Join LAMA at Make Music Pasadena, June 1st!

What are you up to Saturday, June 1st? If your answer was “don’t know yet” then you better make plans to be on Colorado Blvd in Pasadena. The event is Make Music Pasadena 2013. The reason we are so passionate about it? LAMA will be heavily represented there with current students and alumni bands performing. There are two stages where these performances will be taking place the “Old Pasadena Indie Rock Stage” and “Vroman’s Jazz Stage”.  We have posted the schedule and stage info below. Hope to see you there! Make sure to RSVP on our Facebook event page here.

Old Pasadena Indie Rock Stage (Map: http://goo.gl/maps/dkU9H)
83 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101

12:00pm Killola

Vroman’s Jazz Stage presented by LAMA
695 E. Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91101
1pm-8pm (Current students and alumni bands)

1:00pm Maracas

2:00pm Kira Hooks

3:00pm Felicia Andolong

4:00pm Afrotango

5:00pm The Grey Beret

6:00pm The Lorenzo Grassi Trio

7:00pm Gabriela Teran

-LAMA staff

“Rock The Mic” Unplugged @ LAMA This Week!

On Thursday, November 29th GRAMMY U‘s “Rock The Mic” Unplugged comes to LAMA College for Music Professionals! For those wondering what GRAMMY U is:

…a unique and fast-growing community of full-time college students, primarily between the ages of 17 and 25,  who are pursuing a career in the recording industry. The Recording Academy created GRAMMY U to help prepare college students for their careers in the music industry through networking, educational programs and performance opportunities…

The Grammy U showcase will feature artist performances from LAMA’s own Diego Ruvalcaba as well as: Ben and Alex, Billy Lawler, Gian Visciano, Jessica Leigh, Katie Stump, Lights Over Phoenix, Rees Finley and Thanai (representing: Azusa Pacific University, CSU Northridge, UCLA Extension and USC).

On top of that, we’ll be providing free Coffee Bean, popchips, and Chipotle!

We are so honored to host these great performers at LAMA. You must RSVP by Tuesday (Nov. 27th) to attend. The instructions of how to RSVP are on our Facebook event page here.

-LAMA Staff

LAMA College for Music Professionals – Virtual Photo Tour

Just in time for today’s Open House at LAMA College for Music Professionals (2:00pm, Oct. 13, 2012), the Get to the Music Blog got its hands on these photos (by @verofoto) — we’ve turned them into the first LA Music Academy Virtual Tour! 🙂 Click the thumbnail for a much bigger image… have questions? Ask them in the comments below or tweet us at @LAmusicacademy and use #LAMAopenhouse in your tweet! -LAMA Staff

You’ve arrived at 370 S. Fair Oaks Street in old-town Pasadena, home to LA Music Academy!

LAMA’s “Music Production” program makes great use of the recording lab which is a fully functioning music studio complete with three iso-booths and a neighboring drum room.

You can Invoke your inner Dr. Dre or Rick Rubin with our extensive keyboard and synth collection.

Have you ever seen such a clean desk?

Thelonious Monk watches over everything in the LAMA conference room.

The Computer Lab is outfitted with ten 20” iMacs® and a 52” LCD monitor for instructor demonstrations. Each computer is equipped with Digidesign ProTools LE® software and an MBox2® recording interface.

Only thing left to do is drop off your application. Your fate rests with the admissions staff who sit behind these desks.

LAMA students love hanging in the courtyard, even for silly hat parties!

It won’t take long to familiarize yourself with LAMA’s beautiful courtyard and patio at the center of campus. The courtyard is home to good times. Join us for hangouts, jams, parties, BBQs and more!

One of the perks of being in Southern California is great weather year round.

Our favorite concert posters around the LAMA lobby. Bands include – Ween, Beach House and Pennywise!

Over your time attending LAMA, you’ll get to know Pablo who is always there to help and share a laugh! He also helps you get what you need from the student shop. Forget that guitar tuner at home? Let Pablo hook you up!

You’ll probably want to stash your gear in your own locker and don’t forget to catch up with your fellow classmates before class.

We have a number of large, clean classrooms which improve your overall learning experience.

Former Pointer Sisters touring guitarist and LAMA Guitar co-chair Bill Fowler teaching his students.

LAMA has a multitude of complimentary soundproof practice labs for students to use. Just sign up for some time!

Practice rooms can comfortably fit two people if you don’t mind getting cozy 🙂

Jody Fisher Guitar Video Quick Tip: “Learning Chords”

Jody Fisher grew up studying guitar with his uncle, jazz guitarist Sid Fisher, who had spent many years as an RCA recording artist. Jody has published over twenty instructional books about jazz guitar with Alfred Publishing, Workshop Arts Publications, and Mel Bay Publications. Four of his books have appeared in the Smithsonian Institute’s Folkways Exhibition in Washington, DC. Jody has also written for most of the major guitar magazines, including Guitar Player, Just Jazz Guitar and Finger Style Guitar.  Check out www.jodyfisher.com for more information.

In this video, LA Music Academy Guitar Department Chair Jody Fisher offers this quick tip “Learning Chords”:

For more great videos, tips and highlights from LA Music Academy alumni and instructors, subscribe to our YouTube channel here: http://youtube.com/LAmusicacademy

-LAMA Staff

5 Reasons Adults Should Go Back To Music School

There have been a lot of articles posted lately about stats on adults going “back to school”. The articles tend to list all the wonderful ways an adult can go back and get a sociology degree or an anthropology degree. We were dissapointed that there aren’t many articles about the benefits of them going back to music school. LAMA welcomes adults who come here to refine their skills or build on their existing knowledge — also to get that real world experience of playing with our instructors and ensemble workshop musicians. So we thought we would lay out the top reasons adults should go back to music school here:

The Economy

Much like buying low, selling high, going back to school when the economy is at a low point is a common tactic. While it is looking like we could be seeing the end of the tunnel for America’s economic issues, there are others who argue that we could just be going down the rabbit hole. What that means is going to music school might be a nice little place to wait out our economic woes and graduate in a few years at the perfect time to start your career in music.

Take Your Skills To The Next Level

Have you taken a true inventory of your skills as a musician? Here are some good things to ask yourself. Can I read music? Can I jam with anyone in almost any style? How are my improv skills? Composition? If you are a little shaky on any of these, it might mean you have some room for improvement, which music school can help with.

There Are Great Career Opportunities

Unlike a lot of other careers, musicians actually have some pretty nice offerings waiting them after graduation. A school like LAMA will have a full-time career staff on hand to field job postings and make sure you have a good shot at landing a paying gig. The same can certainly not be said for graduating law students!

It Can Be More Affordable Than Other Educational Offerings

Speaking of law school — you might be surprised how much more affordable music school can be compared to the other degrees. Schools like LAMA have many scholarship opportunities too. LAMA also has staff on hand to deal with financial aid.

Do What You Love

More than almost any other area of study, there is something about music that brings out wondrous and joyous feelings in all who hear it. From performance, to composition, to practice, there is a pleasure with music that is so often missing when you are in a more traditional school setting. Many people who worked in the corporate world return to their passion and art by rediscovering it as an adult in music school. If someone said you could do what you love as a career, would you?

These are just a few of the reasons why adults might want to investigate going back to music school. There are about a million other equally good ones. If you are curious, make sure you do your due diligence in selecting the right music school for you. A tour of the school or an open house is always a good start.

-LAMA Staff

Guitar Picks Can be So Hard to Find

We’ll be picking up more and more music memes to share with our music loving audience! Don’t know what a meme is? KNOW YOUR MEME (click that link to find out about things like “Y U NO” guy)!

For our readers who run businesses, are musicians or in bands that use social media, memes are a great way to get creative with your audience too — creating your own memes increases the chances of your content being liked and shared to a greater audience. With that… Guitar Pick, Y U NO easy to find?

-LAMA Staff

Drummer Chaun Horton Talks Preparation, Studying, Performing

Chaun Horton at LA Music Academy College of Music

LA Music Academy alumni have gone on to play with some of the biggest names in the music industry. LAMA drum grad Chaun Horton is one of them. He just wrapped this video where he talks about growing up and playing in the church, what to expect from the LA Music Academy drum program and playing with pop/R&B stars Macy Gray and Natasha Bedingfield:

Best of luck Chaun — the video turned out great!

-LAMA Staff

Jody Fisher Guitar Video Quick Tip: “Walking Bass”

Jody Fisher grew up studying guitar with his uncle, jazz guitarist Sid Fisher, who had spent many years as an RCA recording artist. Jody has published over twenty instructional books about jazz guitar with Alfred Publishing, Workshop Arts Publications, and Mel Bay Publications. Four of his books have appeared in the Smithsonian Institute’s Folkways Exhibition in Washington, DC. Jody has also written for most of the major guitar magazines, including Guitar Player, Just Jazz Guitar and Finger Style Guitar.  Check out www.jodyfisher.com for more information.

In this video, LA Music Academy Guitar Department Chair Jody Fisher offers this quick tip “Walking Bass”:

For more great videos, tips and highlights from LA Music Academy alumni and instructors, subscribe to our YouTube channel here: http://youtube.com/LAmusicacademy

-LAMA Staff

Timothy Bailey, Jr. Talks Los Angeles, Lalah Hathaway

Timothy Bailey, Jr. talks about why he decided to study bass performance at Los Angeles Music Academy College of Music, what it’s like playing bass for Lalah Hathaway and advice for students looking for the right music school:

-LAMA Staff

Video Quick Tip: Jazz Drumming – “Accenting Triplets”

LA Music Academy College of Music Jazz Drums Instructor Tony Inzalaco received a Bachelor’s degree (percussion) and a Master’s degree (music education) from the Manhattan School of Music in New York. He has performed in Carnegie Hall, The Guggenheim Music, The New York World’s Fair, the Apollo Theater and the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. While in New York, he played in all the major jazz clubs including the legendary club Birdland. He has traveled extensively, performing in major club venues and festivals in the U.S., Canada and throughout Europe.

He has played in person, on radio, on television or recordings with the following jazz masters: Ben Webster, Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, Maynard Ferguson, Donald Byrd, Dizzy Gillespie, Slide Hampton, Jimmy Cleveland, Frank Rossolino, Oscar Peterson, Kenny Drew, Roland Hannah, Ron Carter, Slam Stewart, Niels H.O. Pedersen, Kenny Clarke, Anita O’Day, Carmen McRae, Irene Reid, Jimmy Rushing and Lionel Hampton. In addition, he has the unique distinction of being one of the very few drummers to have ever worked for Buddy Rich. He also spent one year as Bobby Darin’s personal drummer. He now plays in the L.A. area with a quintet that spotlights him not only as a jazz drummer but also as a jazz composer.

In this video, Tony discusses different ways to accent the triplet in jazz drumming:

-LAMA Staff