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from flying.” Hearing about Bach to Rock rekindled a love Gross had during his childhood. “When I first heard about Bach to Rock, I had this epiphany that this was what I did when I was a kid,” he said. Gross first began playing the saxophone when he was in junior high and later graduated from playing in his high school’s marching band and orchestras to joining bands. When Gross was a senior in high school, he played in a rock band, a R&B band and a Dixieland band, all of which he credits to his love of music education. “I didn’t really start getting interested in the full complement of music and what could be done on stage until I was in those bands,” he said.
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Because of this, his main goal is not to teach students how to play an instrument but to teach them how to become performers. “The goal is not just to learn how to play the guitar, the goal is to have kids on stage performing live,” Gross said. “What got me really excited about music was being in a band, and that’s what happens here.” For Gross, he doesn’t consider it a job well done until he sees the transformation he once had in his students. “I look at the parents’ faces and children’s faces while the performance takes place and I’ll see the same transformation that happened to me when I went from being a saxophonist in the band to being up on stage playing the music I had always listened to,” he said. Despite live performances being on hold for the better part of the past two
years, Gross has attributed the help of his staff to being the reason why his students continue playing music. “There are a lot of places to learn music outside of school,” he said. “A few things that differentiate us from the competition are the quality of our teachers, the atmosphere here and how inviting it is and our usage of technology.” For technology, Gross has tablets on hand that have access to a portal for teachers to view each student’s profile. Within the profiles, teachers can examine the homework that students were assigned, their level of proficiency, their favorite music to play and what concepts they have already learned. The portal is also accessible to students to allude to at home when they need to print out their music or want to keep track of their homework.
Even though technology has been a great tool for Bach to Rock, Gross feels it is the inviting atmosphere of his business along with the proficiency of the teachers at his facility. “You can’t just be a good guitarist to teach here, you have to know music,” he said. “All of our students need to progress through playing notes, reading music, writing music, improvising and performing on a stage.” Even though he is regularly reminded of how beloved his staff is by parents and students and feels proud of how well the technology has been utilized within his business, for Gross the most flattering comment is when parents tell him they can’t get their kids to put down or get away from their instruments. Information: NorthScottsdale. BachtoRock.com
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