successful locations in Rogers and Little Rock, the Fayetteville School of Rock opened on Jan. 25. The company has about 180 schools operating both in and out of the United States. The Fayetteville facility has five lesson rooms and two group rehearsal spaces and plenty of instruments for students to play with.
“I got involved because I saw a School of Rock performance in Seattle,” said Beatriz Escobar, the franchisee. “What I loved about it was the camaraderie and the team building that I saw. There was a little girl about 11 or 12 on stage and she was so scared of singing. She broke through the song and she got teary eyed. Then another little boy got on stage and stood there with her and held her hand. I just loved it and what it stands for.”
The school teaches the electric musical spectrum of rock ‘n’ roll — blues, metal, punk, funk, pop — with group performance lessons three hours a week. All of the teachers leading the programs are professionals who gig in the local music scene. The school is closed Fridays and Saturdays so the teachers can get gigs without conflicting with teaching schedules.
“It’s really cool there’s this organized place for kids to come,” said Kevin Jones, an instructor. “I grew up playing music with my friends in my parent’s garage. It’s great they have this organized structure to give them an opportunity to perform where some of their favorite bands might be performing.”
The school is open throughout the week for students to continue practicing on their own with the school’s equipment. The school is also a safe space, Escobar said.
“A lot of kids that are in the program are not your typical athletic kid, y’know?” she said. “This is another place for them to be safe, to come and express themselves and be creative.”
The school is currently underway preparing the students for a Beatles tribute show late April or May for a performance in downtown Fayetteville. There’s also another program that focuses on the music of the 90s, where students learn and prepare a setlist of songs together.
“A lot of these kids don’t know The Beatles,” Jones said. “Being able to challenge a kid who’s really into double bass drumming into playing exactly like Ringo Starr is awesome to see.”
Chase Davidson, the general manager and former manager at the Rogers School of Rock location, said he used to be a private lesson teacher but found School of Rock curriculum to be more motivating for students.
Staff Photo Nick Brothers
A group of students practice playing “I Saw Her Standing There” by The Beatles in one of the rehearsal rooms at the School of Rock Fayetteville
“I’ve never found any sort of programming that works quite as well as School of Rock, as far as getting the results and seeing the kids become self-driven to practice,” Davidson said. “They grow a lot faster as players and people when they work in the sort of communal aspect of it.”
School of Rock currently has about 60 students, ages 6 to 59, enrolled in programs, and have room to grow. They hope to benefit and support the local music scene with trained musicians while supporting the community, Davidson said.
“We can really be significantly growing the music culture of Fayetteville here when you look five to 10 years down the line,” Davidson said. “As far as the number of musicians, which calls for a higher number of venues and support for that music and record labels, all of that sort of infrastructure to support that kind of scene. With Fayetteville we always get up to a certain point after a few years of work and then it backs off and slows off. We’re just looking for that rollover to be a full blown Austin or Portland.”
Beyond all of the music lessons, the school stresses the importance of learning life lessons from working together.
“You’re going to be in the real world and you’re going to be working in a team,” Escobar said. “You got to figure out how to make it work. It’s the same thing with music in this concept with the band. You have to accountable and disciplined. You can’t show up not having practiced. I love all those life lessons the program gives beyond the music.”
For more info about School of Rock, visit http://locations.schoolofrock.com/fayetteville.
