Grady has accepted an academic scholarship to study for a music major at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. He is also expecting to hear good news on a music scholarship at Belmont at the time of this writing.

This is very exciting news, as there are only a handful of U.S. colleges and universities that offer degree programs in contemporary music. Some of the best-known schools are Belmont, Berklee College of Music, USC Thornton School of Music and Frost School of Music at the Univ of Miami. And besides the acceptance levels being quite hard, these schools are quite expensive to apply and attend. Grady has interest in country music, so applying to Belmont in Nashville for scholarships seems a smart route.

To understand the difficulty of Grady’s quest to attend Belmont, consider this: Music performance majors first have to pass a musical audition. Fewer than 20% are accepted from the 2,000 students who audition annually for Belmont. That number includes ALL performance majors; classical music, jazz, musical theatre, voice, and contemporary music. Very few of the guitar players who audition are accepted as a performance major in contemporary music. It’s a testament to Grady’s talents, practice habits and musical knowledge that he passed the audition! He becomes one of a few students nationwide selected to be a music performance major in guitar in the contemporary music program! 

Background

To those of us in the SMA band coaching program who know Grady, this is a great step on the way to a music career! Grady started playing guitar when he was 7 years old in formal practice lessons. He comes from a very musical family, where it’s said that music is a family member, along with father, mother and siblings. Dad’s an audiophile, Mom organizes the very popular Rock the District competition her in the Valley, and both parents believe that music and arts are essential in education.

Grady is an example of an SMA student making the most of what his parents can provide for him in the way of lessons and teaching, and then using his drive, talents and determination to move forward to bigger and better musical opportunities in life!

If you’re ready to take your musical skills up a notch, contact us at Scottsdale Music Academy! You can sign up with our instructors to improve your talents on guitar, piano, bass or vocal lessons. Call us in Scottsdale, AZ on 602-751-3527 for a free lesson and intro tour. We’re Scottsdale’s leading music instruction academy in Scottsdale, between Scottsdale Road and Hayden Road.

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John deserves the credit for not only providing an excellent music education, but for knowing how to keep Grady challenged.  The importance of mentors, coaches and teachers can not be overemphasized.  Grady is so fortunate to have found the right one!

John deserves the credit for not only providing an excellent music education, but for knowing how to keep Grady challenged.  The importance of mentors, coaches and teachers can not be overemphasized.  Grady is so fortunate to have found the right one!