Story by Spencer Carney.
Cover photo courtesy of School of Rock.
If you come at the right time, you can hear Pink Floyd from the parking lot. Or sometimes Queen or Journey playing loudly enough that the gray building seems to shake.
The Chapel Hill location of the School of Rock opened two years ago with four students. Now, it has 16 instructors and about 175 students per year.
“I’ve always been into music,” owner David Joseph said. “I did the marching band and church choir and garage band and everything, then went to college, got married, and did corporate America for a while. Then once my kids got older, I started thinking about the next chapter of my life, and School of Rock seemed like a good way to get back into music.”
Nearly every student who walks through the door is greeted by name. Music plays over speakers, although it’s usually drowned out by groups practicing down the hall.
“On the best days, I feel like kids leave having learned something, thanks to me,” instructor Justin Ellis said. “Whenever a kid nails a solo onstage or just thanks me for a lesson, it makes me feel like I’ve had at least a minor impact on their lives. It’s a really great, wholesome, positive environment.”
The doors to the unisex bathrooms are labelled “Rockers” and “Rollers.” Kids are encouraged to decorate the bathroom walls, writing names and song lyrics or whatever they want, provided it’s clean and age-appropriate. Outside of the bathrooms, one wall holds a list of all student and staff birthdays, while another is filling up with paper “bricks.” (Every time they play a concert, they write what the event was and add “another brick in the wall.”)
Sydney Helbert, 11, went on tour this past summer as a vocalist with the House Band. Students audition for the program and, if selected, travel to other venues and School of Rock locations where they perform live shows. Program numbers vary by season, having had as few as seven and as many as 18.
“I was very shy before School of Rock,” Sydney said. “Going on tour with the House Band was one of the best decisions of my life. I got to meet new people and see really cool places. I think the biggest thing I’ve learned, from tour and from being here, is just how to put my voice out there, both on stage and off stage.’’
School of Rock was established in 1998 by Paul Green, a music teacher in Philadelphia who realized that the students who played as a group learned faster and better than the ones who did the traditional one-on-one lessons. He adapted his teaching plans to include group practice, with the end goal to have them play onstage in front of an audience. The program started to grow, the movie “School of Rock” starring Jack Black was released, and franchise locations popped up across the country and internationally.
The music school offers a variety of programs, grouping students based on age and skill level. Most curriculums include a weekly private lesson and group rehearsals before performing live. While the school doesn’t teach opera or orchestra, songs that fall under the umbrella of “rock” are fair game, with influences ranging from jazz to gospel to funk. Monthly tuition fees vary by plan, with discounts and financial assistance available for qualifying students.
Out of all the programs offered, the Performance Program is one of the biggest at every School of Rock, consisting of a weekly group rehearsal and private lessons leading up to live performances every few months at local venues. All students in the Performance Program are eligible to audition for the House Band, comprised of musicians aged 17 and under, and for the AllStars tour program.
To get into the AllStars program, students have to go through three rounds of auditions: a live performance in front of the staff, an audition video submitted to the corporate level, and a final live audition onstage in front of the other applicants as well as the judges. Out of thousands of applications from schools around the world, Joseph says he believes around 200 students are selected.
“I feel like the process of the auditions really says a lot about School of Rock,” keyboardist and singer Izzie Bannister, 15, said.
She was one of three students from the Chapel Hill location to make it to the final round of auditions.
“When you do the live audition for the final round, it’s so nerve racking to be in front of everyone onstage with all of the lights and everything,” she said. “But it’s so fun, and everyone claps for you when you’re done. Just the attitude and environment of (School of Rock) students is really consistent in the way that everyone just wants you to succeed and help you and cheer for you.”
Guitarist Massi Bannister, 13, also made it to the final round of auditions. He said that even though he wasn’t accepted to the program, auditioning still boosted his confidence.
“It helped me learn not to underestimate myself,” he said. “I didn’t think I would get past the second round, and I did and I was really surprised. I ended up being one of the youngest people at the audition.”
Instructor Jerry Renshaw said that when he was younger and learning music, he remembers that a lot of his experiences weren’t good.
“I’m acutely aware whenever I’m interacting with kids that every moment we’re together will be remembered long after I’m gone, and I want very much to be a positive inspiration and influence in their lives,” Renshaw said. “There are plenty of moments that make an instructor proud: seeing a kid make connections and have the ‘a-ha!’ moment on a song or concept or technique, or seeing their eyes light up with inspiration, or seeing them pick up on things I do on guitar and emulate it themselves.”
David Joseph said that his goal is to teach students life skills that will stay with them once they’ve left.
“Music is a very personal thing,” he said. “Before humans could speak, they had music and rhythm. When we pass that along, we create ripples that are going to make a positive crash. That ideal is what we want kids to take from (School of Rock) even if we never get to see it.”
