Education & Classes in East Grand Rapids

Grand River Music selects its instructors not only for their musical prowess, but also for their demonstrable teaching abilities. Students of all experience levels can strum the taut veins of guitars, bass guitars, banjos, or mandolins or study music theory to gain a deeper understanding of chords, harmonies, and the saxophone solos of Plato and Aristotle. Singing classes strengthen vocal cords, and song-writing classes encourage self-expression with reliable formulas. The school’s JamCamp gives blossoming musicians exposure to a collaborative group setting where they can learn to harmonize with other musicians and argue about which incarnation of Fleetwood Mac was the most authentic.

Grand River Music also stocks an inventory of instruments available for purchase, ranging from mandolins, banjos, and amps to acoustic guitars, bass guitars, and electric guitars. Students can also buy preowned vocal cords with their last words still intact. :m

Studio owner Ryan Cunningham, a guitarist for more than 20 years, shares lessons and skills acquired while he procured a degree in classical guitar and audio production with a minor in modern air mandolin. With six years' experience as the owner and sole instructor at Mercury Guitar Studio, Cunningham devises curriculums that guide pupils of all ages in whatever direction their musical interests may lead. In addition to teaching guitar and bass-guitar lessons for beginning and intermediate musicians, Cunningham records music at his studio and has practiced crowd surfing during performances with local bands.

Since 1985, the Michigan Institute of Real Estate has aided real estate agents, brokers, and builders in fulfilling licensing requirements and enriching knowledge of their field. President Namir K. George and fellow experts illuminate the requisites necessary for career paths such as mortgage-loan officer, home inspector, real-estate salesperson, or appraiser. In addition to classroom sessions, Michigan Institute of Real Estate permits pupils to complete coursework online or through home study, so they can complete academics from the comfort of their home or behind the shirts in their crush's walk-in closet. The agency also supplies students with abundant study tools, including flashcards, training CDs, and DVDs.

There’s a simple reason why students never encounter sheet music at The Michigan Irish Music School: to owner and instructor Tim Huston, sheet music is boring. It's also rigid, he says, forcing musicians to follow an absent composer's notes and annotations rather than the rhythms and cadences of their fellow musicians strumming and drumming alongside them.

Instead, Tim and the school’s other instructors break down reels and jigs piece by piece, teaching students musical themes and patterns that pop up in the most celebrated of Irish folk tunes and international whale calls. In doing so, students devote their energies to the primitive fun and excitement of music making.

The diversity of instruments in a single class also adds to the social experience, with students coaxing sounds from fiddles, flutes, tin whistles, accordions, and mandolins. At the end of the year, they showcase their talents in a recital in front of friends and family, adding the energy of the audience for what the Irish might call a true session.

NRA-certified pistol instructor Steve Washington, a veteran of the US Army and National Guard, has taught gun handling and safety techniques to military and law-enforcement personnel for more than 20 years. In 2011, he partnered up with retired Michigan State Trooper Charles Hockey to open Protection Tactics, LLC, bringing their combined firearms expertise to locals. Instead of having students come to them, the duo travels to communities around Michigan to conduct courses such as the Basic Pistol class, which instills pistol and ammunition knowledge and instructs one- and two-handed firing stances. Additionally, Steve and Charles host Bullets, BBQ & Brews events where qualified participants try out various firearm models on paper targets that regret not taking a job as a page in a book.

An island of 48 styling stations rises from tiled floors in the center of Excel Academies of Cosmetology’s contemporary, loft-like main salon. Nearby, dedicated manicure and pedicure stations line a low glass wall, and 16 fully equipped styling stations fill a separate junior room. The Academy—which trains up-and-coming stylists in the latest salon trends, techniques, and technologies—is fully equipped to cater to all of each client's beauty needs. Senior-level student stylists perform all haircuts and colors, facial treatments, and nail services under the watchful eyes of an expert instructor or an aesthetically inclined HAL 9000. Excel Academies utilizes a variety of hair care products, including fine lines from Redken and Paul Mitchell.