His blonde curls bobbing, percussion powerhouse Chris Cummings of Summit kept perfect time to "I Saw Her Standing There," by The Beatles. What appears as an apparent jam session is an actual music lesson, administered by a seasoned musician, in this case Lima. "I think this is pretty good so far," Chris said, referring to his drum lessons.
A classic rocker in training, this seven-year-old first grader may be dwarfed by the drum set but compensates with natural-born talent and enthusiasm. Welcome to a day in the life at Paul Green's School of Rock: Chatham edition. Here students range in age, octaves and choice of instruments.
Instructors prefer the term "rock gurus," or "rock instructors." At the core of every teacher and student resides a mutual passion to tackle rock and roll "like the masters," said music director Mark Biondi. "Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, the Beatles," he said.
"The classic rock masters." In just two months, these students will stand and deliver a rendition of Pink Floyd's "The Wall," before a live audience. The performance is way less of a recital and much more of a concert.
Come Saturday, the School of Rock All-Stars, cream of the student crop, and founder Paul Green will show the public how it's done with a free all-age concert at the Dark Horse in Morristown. The open house takes places from noon to 5 p.m.
and officially rings in The School of Rock's grand opening in Chatham. Founded in 1998 by Philadelphia guitarist Paul Green, the performance-driven school allows aspiring young rockers the chance to work with professional musicians and perform in a group setting. The name may conjure up scenes of Jack Black in the 2003 comedy "School of Rock," which mirrors Green's venture.
The 2005 Sundance documentary "Rock School," which aired on A E network, chronicled Green's movement: Learn by doing, or in this case, playing. Experienced instructors who have been there, played that, mold young musical minds. Most have rocked and rolled in real time and choose to pass their experiences on to young proteges.
"These guys know almost every instrument and have worked the music scene," said Biondi. An accomplished producer, drummer, guitarist and bass player, he has traversed the music circuit since 1994 and has shared the stage with Third Eye Blind, Living Colour and Sugar Ray, to name just a few national acts. Similarl,y rock instructors Chris Guice and Andy Letke, members of the Latin fusion rock band deSoL, offer the students their multi-instrumental and national touring experiences.
"I've been in bands since high school and many touring bands since," said rocker Guice, who plays bass in deSoL. Guice's resume also includes a childhood music stint on Nickelodeon. Guice was a member of the band Out of Order, featured on the network's skit/variety/talk show "Don't Just Sit There.
" Letke's love affair with music began in kindergarten, when his first boy-girl relationship, established at recess, came to an abrupt end. "She dumped me at the slide later in the afternoon," he said. "I was heartbroken.
During the bus ride home from school, I heard the lyrics to a sad song on the radio. It was making me even more upset. So that night I asked my mom for some music with no lyrics and she handed me a cassette of Beethoven's 5th and Schubert's 9th symphonies.
I eventually wore the tape out, focusing on the sound of all the instruments individually and together. " Girl aside, classical music was his first true love. In third grade, he took up piano and continued intermittently through high school and college.
"Now I've been enjoying guitar, banjo, drums, mandolin, flute -- whatever I have around the house," he said. In addition to deSoL, and songwriting, his main focus is School of Rock. "It's an excellent environment for budding young rockers and I've thoroughly enjoyed having this opportunity to share some of my skillset with the students," he said.
On their journey to becoming rock stars of the future, students are paired with an instructor for a one-on-one 45-minute weekly lesson. Budding stars like 14-year-old guitarist David Blank of New Providence are ready for their moment in the spotlight..
"It's cool to perform in front of people and practice with other people my age," he said. Under the tutelage and foot-tapping direction of Art Lima, the 14-year-old strummed his Les Paul guitar to Pink Floyd's "Mother." Meanwhile, Morgan Gardiner, 14, of Allamuchy, with a sing-and-string accompaniment from Guice, refined his riffs with a round of "Twist and Shout.
" "Remember, it's the same three chords over and over," said Guice. With two years of guitar lessons under his belt, Gardiner still felt something was missing but now he's found it with this mentoring style of instruction. "I like the human-to-human contact," he said.
"It's better than just playing by the book." Aspiring eight-year-old vocalist Claudia Blanco of Bridgewater is following in her grandfather's footsteps. Electric guitar lessons at the School of Rock may just round out her future rock-ability.
In the meantime, her untied funky shoelaces already fit the bill of trendsetter-in-the-making. "Her grandfather was an opera singer," said her mother, Jane. "And she's been singing since she was one.
" American Idol fan? You bet. "She'll watch the show and hear things I don't," said Jane Blanco.
(Watch out Paula.) Kim Soden, Chris' mother tuned in to the School of Rock at a recent All-Star Concert at B.B.
King's in New York. An appearance by rock legend Jon Anderson of Yes made a lasting impression. "Chris is raised on classic rock," said Soden.
"He gets that from his mom. I was a drummer, too and I wish I had this when I was a kid." Green Day, Nickelback and Queen made a fellow guitarist out of eight-year-old Brendan Murphy of Springfield.
"I really like guitar because my favorite bands play guitar," he said.
Ellen S. Wilkowe can be reached at 973-428-6662 or .
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