About Us
The Chico School of Rock was founded by local musician and educator Sid Lewis in 2000, and has since delivered over 15,000 music lessons, hundreds of children’s concerts, and has allowed countless children to realize their musical dreams.
Our alumni include the teen band Jet Fuel Only who was recently featured in People Magazine and the Rachel Ray show, as well as several students who are now performing and recording their own music.
Sid Lewis was recently praised by Nation Public Radio as “…the answer to our musical prayers”, and the Chico News and Review says “…Sid Lewis is creating the future stars of America!”
The Chico School Of Rock empowers children of all ages with focus, positive attitude, team spirit and confidence.
Join the Rock-a-lution! “Real Music For Real Kids”
The Chico School of Rock has a unique curriculum based on creativity, enjoyment and hands-on experiencing of music. Our instructors use colorful and fun visual aids and teaching charts designed just for the school, and cannot be found anywhere else.
Among these original teaching concepts are:
 | Clear goals and skill sets for each student: The Road To Rock The Chico School of Rock has a complete instructional system from beginner to advanced student, with nine skill sets for each of the 4 Levels. This proprietary teaching system (designed and trademarked by director Sid Lewis) keeps each student moving forward in an orderly fashion, giving them clear goals and keeping track of progress. Adding to the “cool factor”, our Levels are similar to those used in the popular video game Guitar Hero! (Yes, we know that video games are “bad”, but this is our sneaky way of moving them over to the real thing…) |
Student Belts (like in Karate) Our belief is that the more we tie in the child’s other hobbies (video games, Karate, etc) to our music lessons, the more they’ll play. And it’s working. We have now instituted Student Belts, just like in Karate, with students starting out as White Belts, and moving up through Yellow Belt, Brown Belt, and finally Red Belt. These are of course not “actual belts”, but stickers that go on each students binder. This creates motivation for the student to strive toward their next belt Level, as well as have a symbol of their success. |     |
 | Learning to play “live” from the get go: Rock Anatomy Another unique teaching system at the Chico School of Rock is the “Rock Anatomy” concept. This allows our instructors to teach the children all of the elements involved in perfoming a song, from the beginning count-off, to the grand finale. Students learn to “conduct” their songs to include live improvised solo’s, non-verbal communication with the teacher (just like a real concert), and how to “land” the song without crashing. This is one of the reasons our students perform so well at our concerts…they’ve been performing since day one! |
Some facts about CSOR
- Chico School Of Rock is Northern California’s leading after-school music program.
- We have three trained instructors, and currently teach over 40 students a week.
- We welcome all ages and interests, and specialize in fun, easy instruction in popular music and rock n roll.
- Besides our weekly private lessons, we also offer group “Band Builders” classes, songwriting programs and twice annual children’s concerts, where students get to perform on stage (only if they want to, of course)
- All students receive a custom music binder featuring their favorite songs (which they choose!), printed sheet music, and custom audio and video clips of each lesson.
- All of our certified instructors use the trademarked Lewis Method of teaching, a cutting edge system focusing on making music enjoyable and encouraging creativity.
