Musician Jason Mohlenbrock started taking piano lessons at the age of five. He could play by ear but couldn't read music, which dashed his plans to attend ASU's School of Music. "I didn't even audition," he said. "Once I saw the requirements, it was a wake-up call. I was practicing all the time, but just the wrong stuff." The thought of not having a music career felt like a gut punch, but Jason decided to pursue an education degree instead. "I heard the first-year prerequisites were the same at Phoenix College as a university, with smaller classes and significantly less tuition." Once enrolled at PC, he signed up for education classes but took some electives in electronic music and recording.
Jason also took music theory and aural perception classes, "which made the PC music program extremely accessible from the beginning," he said. He studied piano with faculty member Ellen Brown. "She was the first private piano teacher who didn't take offense to the fact that I couldn't read music. She wanted to teach me classical pieces even though I had convinced myself I couldn't do them. She didn't sit at the piano with me, but further away in the lesson room, so I wasn't following her fingers like I had with my early teachers. If I was making mistakes, she wasn't correcting them for me. Instead, she gave me some strategies to overcome the struggle."
After a few semesters, Mohlenbrock met Milas Yoes, PC's then Director of Instrumental Music, Jazz Studies, and Humanities. "He came into the music classes to talk about jazz," Mohlenbrock said. "Blue in Green" by jazz trumpeter and bandleader Miles Davis is one of Mohlenbrock's favorites: "It's a slow piece and deceptively difficult. Ten bars instead of 16, it's cyclical, so when you think it's the end, it's actually the beginning." Faculty member and composer, now PC's Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) Department Chair, Karl Schindler, also became a vital music mentor in electronic music and composition. "At that point, the clouds started to part," Jason said. "I still wanted to teach, but I thought, Maybe I don't need to give up on music completely."
Jason earned his associate's degree in education and transferred to ASU, where he received a bachelor's degree in art, but continued to study with Dr. Schindler at PC. "The Phoenix College music program emulates university programs. Karl could see I had a shot at being a composer. Milas could see I had a shot at being a jazz pianist. Then they helped me see all of these possibilities." For people following their artist's instincts, the National Endowment for the Arts reports that 45 percent of musicians are self-employed, compared with just over 9 percent of all workers.
Now co-owner of Blue in Green Youth Piano Academy with his wife Shawna Craig, Jason said, "Our piano academy wouldn't exist if I hadn't gone to Phoenix College. I thought I had missed the boat on a music career." Neither Jason nor Shawna had any business experience––he taught Montessori school and offered private piano lessons, and she taught middle school in the Creighton school district––so their business venture proved to be "a lot of trial and error," Jason said. Yet, the method he created to teach piano and Shawna's experience in elementary education and anchor charts proved successful. Together, they teach group classes of up to nine students. "The kids learn music theory and interact with each other in small group projects," Jason said. "Then, they apply what they learn on the piano. It's like they are learning two languages at once, solfege notes and letter notes.”
Today, Jason and Shawna’s youth piano academy is thriving. "Going to Phoenix College was the best decision I ever made," Jason stated. "Phoenix College gave me the idea that I could do this and the push to do it right.”
Ready to turn your passion for the arts into a small business? Phoenix College has experienced faculty to support you along the way. Explore what PC's Music program or the Business department has to offer.