School of Rock Puts a Modern Twist on Music Education

Many of us remember music lessons from when we were younger. We were dropped off at a music store or a local music teacher’s home. Lessons would consist of learning rudimentary tunes—focusing on site reading and scales. Not very exciting for a student who was inspired to learn how to play the guitar by Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day. This old musical education paradigm made it difficult for kids to imagine the path from their teacher’s basement to the rock and roll stage.

School of Rock identified these challenges and redefined how students learned to play music. Instead of taking students down a path of reading music and practicing “Hot Cross Buns”, they are thrown into group rehearsals that are complemented with ongoing one-on-one instruction. This unique approach to music education provides students with a chance to not only focus on sharpening their skills, but to truly rock out.

Senior Vice President of Marketing Elliot Baldini knows this new approach to teaching music is what has made the franchise so successful. “We are different because we believe the best way to learn to read music and scales is by getting students involved and actually performing.”

To showcase their newfound talent, every three to four months students perform at a real venue in front of a real audience. This is a chance for teachers to see their students’ hard work come to life, but Baldini knows nothing beats seeing parents beaming at their children on stage. “It's not uncommon for our parents to see their child on stage and barely believe how good they’ve gotten after just couple months of lessons. We regularly hear ‘Wow, this is really working!’”

Although watching the musical progress is exciting, often times the programs at School of Rock are about more than just music. “I don’t have any illusions that 100% of our students will become professional musicians. But I do have 100% certainty that these kids will be more confident and impactful. School of Rock prepares students for a more complicated world. It gives them a sense of self and teaches them collaboration and co-creation,” shared CEO Rob Price.

The school has inspired hundreds of thousands of students of all ages since its beginning in 1998. It now teaches over 30,000 students per year in 10 different countries, and Baldini knows the best is yet to come. “In 2016, we had the highest demand for our services and customer inquiries than we had over the past 20 years. In 2017, we broke that record again. We have some very exciting things we’re launching in 2018 that are expected to drive even more incremental growth.”
The music franchise is looking forward to continuing help students realize their dreams, and Baldini is sure this model that will continue to resonate with consumers for years to come. “We feel music is intrinsic to who are as people. Everyone across all cultures has been using music to bring people together since the first person banged two rocks together. It’s just part of who we are.”