Better than band camp

'Schools of rock' immerse students in the collaborative experience

Mark Brown, Rocky Mountain News

Monday, August 27, 2007

It was just hours before showtime, but the bands at Camp Jam still struggled a bit to get through their songs.

The coaches gave a simple bit of advice: "No matter what happens, don't stop."

And the seven bands rocked the house that night at Denver Academy after just a week of playing together. Inspired in part by Jack Black's hilarious turn in School of Rock, more and more music teachers of tweens and early teens are turning to the notion of group work supplementing - or replacing - one-on-one lessons.

"Nobody puts their kids in bands. It's a shame. That's where the real education comes from. You teach a kid a chord, you teach him skills, but they don't get to play right away," said Robert Fulton, owner of the Denver School of Music and supervisor of this year's first Camp Jam session in Denver after years of success in Atlanta, Dallas and other markets. "It's like being on a soccer team, going to practice every week but never playing a game."

It was definitely the movie that inspired her, said Lydia Fiore, who runs the Academy of Rock with her husband, Tony, out of Globalsound Studios in Broomfield. They were trying to figure out how to get more use out of the studios when "one day it just hit me," she said.

"We have kids and they will not touch their instruments. We started thinking, 'How do we get the kids to be really motivated?' " she said.

She recites typical complaints from kids about rehearsing: "It was a chore, it was boring. It's too lonely to play your instrument by yourself and it's not as exciting. What you're learning is just one piece of the song."

Their sons and a few friends made up the first class last year, "and it was a huge hit and just started spreading," Fiore said. "They wouldn't put their guitars down after that." This year, 70 players passed through the sessions.

It's not limited to guitars/bass/drum, said Gary Lennox of Dog House Music in Lafayette, a recording studio that's been offering band sessions for several years. Electric violins and electric ukuleles have been part of the scene.

Dog House emphasizes original music over covers, so it was a bit sticky when Modest Mouse was using rehearsal studios there before a Red Rocks gig. One of the young bands next to the secret rehearsal heard the group and complained to Lennox: "Hey, they're not writing originals. They're playing a Modest Mouse song!"

Thirty kids went through the week of Camp Jam, divided into seven bands. On the last day of camp they prepared for the final-night concert, ripping through versions of Jimi Hendrix's Red House and Black Sabbath's Paranoid.

"We have a curriculum that works really well with Camp Jam," Fulton said. "We make sure they understand all aspects of the songs: choruses, verses, the music. They can block everything out, put the pieces together and all of it comes together in the rehearsals."

That includes theatrics, too. "I usually swing my mic and catch it on my elbow, but I can't, because the mic will come flying off. They've taped it on," vocalist Cordt Senstermaker said. "Hopefully I'll be able to do it at the concert."

Taylor Fitzke Googled for a camp and found Camp Jam. He learned some tricks to take back to his regular band, Manipulated Living. "I learned stuff that can contribute to my band when I get home - how to give the audience a better show, how to sustain your guitar-playing."

"I'm learning to like these songs," vocalist Paige Caring said. As one of only two females at Camp Jam, she ended up fronting two bands who needed a voice. "I've never done a public performance before. At first it's kind of nerve-racking, but it's so much fun. I have such a good time. I've extended my range."

Academy of Rock's weekly sessions include recording a cover song and an original and playing a live show.

Dog House recently expanded its reach by adding a camp for adults.

The power of music

96% of parents say their children's involvement in music helped them academically.

66% say their children had more confidence and personality as a result of music involvement.

69% believe that a music background is a factor in getting into a good college.Source: Poll of readers of Making Music magazine