Rockschool
Encyclopedia
Rockschool was a television series aired by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 and PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....

 in 1985. The series explored the history of rock music and gave instruction in popular performance techniques.

Aired in the United States by public television station WNET
WNET
WNET, channel 13 is a non-commercial educational public television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey. With its signal covering the New York metropolitan area, WNET is a primary station of the Public Broadcasting Service and a primary provider of PBS programming...

, Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...

 was brought in to host the series for the American market. Hancock presented various topics in a studio classroom setting, interspersed with short lessons from the "Rockschool Band" and interview segments with well-known musicians.

The series was produced by the Educational Broadcasting Corporation and distributed in the U.S. by Lorimar Productions
Lorimar Productions
Lorimar, later known as Lorimar Television and Lorimar Distribution, was an American television production company that was later a subsidiary of Warner Bros., active from 1969 until 1993...

 in 1987, as six volumes on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....

 tape.

Volume listing

  • Rockschool Volume 1: Elementary Equipment and Basic Technique
  • Rockschool Volume 2: Blues to Heavy Metal
  • Rockschool Volume 3: Funk, Reggae & New Music
  • Rockschool Volume 4: Digital Age Hardware
  • Rockschool Volume 5: Melody and Soloing - The Lifeblood of Rock
  • Rockschool Volume 6: Arrangements - Putting It All Together

Companion books

Two volumes titled Rockschool 1: Guitar, Bass & Drums and Rockschool 2: Electronics, Keyboards & Vocals were published in the U.S. in 1987 by Fireside Books (Simon & Schuster). Volume 1 was previously published in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 in 1984. The books were edited by series producer Chris Lent
Chris Lent
Chris Lent is an American drummer and keyboardist, who was formerly a member of the post-hardcore band From First to Last, and of the experimental band I Set My Friends On Fire.- By Far the Least/Dead Reckless :...

.

Credits

Host: Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...

 (U.S. series)

The Rockschool Band
  • Guitar: Deirdre Cartwright
    Deirdre Cartwright
    Deirdre Cartwright is a guitarist and composer, and became well known as the guitar presenter of the groundbreaking BBC Television series Rockschool...

  • Bass guitar: Henry Thomas
  • Drums: Geoff Nicholls
  • Keyboards: Alastair Gavin (Series 2)


Produced and directed by: Chris Lent
Chris Lent
Chris Lent is an American drummer and keyboardist, who was formerly a member of the post-hardcore band From First to Last, and of the experimental band I Set My Friends On Fire.- By Far the Least/Dead Reckless :...



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