Academy of Contemporary Music

Infobox School
name = The Academy of Contemporary Music


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motto = Europe's Leading School For Rock and Pop Musicianscite web| url=http://www.acm.ac.uk/| title=ACM Website: Home Page| accessdate=2007-04-19]
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type = Music School
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location = Surrey
country = UK
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website = http://www.acm.ac.uk/

The Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM) is a music academy located in Guildford, Surrey, England.

The school differs from more traditional music academies by its focus on Rock and Pop music, and its vocational approach. To facilitate careers for its students, it has established relationships with record labels and management companies, which offer opportunities for auditions and management/production jobs.

The school tries to appeal to young people (aged 16 and up) by having a very modern and "hip" look and feel. The reception, for instance, looks like the stage at a rock concert, with blacklights and steel decorating the interior of both the reception and the rest of the halls of the main building. The Academy is constantly improving and developing its buildings.

The school provides practice facilities, personal tutoring and has performances both for students and other audiences that are held in [http://www.electrictheatre.co.uk/ Guildford's Electric Theatre]

The faculty is varied, ranging from successful musicians to very skilled previous ACM students.

History

The Academy of Contemporary was the brain child of Phil Brookescite web|url=http://education.independent.co.uk/further/article352943.ece | title=The Independent: Contemporary music academies give stars of future a chance to be heard| author=Tim Edwards | date=2006-03-23 | accessdate=2007-04-19] , a guitar tutor from Woking. He wanted to bring contemporary music education and the music industry closer together, ultimately becoming mutually beneficial and working together in the same environment. Originally ACM consisted of tutors who were mainly professional musicians and considered teaching students as a part of their profession. As demand for tutoring in contemporary music has grown these musicians have increasingly become central to the teaching ethos of ACM and spend much of their time passing on their knowledge and experiences to ACM students. ACM currently has three educational partners: Guildford College which is located in the heart of Guildford granting BTEC/Edexcel awards for the lower discipline, Middlesex University which validates the Certificate in Higher Education for the intermediate discipline and a BA (Hons) degree for the highest, and University of Surrey which validates the new degree course, Creative Sound Design for New Media.

Disciplines

The academy offers full and part time courses for guitar, bass, drums, vocals, music production and music business. Depending on knowledge and skill at application time, as well as future intentions, students are recommended to study Diploma, Higher Diploma and Degree courses (except for music business, which only offers Degree).

The Diploma is a level 3 qualification while the Higher Diploma is a level 4 qualification. The Higher Diploma requires that students are more advanced and have to portray more skill and knowledge in their application. Both courses take one year to finish (three semesters). The Diploma awards you a BTEC/Edexcel whilst successful Higher Diploma students receive a Certificate in Higher Education and are allowed to move on to the Degree studies (two years long) as long as they pass the course. At Diploma level, here are three grades awarded, as dictated by the BTEC standards; PASS, MERIT and DISCTINCTION. It is not recommended for students to try to move on to the Degree from the Diploma as a very high level of technical proficiency and understanding is required.

Musical studies

The studies that relate directly to musical performance (bass, vocals, drums and guitar) focus on making the student learn to perform at an industry professional standard consistently, teaching music theory, ear training, different playing styles, songwriting and music culture. The student is to be prepared to work in the music industry in many different scenarios, ranging from being a Session musician, tutor or even a successful musician, solo or in a band.Students are made to work in bands created for and in school, and are observed and tutored in their progression in that scenario, as well as graded in the end.

Business and production studies

The school also offers courses in music production and the business side of the music industry. These elements of the curriculum frequently work together with other students doing musical studies and both get experience out of it. The business side can manage ACM bands and artists, book and manage gigs, arrange auditions etc, while the production side does all related to music production (e.g. recording, sequencing, mixing, etc). This is done to provide studio experience for the music students and is an integral part of the studies of music production students.

Creative Sound Design for New Media

The school has recently added the BA (Hons) Degree in Creative Sound Design for New Media to its portfolio of courses. Accredited by the University of Surrey, the course is designed to provide students with a vocational pathway into the industry as music and sound content providers for all areas of new media including, web & internet, electronic games, post production and animation.

Previous students

Some previous students of the ACM who have successfully moved into the music industry include:

* Newton Faulkner, guitarist/singer/songwriter whose recent album Hand Built By Robots went to number one in the UK Album Charts
* Amelle Berrabah, Member of girl group The Sugababes cite web | url=http://www.acm.ac.uk/school/Industry.asp | title= ACM Website: Students Into Industry| Accessdate=2007-04-19]
* Ben King, Lead guitarist with The Yardbirds
* Darren Loczy, performing as "Dazzle Rebel" he has been a member of Brides of Destruction & Red Star Rebels. Since his departure from Red Star Rebels he has been working as a solo artist and session musician.cite web | url=http://www.acm.ac.uk/school/Industry3.asp | title= ACM Website: Students Into Industry| Accessdate=2007-04-19]
*Nikki, Sara, Becca and Emma, all members of the UK band for Children, Funtastic!
* Guy Davis, Member of rock group Reuben

Notable teachers

* Dave Kilminster - British prog rock guitarist currently performing with Roger Waters' tour
* Eric Roche (b. 1967 - d. 2005) - Eric was a musician and tutor who died of throat cancer on 9th September 2005.
*Pete Friesen - Former guitarist with Alice Cooper and The Almighty.cite web| url= http://www.acm.ac.uk/tutors/guitarTutors.asp | accessdate=2007-04-19 | title= ACM Website: Guitar Tutors]
* DJ Chad Jackson - Winner of 1987 DMC World DJ Championships.
* Mike Sturgis

References

External links

* [http://www.acm.ac.uk/ The Academy of Contemporary Music website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/myacmspace ACM Myspace Profile]
* [http://www.mdx.ac.uk/ Middlesex University website]
* [http://www.guildford.ac.uk/ Guildford College website]
* [http://www.electrictheatre.co.uk/ The Electric Theatre website]