Courtesy of Mike Beck
St. Louis native Michael Beck got the idea for his donation-based music school in Brooklyn, New York, Play it Forward, while attending a donation-based yoga class. But that business model was just the solution to his problem; the real idea began months before, after talking with other New York musicians about the difficulties in teaching music. They found that while people would be interested in music, they would find the cost and scheduling and traditional structure gave people excuses to not take the opportunity to learn to play.
“It started as I had my own place to practice, and friends would stop by and we’d have a blast,” says Beck. “We’d hang out for about half an hour, and they would play a little, and I would play a little, and so the idea kind of blossomed from there. [I thought] why isn’t there a place like this where, for instance, my girlfriend and I could go take a piano class together?
Beck says that he and his girlfriend would often try new community activities and events, but the scheduling didn’t always satisfy them once they found something they really enjoyed.
“We really liked this cooking class, but they only did it about once every couple of months,” Beck recalls. While it will be possible to schedule lessons, initially appointments will not be required, thus removing some of the scheduling problems people have when taking on a new hobby.
“The idea is to basically have a space where anyone can come in and take a music lesson,” says Beck. “A parent and child could come in and take a guitar lesson together, and then go home and bond over that.”
The lessons will be donation-based, which helps people feel comfortable knowing that they only are asked to pay what they are able, or what they feel their lesson was worth.
“We wanted to take away the monetary excuse for not taking a lesson,” says Beck. “The idea is, that we can inspire some people and hope that we touch them in a certain way that they would compensate for what they thought would be appropriate.”
Play it Forward is a non-profit organization, and they hope to be able to focus on bringing in students from underprivileged families; they simply want to create an opportunity for people to find out if they enjoy making music. While they’ve yet to settle on their teaching space, they’ve been looking to set up shop in a lower-income, family-centric neighborhood. This is the main focus of their recently launched Kickstarter campaign.
The Kickstarter will fund the rental of the space, and the school’s running costs for one month, as well as a basic collection of instruments and gear to be used for lessons and classes. The funding drive ends Thursday, December 12, at 5:52 p.m. CST. With less than a week to go, the project is just over the 50 percent mark, and unless they reach their goal at the end of the funding drive, the money pledged will be returned to those donors.
“It’s good for us, because it adds some urgency to the message,” says Beck. He’s been going out to advertize the project by setting up his drums in public areas like parks and the subway, and asking people if they’d like a quick, free lesson.
“By making this thing open and being genuine and asking people to help out, we feel like that can reach more people in a positive way,” says Beck. “We’re hoping that by giving out to them, we’ll get something in return.”
Learn more at Playitfwd.org; the Kickstarter campaign can be found here.
