They will, they will ROCK YOU

When youngsters have a goal at the end, they'll truly rock the assignment.
By JOHN BENSON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
AUL GREEN IS NOT A ROCK STAR.
However, that hasn't stopped him from starting the "School of Rock" music school, which has 22 locations across the nation. A Northeast Ohio franchise is expected to open this winter.
Naturally, the name "School of Rock" conjures up visions of actor Jack Black teaching fourth-graders all they need to know about rock'n'roll in the 2003 feature film with the same title. Green, who believes his music school is loosely the basis for the film, has no qualms about the flick.
"It's on WTBS right now as like a 90-minute commercial for my schools," laughed Green, calling from his New York City home. "It's great."
As a University of Pennsylvania philosophy student who had an eye on law school, Green was teaching music to kids out of his living room in 1998 when he got the idea for the "School of Rock."
Put on a show
"I really loved teaching more than I sort of loved playing even," Green said. "My kids were getting good so we staged a show and I noticed how amazing that was as a tool for teaching. Like having an end point to work towards. The show was a big success. We got a lot of press and from there, it's just really been a phenomenon. I'm just happy to be along for the ride."
That ride has made Green somewhat of a music industry celebrity. Not only was he the focus of the 2005 documentary "Rock School" but his kids have attracted the attention of, well, rock stars. So far, the touring entity The School of Rock All Stars has been joined onstage with legends Alice Cooper, Eddie Vedder, and Jon Anderson.
Perhaps more importantly, some musicians have even expressed interest in teaching students their craft. Currently, members of Ween, Guided by Voices and Crash Test Dummies lend their talents to various "School of Rock" locations around the country.
"Really, we're a formal music school," Green said. "Every kid who comes here learns chords and scales and ear training as least as well as any other school they're going to go to. What we add is another level in the context of doing shows. So instead of just teaching a drummer how to do certain beats, we actually teach him those beats, give him songs with those beats and then have them play a concert."
Still, the name "School of Rock" often gives new students the wrong idea.
"They think since it's rock, it's going to be loose and sort of much more democratic than it is," Green said. "We play the music we think they should know and if they're going to join our schools, which are relatively small with a capped enrollment of 180 students, they're going to practice or find themselves another music school. It's a big myth that rock'n'roll is a purely visceral art."
Working up to it
He added, "Jimi Hendrix to me is the epitome of rock 'n' roll and people say, 'Well, Hendrix didn't go to rock school' and I'll say, 'Sure he did. He went to the Little Richard school of rock and The Isley Brothers school of rock.' Because we're trying to re-create the experiences that my favorite rockers had of playing in blues cover bands or being sidemen for a while. That just doesn't happen anymore."
Twice a year Green picks 50 top students out of his more than 2,000 nationwide to form two separate touring The School of Rock All Stars outfits. You can see these kids, ranging in age from 12 to 18 years old, Wednesday at the Winchester Tavern & amp; Music Hall, 12112 Madison Ave., Lakewood.
Green said the shows are completely family based in the sense the kids love watching their peers while the parents dig the unique set list, which includes songs by Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, Michael Jackson, Duran Duran, Led Zeppelin, Slayer and even Chicago.
While some of Green's former students are making a career in music as backing band members, he feels the "School of Rock" provides a slight edge for those kids with dreams of rock stardom.
"It's about learning the value of hard work, education in whatever you do and if you want to pursue music, getting all of the skills so the 2 percent chance of making it maybe becomes 7 percent."