A group of Brooklyn musicians want to share their passion for performing by starting a school based around the notion that jam sessions, not scales and arpeggios, will get students to stick with their instruments.
Play It Forward is the brainchild of drummer Michael Beck, who believes that would-be guitar gods and mandolin masters will do better in a group setting, without the pressure of practice books and looming solo recitals.
“We are trying to take away any excuse that people have for not learning something new,” said Beck, who has been taking drum lessons since he was a kid.
The proposed school will allow walk-in students to take beginner, group lessons on a by-donation basis, but first it has to find a home. Beck and his liberal-minded maestro friends just raised $16,300 through a monthlong Kickstarter fund-raising campaign. Now they are looking for a place to put their musical chairs. Red Hook, Williamsburg, and Gowanus are the lead contenders so far, Beck said.
The format will be loose and open to all ages so that, for instance, a dad could bring in a bunch of kids for a rocking birthday party.
“They will all be in it together without the pressure,” said pianist Tyler Gilmore, who plans to teach electronic music composition. “People learn differently and going into a room in solitude does not work for everyone.”
If students do want to go on to more intensive, private lessons, they will be charged for those.
