Music School Opens With Fresh Approach
New Britain Herald by Scott Whipple
If you believe the only way to learn how to play an instrument is from a musty music book, while you pick out chords to “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” you won’t want to enroll at the Macri School Of Music.
“We believe passion is most important,” said Frank Macri. “We ask our students to list music they like. As we go through chords and scales, we apply the teaching to a song they want to play. So, they’re not only learning; they’re enjoying themselves.” Macri School Of Music opened officially January 1, 2002. However, Macri and long-time friend Scott Gilliam have been giving music lessons since early December from their new Plainville location.
For years, Macri, saved for his own music school. Last summer he found the ideal place on New Britain Avenue in Plainville. “I’ve been teaching in various venues for 15 years,” he explained. “I wanted a place that focused on learning an instrument, not getting customers into a store to sell an instrument.”
But for Macri, and his staff, starting a music school meant more than a location. To them, it was an opportunity to practice their own approach to teaching. Don’t expect them to sell you instruments. Though they have an arrangement with a music store if students need an instrument, their goal is to teach.
“It’s what I love,” Macri says. Currently he and his staff teach 150+ students a week who range in age from 6 to 75. One wants to play the alto like be-bop legend, Charlie Parker, another, a guitar like Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. When they started teaching 90% of their students were male; now with more women into the rock scene, that percentage has narrowed to 60-40 male.
Macri, a Southington native, started as a rock guitarist, then studied jazz and blues. Though he now devotes most of his time to teaching, he believes he knows how to get around some of the obstacles to learning. He worked them out himself, and through courses at the Hartford Conservatory of Music and Berklee College of Music. “Everyone comes here for a different reason,” he said Monday, perched on a studio stool. “Some simply want to drop in after work to learn a few songs. Others want to prepare themselves for advanced music studies.”
Macri likes to talk about a student who started on the guitar in eighth grade, later graduating from Berklee and now works in music production in New York City. Another student studied with Macri for six years, attended the University Of Miami and is now a jazz guitar studio player in Los Angeles.
The school will stage a jam session for junior high and high school musicians. “We’re setting up a coffeehouse atmosphere,” he said. “Kids like to perform with their friends in front of an audience. It gives them a sense of satisfaction.” In addition, Macri School Of Music will rent a hall in Plainville for a blues jam. It’s an opportunity to play with other musicians and learn some new licks.
“We teach all styles: blues, jazz, rock, modern rock, folk- primarily guitar based,” Macri said.
Macri and his associates believe people are not necessarily born musicians; most can learn to play well enough to please themselves. “If you have the desire to play, you’ll learn,” Macri said. “As teachers we look for ways to encourage you. We break it down so the frustration level isn’t there. Three months later you can’t believe your playing that song you’ve always wanted to play. If you have the desire, it’s our job to keep you motivated.”
Macri School of Music is located at 109 New Britain Avenue, Plainville. Lessons are by the half hour or hour and are usually once a week. Hours: noon to 10p.m., Monday through Friday and 9a.m. to 2p.m., Saturdays. Closed Sundays. Tel:860-793-8455.
