Founder of School of Rock Shares His Passion for Music

Steve Adubato goes one-on-one with Paul Green, the Founder of School of Rock and the new Philadelphia-based, The Paul Green Rock Academy, to discuss sharing his love of music with students everywhere.

3/28/18 #2123

 

 

 

 

Excerpt:

"That's... this is Paul Green, the Founder of the Paul Green Rock Academy. He is also the founder of the original School of Rock. What we were just looking at? You we're looking at some videos of my kids from Woodstock, New York, where I spent... I'm back in Philly now, but I lived in Woodstock for like five years. Really? Did they ever have many people get together and play music in front of other people back in the day? They did, they did... How did that work? They tried it in Woodstock, but they lost their license a month before and... Get out of here! The actual Woodstock Festival was about a hour and a half away. So when you live in Woodstock, it's like middle-aged tourists, and middle-aged is kind... Yes yes. With fanny packs like where was the festival? Oh like, the best? Drive down this road for an hour and a half and make a left you know, so... Did you ask...? Never mind, that's another story. Yeah I just want to make... I'm sorry. Yeah. [laughter] I just dated myself. So tell us about... first of all, explain the difference between the original School of Rock and the Paul green Rock Academy. Excellent question. I started the School of Rock in 1998 as a senior at the University of Pennsylvania. I was on my way to law school... You're originally from Philly? Originally from Philly. Congratulations on the Super Bowl and... Thank you. We're a little bit past that, but congratulations. We all worked really hard to make that happen. Yes you did. And School of Rock was founded in my living room in 1998 under my watch, and with a couple of partners and a lot of staff. What was the idea? Okay, so I'm teaching guitar in my living room, and I love teaching guitar. Most guitar players who teach do it begrudgingly, but I was the opposite. I liked teaching more than I liked loading equipment at 3 a.m. Right. So I really liked it. So I actually put my heart and soul in it, and I noticed, and it was the most obvious fact, but kids who practiced got good at guitar. Amazing how that happens. Kids who didn't practice didn't get good. And more importantly for me, the kids who practiced were more fun to teach. So I started having the kids to motivate them to do jam sessions on the weekend, and they started getting so much better from just playing with each other. Hmm. That I actually put on a show with them, and then I noticed, like, the secret to, like... imagine being on a baseball team and never playing games, that's what..."