Music teachers on a roll...
Drummer opens music school for teachers downtown
Article Published: Friday January 18th, 2002 - Susan Lindt - Intelligencer Journal Staff
Fame wasn't what drummer Brock Woerner thought it would be.
"A few years ago, someone asked me how do I define fame," Woerner said. "I said being on the cover of Rolling Stone, having groupies. I wanted to be a household name worldwide."
Instead Woerner found teaching drums has its own verison of fame.
"When I started teaching five years ago, I had a hard time picturing myself as a role model," Woerner, 32, said. "I ended up liking it, but when I dyed my hair red, one of my students dyed his hair red. I have students who have been with me now for four or five years. I watched them grow up. Now I realize I actually have contributed to a part of their life."
The Reading native and drummer for the band Jazz Speak has taken his teaching to a new level by opening The Lancaster Musical Education Center at 134 East Walnut Street, a four-studio music school where private music teachers can rent space to conduct lessons. Woerner also teaches his own 40 or so drumming students, who range in age from 5 to 51.
Woerner had been teaching out of space at Drums Etc., but decided he needed his own space to stay afloat. He looked for office space to rent but realized most downtown Lancaster offices aren't conductive to hours of banging drums.
Then he saw the detached house at 134 E. Walnut St., which had long been for sale and had commercial space on the first floor.
"We had settlement in July and began work August 1," Woerner said. "I had to bring a lot up to code and there were nine layers of wallpaper and layers of paint on top of that. We had 16 garbage bags of paint that we took off just to get to the wood trim. When I finally got final approval with all the code inspections, I kind of went blank."
Open for a few weeks now, the center is in swing, but not quite full. Woerner is looking for various types of music teachers so the school has a wider appeal to all types of music students. He also plans to add workshops and recitals.
For his own students, Woerner teaches all styles on snare and drum set. He said he gives the students control over what they want to learn, which may be what keeps them coming back.
"Everything is geared toward the individual," Woerner said. "I ask a student up front, 'What kind of music are you into?' because that's generally what got them there in the first place. And doing that leaves them open so a wall doesn't go up to make the think I'm just teaching them what I want to teach them."
Woerner who has been in different bands over the years, began playing drums at age 5. He's had a been there and done that musician schedule that had him playing in one state until 1:30 am, and driving back to Pennsylvania for a shower and food in the wee hours of the morning, and back at school in time to teach the next day. It was climbing the ladder, but admittedly not the way he thought it would be.
"I wanted to go out and be rich and famous," Woerner said. "But it was a slap in the face. I'd be like, 'You mean I have to drive this far and you're paying me what?' People have this perception that if you're a musician, you're in bed all day and out all night, but it doesn't work that way. I spend time on the phone setting up schedules for students and getting jobs for the band. It was running nonstop."
Now settled in Lancaster, he's focusing on his jazz band, Jazz Speak, which plays at Strawberry Hill, the Belvedere Inn and soon at Lancaster Brewing Company. Woerner can also be heard drumming on Wednesdays at the 2-year-old Jazz Jam session that originated at Ellington's and has since relocated to Cherry Jubilee. Woerner said it's a great way to hear new combinations of musicians playing what comes to them. " you never know who is going to walk through the door and start playing, so it provides a different source of entertainment," Woerner said. "You're going to hear stuff that's pretty much done right there on the spot. Everybody brings their own take to it."
So what does Woerner bring to it? Admittedly he is a fan of everything. "Anything from Aerosmith to Janes Addiction, to Miles Davis," Woerner said. "To me it's all music. I can appreciate anything. You might hear anything playing on my stereo."
For a guy who confesses to saying "What?" a lot after four hours of teaching drums, you might be surprised what you won't hear outside 134 E. Walnut St. "Believe it or not, you can't hear a thing on the street outside," Woerner said. "The drum studio is in the middle of the building."
And Woerner hasn't ruled out the cover of Rolling Stone or his own band of groupies just yet. "I would love it," he said. " I have students now who ask me why I'm not touring the world and rich and famous. I tell them that can still happen."
The Lancaster Musical Education Center plans a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony with Mayor Charlie Smithgall Feb. 9, 2002, at noon