West Edmonton music school makes rock stars
MAYFIELD — Students at Giovanni Music in west Edmonton are becoming what so many of us dream to be — rock stars.
This is all part of a new program called West End Warriors, held Friday evenings at 10528 Mayfield Rd. It teaches students what it is like to be in a rock band.
Justin McDonough, instructor of the West End Warriors rock and roll program at Giovanni's School of Music, playing bass at the school on September 23, 2011. Photo by Kjell Wickstrom
“We are trying to do something that is a little more fun,” said instructor Justin McDonough.
The sound and feel of the program is like nothing else in the school. The students are gathered together into a cramped room, but instead of hearing a piano or violin concerto when you walk in, you are hit with the sound of a distorted guitar and a driving rock and roll drum beat.
Students range in age from their teens to their 40s, but most if not all have some prior music experience, and take separate lessons of their own at the school.
“I’ve played a lot of instruments in my life, “said Peter Baronov, 14. “I can’t walk past an instrument and not play it.”
The West End Warriors lessons don’t focus on playing a particular instrument, though that is part of it. Students’ main focus is learning how to be in a band. They learn how to keep time and play with one another, something that is hard if not impossible to learn in private lessons.
“You are no longer the whole pie. You are only a piece of it,” said McDonough. “That’s a big part of this learning experience.”
McDonough, while instructing, also ends up playing whatever piece of the band happens to be missing. He will also arrange songs. He’s doing a reggae version of Wild Thing with one of his groups of West End Warriors.
Jeffery Schroeder, 46, joined West End Warriors with his sons Stephen, 16, and Michael, 14. Jeffery and Stephen both play guitar, and Michael plays the drums. All three are taking private lessons at Giovanni’s as well.
“We are doing separate lessons, may as well put it all together,” Jeffery said of the family band he and his boys seem to have started. “It’s great.”
It will be interesting to see the results of everyone’s hard work when their lessons end, whether they are just playing together at home, or showing off their skills in a concert.