Kids of all ages, talent levels and musical preferences come to the School of Rock Music in Evanston to take lessons, participate in camps and rehearse for shows during the summer.
“Our philosophy is that music education is for everyone,” said Robin Koelsch, director and office manager of the Evanston and Highwood schools. “Kids learn better when they’re motivated to practice, and the best way to stay motivated is to keep performing.”
The Evanston School of Rock Music is one of 70 schools in the School of Rock program, according to Koelsch. The program originated in Philadelphia in 1998 as the Paul Green School of Rock Music, and the Evanston school opened September 2009.
Normally, the curriculum involves beginner and “relatively advanced” students rehearsing for a 12-week period before playing a live show, according to Gordon Patriarca, musical director of the Evanston school. The summer camp is more condensed, however.
“In summer camp we’ve got a week,” Patriarca said. “On Friday, we’re going to take them to a studio to record four or five songs. It will be a document of what they did, and it should sound OK, too.”
Because the camp is open to all ability levels, campers practice from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day during the week to prepare for recording on Friday, according to Koelsch.
“It’s really cool to see them together and watch them figure out how to help each other play to their strengths,” Koelsch said.
Patriarca said he sometimes gets kids who are so enthusiastic that they want to play not only their own instruments but others during different songs as well.
“I’ll have a girl who plays drums tell me she wants to play bass for a song,” Patriarca said. “I’ll try to show her some basic things, and if I can give them a simplified version of their part and they can play that, that’s cool.”
While some kids branch out, others take a step back. Some students come in and expect to do a lot in camp without knowing some essentials, according to Patriarca.
“The major scale is the root of all western music, and sometimes they don’t know what a major scale is,” Patriarca said. “How is that possible? It’s like not knowing the alphabet you need for the English language.”
Patriarca said he sometimes wishes he had more time to teach kids more about rock music in addition to rehearsals.
“I’ll ask who their favorite artists are, and I’ll get really interesting answers sometimes,” Patriarca said. “In a perfect world I would try to teach more historical stuff and music theory, but you don’t have that much time since 75 percent of it is spent rehearsing.”
Even though many kids come in with distinct musical tastes, not everyone has a diverse palate. Koelsch said it can be tough getting students to try different bands and genres.
“I remind students that we are a music education establishment,” Koelsch said. “You might come in here really liking The Doors, but you might leave with a newfound response for Black Sabbath as well.”
Recent shows by School of Rock Music students included songs by Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and Stone Temple Pilots, and upcoming shows will feature songs by The Police, Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley, to name a few.
“We’re the guys trying to make people play real music,” Patriarca said. “I think there are people who really like rock music because of its value and power, and a lot of it is great music.”
The performance aspect of the School of Rock Music is crucial in motivating students to practice, Koelsch said. Many of her colleagues dropped music “slowly but surely” because they lacked opportunities to perform.
“The songs can be really cool, but when you go and play it with your teacher only, it stinks,” Koelsch said. “When kids come to these rehearsals, they get the opportunity to apply exactly what they’re doing in their lessons and eventually perform.”
Patriarca said learning to play an instrument and performing is “ten times more rewarding” for kids than sitting in front of a computer screen.
“Once you can play a little bit, when you’re actually touching something and making the sounds, there’s something about that,” Patriarca said. “I don’t know how you duplicate that. It’s real.”
