Last Tuesday night Cleveland High School concert hall was rocking out at the RRPS middle school spring concert with special guest Mark Wood. I realize that name may not ring a bell for many of you; it didn’t me. But there is a good chance you have heard him play.
Mark Wood is the inventor of a patented 6-string fretted electric violin, the Viper. If you are trying to imagine what an electric violin sounds like, think Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Looking like a cleaned up Alice Cooper without the makeup, Wood was the lead violinist and string conductor for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra has played on stage with the likes of Sir Paul McCartney, Celine Dion, Roger Daltry, Billy Joel and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith.
What was he doing with a bunch of adolescent fiddle players in Rio Rancho you ask?
Wood has developed a program called Electrify Your Strings. He travels to schools around the country, where he teaches students how to incorporate the principles of rock ’n’ roll into their musical repertoire.
The kids have been practicing their material for months but only last Monday and Tuesday did they get to play the songs with Wood. He didn’t stop with just getting the notes right, Wood taught the kids how to put on a show, and they were eating it up.
The Beginners were up first. Wood walked onstage, turned on his drum machine, queued the kids and We Will Rock You began. Foot stomping, bow waving and clapping accompanied the piece as the parents were aghast in delight. Who were these kids? I didn’t see that during practice time at home? Were we at a Queen concert? Given the volume level and stage lighting, it was a close call. If I hadn’t seen Queen with my own eyes in 1976 I may not have been able to tell it was just middle school kids on a high school stage.
The Intermediate kids took the stage next as the Beginners strategically took their places around the auditorium. When the kids played Jimi Hendrix’s Purple Haze, a hazy purplish light was cast on the stage. The next song was a recognizable rendition of the Beatles’ Eleanor Rigby. Wood had just finished telling the audience that Sgt. Pepper was a huge influence on him in his youth and he recently had the opportunity to tell Sir Paul McCartney that when he played with him onstage.
And here Wood was teaching our kids how to play a Beatles song, feel it and become the music. He didn’t teach them how to play the notes but how to put on a show. The kids waved their bows in unison, swayed back and forth in their chairs, did the wave while strumming their strings, ran down the aisles during a song encouraging us parents to get up and rock out.
I thought I was at a Bruce Springsteen concert, except after the show instead of partying on into the night; we stopped at Baskin Robbins for hot fudge sundaes before heading home. After all, it was a school night.
A big thank you goes out to the middle school orchestra teachers who made this incredible experience possible for our kids: Karen Ginther of Eagle Ridge Middle School, Ms. Blackston of Lincoln Middle School, Christine Hernandez of Mountain View Middle School and Eric Walters of Rio Rancho Middle School.
Quote of the Week: “Now raise your goblet of rock. It's a toast to those who rock!” – Dewey Finn, School of Rock the movie.
Jennifer Huard’s column appears each Saturday. She welcomes your emails at jhuard@abqjournal.com. Visit her blog at www.jenniferhuard.blogspot.com.
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