School knows it's a long way to the top if you want to rock 'n' roll By Associated Press, adapted by Newsela staff on 11.04.15 Word Count 710

Paul Green( left) talks with student Diggy Lessard at the Paul Green Rock Academy in Saugerties, New York. Green and Michael Lang have co-founded the Woodstock Music Lab, a rock school for college-age students, with hopes of opening the school in 2016. Photo: AP/Mike Groll

WOODSTOCK, N.Y. — In this school, students will be encouraged to bang their heads and whip their hair.

Students at Woodstock Music Lab will practice fancy finger work alongside guitar heroes. Jamming in class will be encouraged. Assignments will include recreating the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds." Making a rock album based on Egyptian mythology will also be part of the program.

Students will learn these activities when a rock music school opens in the famous Catskill Mountains. Think of music school -- just with the sound of screeching guitar. Co-founder Paul Green sees the school as a "giant, fertile petri dish" where young guitarists and producers rub shoulders with one other. Roll Over, Beethoven! Make Room For Adele

Green recently showed off the old elementary school that will become the Woodstock Music Lab. "Odds are you can step out of the studio and say, 'I need a saxophone,' and some other kid here working on a jazz project will say, 'I'll be right down!'" he said.

Green is a talkative rock teacher who has opened rock schools in the past. Michael Lang co-founded the college with Green. Lang organized the original 1969 Woodstock music festival. The famous festival took place in a muddy field some 50 miles from here and featured performances by Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin.

The Woodstock Music Lab founders have raised several million dollars. However, they need twice that amount to open the school. They hope to open as early as next year. The founders reached a milestone this summer when they bought an elementary school for $1 million. It is located a few miles from Woodstock's central village.

This Is Not The School Of Bach

Walking through empty classrooms this week, Green and Lang described where performance spaces will be. The gym will become a recording studio big enough for an orchestra. Students will attend the school for two years. They will learn about performing, production, arranging and marketing.

"We're really looking for people who want to get an education about the entire business," Lang said.

The founders hope talented students who are college age, or even in their 20s or 30s, will apply. Metal heads, indie types and beat makers are all welcome. Everyone will learn how to play two instruments a semester. Students will choose one instrument, and teachers will choose the other. The Woodstock Music Lab will not give out college degrees at first, but the founders expect students will be able to earn credits accepted by colleges and universities.

Is This The Stairway To Heaven?

Green and Lang will use their connections to bring in well-known musicians to be guest professors. Some even own homes in the woods around Woodstock. Jon Anderson, former singer of the British rock band Yes, has agreed to teach at the school.

"You ever see the commercials for 'SportsCenter' with Grant Hill hanging out?" Green asked. "We want it to be like that."

Students also will see a lot of Green. He now runs the Paul Green Rock Academy. The building outside of Woodstock has a pirate flag flying out front. On a busy day of after- school lessons, Green moved from room to room acting like the Jack Black character from "School of Rock," hugging and teasing students. He stuck his head into one lesson to belt out a line from the rock musical "Jesus Christ Superstar" in full ham mode: "One of my 12 chosen will leave to betray meeee!"

Step Aboard The Yellow Submarine

Rock musicians have long held mixed feelings about formal education. Still, Lang and Green see their school nurturing young artists in a way that big record companies don't do anymore.

Mark Mulligan is an expert on the music business. He said such a talent incubator could be useful. To be an artist today "requires much more than being a good musician," he said. Bands and artists need to be skilled at marketing and social media, he added.

Green stressed that the school will concentrate on creating great art like that of the Rolling Stones and Radiohead. When Green was asked if strict school coursework might choke the spirit of rock'n'roll, he laughed.

"We're standing over the spirit of rock'n'roll with some paddles and rubbing them together," he said, "and I'm yelling, 'Clear!'"