Jamming key to students' learning

SANDPOINT — Cole McAvoy taught for more than nine years from a studio in his home before the light finally came on. It took an encounter with a student to spark the revelation that he was not a drum teacher, he was a band teacher.

After one of their sessions, a young drummer mentioned that he had a couple of friends who happened to play bass and guitar.

“He asked me, ‘Can I bring them to the lesson?’” McAvoy said.

“I watched it come together and I thought, ‘This is what I have to do.’ ”

After trying out a storefront location — not the best fit, because of the constant traffic from people wandering in wanting to buy things such as guitar strings and school band books — McAvoy moved to a dedicated studio space on Michigan Street a few months ago.

He named the business Rhythm Works and the result has been what the teacher called “somewhere between School of Rock and the Musicians Institute” and drawing a comparison to two music schools that specialize in ensemble playing.

“Basically, what happens is that I’ll have a drum student in the afternoon and a guitar player who comes next,” he explained. “When the guitar student shows up, we play together for a while. It’s kind of a controlled band rehearsal and jam.”

McAvoy brings his new students along until they have the skills to jump into that musical mix. At times, that means putting in a little time on an instrument other than the one they thought they were going to play. Guitarists, he noted, are the hardest students to get up to speed.

“If a guitar player comes in and their timing’s not good, they go back on the drums for a while until it is good,” the instructor said. “I’m not a big fan of telling people how to play — what I’m looking for is timing.”

Once the students lock into a groove, they are welcomed into a learning environment that, in some ways, is structured more like a health club than a music studio.

“I charge a flat fee,” McAvoy said. “It’s like a monthly club fee that lets them come in as much as they like.”

The studio itself is organized for this kind of instruction, with two drum sets holding down facing corners of the room and a collection of amplifiers set up between them. As a professional musician, McAvoy has performed on drums, bass and guitar, making him a triple threat as an instructor.

“Because I play all three instruments, I can hop around as needed,” he said.

The emphasis on group playing is especially important for bass players, the teacher stressed. Guitarists can woodshed for hours on their own, just as drummers can keep themselves occupied exploring the many sounds available on a trap set.

“But I try to move the bass players into live playing as soon as possible,” said McAvoy, “because playing bass alone is deadly. It’s like trying to play basketball by yourself.”

Leading students to learn the ropes as part of a group lets him monitor progress and address weak spots in knowledge, according to McAvoy, who immerses his mostly young players — about three-quarters of his students are in their pre-teen or teen-aged years — in the technical aspects of music as part of their instruction.

“We do lots of work on technique and music theory,” he said. “The drummers and bass players, especially, work on reading charts. I teach them how to play, not what to play.”

The open-door playing policy means that Rhythm Works usually has about four students jamming together at any given time. Some of those students have formed bands, a few of which are now honing their performance skills as a group.

“Some of my older students are getting ready for Battle of the Bands, so they basically just rehearse together twice a week,” said McAvoy.

Given the interactive nature of the studio, it’s not unusual for students to find kindred musical spirits and come together as band mates.

“Quite a few of them have ended up doing that,” the teacher said. “I’ve had kids who are now in their twenties who are playing in places like Austin and New York. No one’s got a Grammy yet, but we’re hoping.”

There is another artistic bonus at Rhythm Works — the studio doubles as the gallery space for McAvoy’s wife, Lori Reid, whose work graces the studio walls under the signature of her professional persona, Maloarit.

Apart from teaching, McAvoy continues to play live as a solo artist, as well as in popular local bands such as the rockabilly ensemble Psycho Cadillac. His previous work has included stints with guitarist Dave Walsh and a group called the Lightnin’ Bros. Influenced at first by artists as diverse as Rush, Yes and the Allman Bros., McAvoy later soaked up the sounds of rockers such as Boston, Van Halen and Joe Satriani, along with the jazz stylings of bassist Stanley Clarke.

Applying this diverse background to his teaching, McAvoy infuses his foundation of theory and group jams with a more ephemeral musical concept — that of “taste.”

“One of my big slogans around here is: It’s not what you play that counts,” he said. “It’s what you don’t play.”

Rhythm Works is located at 1237 Michigan Street, in the Michigan Street Center. To view videos of McAvoy doing some jamming of his own in the studio, Google “Sandpoint drummer” and click on the YouTube links. For more information, call (208) 290-7615.