The magic of music at Mattock School of Music

Ready to flex your music muscles? 🎼 I have zero music muscles, negative rhythm, and a serious dearth of music knowledge. But Dave Mattock, professional musician and founder/owner of Mattock School of Music in Chadds Ford, says I probably have more musical skills and knowledge than I think because everyone can connect a piece of themselves to music. If his music theory is right, that means you do too!

Is it time to tune up the guitar or strike a chord on the piano? Dave’s your guy (or he’s got a guy or gal to help you out if another instrument is on your wishlist). Mattock School of Music offers piano 🎹 and guitar 🎸 lessons, as you might expect. But they have a host of other offerings inside the fully renovated walls of this historic house-turned-music school.

Get to know Dave and his Mattock School of Music

Mattock is a lifelong musician with a passion for making music and teaching others how to find the magic of music for themselves. He’s the Board President of Kennett Flash, a small concert and performance venue in Kennett Square. Through his music school, he also works with the local nonprofit If Not For Music, which helps ensure that a life with music is accessible to all of our neighbors, regardless of their financial circumstances.

Music has been the centerpiece of Dave’s professional career since graduating from college. Years of gig work, supplemented by teaching as a music professor and offering weekly lessons, crescendoed into more than a run-of-the-mill music school.

Dave approaches music as more than a means to an end. For most of his students, music won’t end in a professional career in the industry. He knows that nearly all of his students, however, will find notes of joy, growth, mentorship, community, and character-building through their music journey, one that he hopes will be a lifelong adventure.

Of course, every music career is rooted in lessons and recitals. But the exploration of different genres, time periods, and instruments, the use of audio engineering to transform raw recordings into a polished final product, and the human relationships fostered along the way turn the rote practice of beats and chords into a rich symphony.

I’ve never had an ear for music the way I expect musicians to experience sounds and ensembles. But it was clear from the way he spoke about his work and the students who come through his school that he sees music as something everyone can find within themselves, not just something some of us are born understanding.

Most specifically, he highlighted a distinction often made in our culture between sports and music. Many of us are quick to believe that we’re destined for one or the other. Dave loved and pursued both growing up, and encourages his own kids and his music students to do the same.

Most of us won’t be professional musicians, but that’s not really the point of adding music to the chorus of our lives.

Mattock School of Music offers lessons for a variety of instruments. 🎻🎺🥁 Don’t tell my boys about the drums. 😬 Dave teaches piano and has a team of teachers with expertise in other areas. In Philly-speak, that means he’s “got a guy (or gal)” for whatever you need.

The historic, renovated school, formerly home to railroad workers, has several practice rooms, a guitar technician’s studio in the basement, and a recording and audio production studio in the attic. Beyond instrument lessons, the school offers spaces for bands to record music, audio engineering lessons, and has recently started offering podcast production. 🎙️ All of the high-quality audio and video equipment and expertise lend themselves well to welcoming podcasters into the mix who want to record episodes without doing all of the arduous production work themselves.

💭 I’ve been thinking about starting a podcast for a long time. Knowing this studio and production expertise are in my backyard is really tempting me to dive in and give it a try.

Music lessons as mentorship

With decades of experience as a professional musician and music educator, Dave also offers music mentorship programs to help more advanced students pursue a career in music (playing, teaching, etc.). There are no guarantees in life, but Dave can help families navigate the professional music landscape.

Mentorship comes as a natural outgrowth of teaching weekly lessons. Consistently spending time with music students every week, Dave and his fellow music teachers become trusted adults in their students’ lives. They’re a sounding board for more than musical critique.

Many of Dave’s former students come back to visit during college breaks. He checks in with them periodically. And he gets to know his students beyond the bars and measures on the music sheets or the piano keys underneath their fingers.

Students at the Mattock School of Music relish in the richness, joy, and exploration of all that music encompasses, regardless of their end goal. Dave analogized experiencing music to enjoying food; the culinary adventures from fast-casual to fine dining color our lives, connect us with friends, and fill our souls, even when almost none of us yearn to be professional chefs.

Tangible and human connections to music

I asked Dave about the rise in vinyl’s popularity. There’s growing interest in vintage records, and current artists are also selling their new albums on vinyl. What’s the appeal?

While some suggest it’s an attraction to and nostalgia for a slower, more intentional past, Dave thinks it might also be about a more tactile, physical connection that makes music our own. When everything is digital and lives online in our Spotify or Apple Music accounts, we have nothing to hold on to that signifies favorite lyrics or cherished artists as part of us and our music journey. Like the tapes and burned CDs of years past, the vinyl holds the sound and also the meaning.

Maybe we also find this tactile, human-centered connection with music through lessons and exploration at a place like Dave’s.

And how, I inquired, might artificial intelligence… the dreaded/celebrated AI… change the school and his work. AI doesn’t generate truly unique work; it produces output that’s a regression to the mean, a mediocre middle. It’s “mid” as the kids say, or “meh.”

Dave sees the school becoming increasingly important in exposing young musicians and music students to the broader landscape of music, ensuring their musical knowledge scales beyond AI’s collapsed conglomeration of the past.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Mattock School of Music, head to their website. Peruse their offerings and fill out their contact form to connect with Dave or one of his colleagues if you’d like more information or to get started with your own musical journey. You never know what chorus it might evoke for you. 🎶