Success On A String Would-Be Rocker Has A Burning Desire To Make Money With His Music

Like any teenage guitar player, Roy Jackson had big plans.

He was going to play in a band, tour the world and become a rock ‘n’ roll legend.

His mother had doubts, however.

“I wanted to be a rock star,” Jackson said. “That was my dream, but my mother said, `You could still be a rock star with an education.’ So I took accounting and business classes.”

Ten years later, Jackson, 29, is more businessman than rock star, but he’s still playing his guitar.

The founder, owner and head instructor of the Learn to Burn School of Music, Jackson has been able to parlay his love of music into a thriving career.

Crammed into a funky, paint-splashed building on North Division, Learn to Burn churns out hundreds of budding rock stars. And blues stars and country stars and jazz stars.

The school teaches all guitar styles except classical music, and Jackson has recruited percussion, voice and piano instructors to complement the guitar lessons he gives with Kicho Forrest, the only other full-time instructor.

Their students, who pay $50 for four lessons, range from grade-school age to senior citizens. They are united by a simple goal: to get better.

Many students, particularly the younger ones, are there for rock lessons, and Jackson and Forest credit MTV for providing them with a steady market.

But customers come for other reasons as well.

“When John Denver died, it was traumatic,” said Forest.

“Within a month of his death, we got a lot of acoustic students,” Jackson said.

Learn to Burn’s goal is to help its students improve while adding some basic technique.

“They’re not just getting guitar lessons, they’re getting music schooling,” said Forrest. “As much as we can give you without scaring you away.”

Learn to Burn’s customers appreciate that diligence.

“They’re very serious about wanting you to learn,” said John Freeman, a 52-year-old guitar student and a veterinarian. “It’s not like going in with a funky bunch of rockers. They treat me like I’m professional when I’m there.”

That level of professionalism is something Jackson works hard to maintain.

One of his biggest frustrations is finding instructors who live up his standards, Jackson said.

“That’s the hardest thing about this place,” he said. “You would think with so many guitar players in this town, you’d be able to find teachers.”

Too many instructors simply show up for a lesson and ask students “What do you want to learn today?,” Jackson said.

“When (students) walk out of this place, they want to have learned something,” he said.“ There’s got to be structure. There’s an order to learning things.”

Jackson started giving guitar lessons in 1990 as a student at Spokane Falls Community College. That’s when he began to tailor his education toward opening his own school, taking music and finance classes.

In 1995 he moved his school out of his house to Learn to Burn’s current home, a former locksmith and radiator shop at 3102 N. Division.

The name, he said, came from a magazine that called fast guitar playing “burning.”

To make the business work, Jackson learned how to discipline himself, and often works seven days a week.

“He drives a white Bronco, and you see it parked there at 10 p.m Friday night and on Sunday afternoon,” said Jeff Michael, another student. “He’s not in there polishing furniture. He’s in there teaching guitar.”

There are easier ways to make a living, Jackson agrees.

“It’s very demanding, and there’s a lot to it,” he said, “but what it boils down to is I play guitar for a living.”

This sidebar appeared with the story: PROFILE Learn to Burn The Learn to Burn School of Music, located at 3102 N. Division, offers guitar lessons in all musical styles except classical. The business has also recruited percussion, voice and piano instructors.