An update on this review to highlight how the Silver Spring School of Rock has taken cool to a new level!
I have to agree with all the previous reviews about the Silver Spring School of Rock. As a parent, I see several qualities at this school that are absent from other schools. I want to provide details that fill in the gaps and help answer questions that I think all parents have in choosing a place to send their kids for instruction.
First and foremost, what I witness at the school is that the management (Go Gia and Neel!!) and staff really care about the students. This care is more than just developing kids into musicians. They also care about the well-being of the kids as part of their school. I see management and staff interacting with kids to help them build their confidence and abilities, as well as to work with others. The school makes learning fun and turns kids into musicians people want to work with and not jerks. I sit across from one of the studio rooms while my son is in lessons and band practice. I have seen several instructors working with the kids and see passion and expressiveness in the instruction that motivates learning. Each instructor that I have witnessed has their own style that makes people feel relaxed and let the instruction sink in not just be received. That is, students feel the instruction and not just see it, which is an essential part of making music -playing without feeling or expression seems to miss the point of being a musician. The Silver Spring School of Rock gets that and it is an essential part of their approach.
Each instructor also provides notes to parents and students covering the lesson and band practice. This is very helpful in guiding what needs to be done outside of class time -leaves kids with something to anchor to and not just remembering what needs to be done. There is always direct and regular feedback to refine skills.
Second, it may go without saying, but the approach of participating in a band is a key feature. I wish I had this option when I was learning to play. Having a band practice component is more than just taking what is learned in a lesson and applying it. Playing with a band brings with it learning of how to connect with others in playing as a group. Without that part, playing with a band becomes just an exercise in making all the instruments sync-up. The staff absolutely have a good time with this and the kids certainly appear to enjoy it. The management and staff emphasize a subtle but important aspect of band practice, developing stage presence. This all shows a level of care in helping students be successful as performers as well as developing confidence in a young person in being different from others and not being afraid to do so. And what does this all lead to?..it leads to the management booking shows for these kids in some of coolest and famous venues in DC! The bands just played at The Black Cat in the U Street corridor! Playing at places like this for kids is huge deal in terms of crafting a program that is the real deal. What kid would not want to play in the actual venues they will be playing when they get out on their own?
Finally, the environment. Again, Silver Spring gets it! The place is comfortable and not stuffy. It provides a feeling of getting together to enjoy the practice. It does not convey a feeling of a cold and buckle down environment of just wrote learning or something like a room for standardized test taking. The environment resembles an ideal place any band wants to practice in and spend time, not a dreary cinder block room absent of feeling and expression. Creating requires a conducive environment, and Silver Spring seems to recognize this. I like being there so much, I signed up for vocal lessons to compliment my geetar playing.
If there a place that has perfected musical learning, the School of Rock must come the closest…. especially the Silver Spring location. They simply care. It is rare to find all the qualities present in any one thing to round out expectations… but that is the definition of exceptional.
