Strains of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” filter from the adjoining room. Live guitar riffs ring above the track, repeated over and over until they are perfected. Then the lesson is over. A boy of 12-years, slinging a Fender guitar nearly his height, walks from the practice room, smiling, followed by Rob Melton, instructor and owner of Opus School of Music.

Melton said he opened Opus in Ridgefield, Wash. the summer of 2006 to teach music the way he always wished it were taught when he was in school. He holds a master’s degree from Portland State University. His graduate teaching stint made him keenly aware that academic music studies did not emphasis the fun of making music.

“I couldn’t see myself teaching choir [or] band,” Melton said, “I highly respect teachers, but I had a different way I wanted to go about it.” He says his approach is much more creative. His studio offers something quite different from school music — or even that of the traditional music store lesson.

“What makes Opus different [from traditional lessons] is highly collaborative work,” Melton said. Students learn to work independently and as a group if they choose. “We’ll get a guitar player that really wants to play this Tom Petty song, so we get a ‘group’ together that all learn their parts individually.” Then they come together for a concert performance.

“We don’t have recitals,” he said, “our concerts are really fun!” Students play at various community events six to eight times a year that are open to the public. Some students have so much fun they form enduring bands.

According to Melton, “[Opus] students get real life stage experience,” and are apt to exclaim, “‘Wow! When do I get to do that again?’ It becomes contagious; they can’t get enough of it.”

Opus offers both private and group lessons in guitar and piano, private voice, drum lessons and Planet Percussion — group percussion lessons divided up by age. Lessons include applied instrument or voice, plus theory, sight reading and ear training. Melton laughed and said the studio even gets a fair share of adults who want to take voice lessons so they can sing better at karaoke.

“The older class tends to have families [and] I encourage it,” he said. “How do I relate to my kids? It’s through music. The [teens] start digging it with their parents.” The school also offers Kindermusik, a pre-K music program for three- to five-year-olds — a curriculum he designed for his master’s thesis.

Besides Melton, there are five other teachers at Opus. Melton also composes music for various projects such as film scores and teaches at Washington State University-Vancouver.

This fall, WSU-Vancouver will offer Music Styles in Composition (MUS 153), and Rock Music: History and Social Analysis (MUS 262), both taught by Melton. He also teaches Music for the Classroom Teacher (MUS 388) for education majors. For the past eleven years he has worked with the Vancouver School District teaching for Gateway to Adult Transitional Education (GAET) to special education adults ages 18 to 22.

Melton plans to open a second studio in Battle Ground in the fall of 2010. The Ridgefield location offers lessons from 2:30 to 8 p.m. during the school year and additional day lessons for home-schoolers two days a week. Other times are available during the summer months.

The studio rents and sells guitars and pianos as well as an assortment of accessories such as drumsticks, music stands, guitar straps. Beginning in the fall of 2010, they will also offer band instrument rentals.

The studio’s pianos are provided by Larry Fisher of American Piano and Organ Technology (360-256-2999) which Opus sells and rents. Takamine guitars are also for sale and rent.

Students will next perform at the Aug. 22 Ridgefield Centennial Celebration in Davis Park around 12:30 p.m. and at the Parade of Homes (contact Kelly Odiorne at 360-694-0933 or kodiorne@biaclarkcounty.org for more information about the POH).
A two-hour long performance will be offered at the Old Liberty Theater downtown Ridgefield late November. The $5 concert may feature everything from classical to rock, said Melton fiddling with his iPod. His current play list is an eclectic mix — Paul Simon, Van Halen, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bob Marley, Herbie Hancock and an assortment of classical.

Opus School of Music is located at 414 Pioneer Street, Suite B — down the stairs between the Pickled Heron Gallery and the Pioneer Building. Visit www.opusschoolofmusic.com or call 887-8770 for more info. Rob Melton can also be reached at 360-521-1579.

Greg Zschomler is a contributor to The Voice.