Too often, music students begin lessons with high enthusiasm only to become bored when lessons are dull and uninspiring. At Los Rios Rock School, we offer Tustin ukulele lessons, and our lessons are anything but mind-numbing. In fact, our ukulele lessons truly rock.
The Ukulele Lessons
Your monthly tuition includes a full 60-minute private lesson each with an experienced ukulele instructor. Students can start at any level, whether they’ve never held a ukulele or can strum like Eddie Vedder or Jake Shimabukuro.
Unlike many music schools, we teach using a performance-based approached. During each lesson, we’ll work on theory, chords, rhythm and much more, but rather than work with simple beginner tunes, we get the kids playing using music they truly love.
Whether your child or teen loves rock, pop, Hawaiian, blues, country, folk or something else entirely, we’ll have them playing a favorite song in just a couple of lessons. We find that when students learn to play faster and practice more when the material is inspiring to them.
The ukulele is an excellent instrument for beginners, small and lightweight; the ukulele tends to be very easy to learn. The ukulele also serves as an excellent foundation for learning other types of guitars, and we also offer acoustic, electric and bass guitar lessons. If your child wants to transition into any type of guitar, our instructors are equal to the task.
In fact, we often have students that will split their weekly private lesson into two halves. They might spend 30 minutes on ukulele instruction and the rest on vocal instruction or perhaps guitar, drums, saxophone or piano, whatever is of interest to them.
The Live Concerts
Of course, once you’ve enjoyed a few of those Tustin ukulele lessons, it’s time to get up on stage and show them off. Your monthly tuition also includes participation in our unique live concert program.
For this program, we create student groups, typically based upon ability. These groups meet for weekly jam sessions where they prepare for upcoming live rock concerts. And, our concerts aren’t just tame little recitals. We put on authentic rock concerts at top venues such as the House of Blues and the Coach House.
Students provide all of the instrumentation and vocals for the concerts, which often include a mix of musical styles and genres, as well as original tunes written by rock school students. Working as part of a group is fun, but it also accelerates musical growth in general, and students do progress more quickly when they play with a group.
Some shows include a special theme such as our original Christmas and Halloween shows. We also offer the Classic Rock Series to our most advanced musicians. During these concerts, a classic album is performed in its entirety, such as Van Halen 1, The Beatles’ Abbey Road and The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds.
The Artist Program
In addition to our ukulele lessons for Tustin kids and teens, we also provide instruction for students that wish to write and produce their own original music. Our expert instructors have all been (or currently are) in working bands that have produced albums. Their real-world experience boosts the quality of instruction in our songwriting and production classes.
Our facility includes two professional recording studios, one of which was designed by a Grammy Award-winning producer. We also stock the rock school with the best new and vintage gear, and the kids can use it all! Students can record their own original tunes using the same equipment and instruments that their musical heroes use.
AP Music Theory
As an accredited music school, we offer an AP Music Theory for our older and more advanced students. This course, led by an instructor with a Ph.D. in Music Composition, prepares students for the difficult AP Music Theory exam.
Summer Camps
Each summer, we offer several week-long summer camps for beginning and intermediate musicians, as well as a camp for advanced musicians. During the week, campers attend a variety of fun workshops and prepare for an amazing live rock concert, which is held on the last day of camp.
If you’d like to learn more about our ukulele lessons for Tustin kids and teens, or any other component of our music program, give us a call at any time. We can set up a tour of our state-of-the-art facility, which is located just a few miles south of Tustin in downtown San Juan Capistrano.
