Musicians Institute (MI) is a private

for-profit Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." A business entity is not necessari ...

music school A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. MI students can earn Certificates and – with transfer of coursework taken at

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campus of the U ...

– Associate of Arts Degrees, as well as Bachelor of Music Degrees in either Performance or Composition. The college was founded in 1977.

History

Founders Howard Roberts and Pat Hicks

Musicians Institute was founded as The Guitar Institute of Technology in 1977 as a one-year vocational school of guitarists and bassists. Its curriculum and pedagogical style was shaped by guitarist

Howard Roberts Howard Mancel Roberts (October 2, 1929 – June 28, 1992) was an American jazz guitarist, educator, and session musician. Early life Roberts was born in Phoenix, Arizona to Damon and Vesta Roberts, and began playing guitar at the age of 8 — a ...

(1929–1992). Pat Hicks ''(né'' Patrick Carroll Hicks; born 1934), a Los Angeles music industry entrepreneur, was the co-founder of Musicians Institute. He is credited for providing the organizational structure and management that rapidly transformed Howard Roberts' educational philosophy into a major music school. Programs added under Roberts and Hicks include: * 1978: Bass Institute of Technology (BIT) * 1980: Percussion Institute of Technology (PIT) * 1987: Vocal Institute of Technology (VIT) * 1991: Keyboard Institute of Technology (KIT) * 1993: Recording Institute of Technology (RIT) * 1994: Bachelor of Music Degree

Early curricular offerings

At the time of its founding, formal education in

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

at institutions of higher learning was limited mostly to universities and conservatories offering jazz studies, which were few. At the founding of the Musicians Institute, Jazz studies was, and is today, a strong component of the curricular offerings. In early days of the Musicians Institute, the demand for musicians and music industry professionals with comprehensive collegiate credentials in the field of contemporary music was low. Yet, the demand for contemporary music professionals was high. Roberts, when he founded the school, wanted to give aspiring rock and roll musicians a conservatory experience. Nowadays, comprehensive music education in higher education, from bachelors to doctorates, covers rock and roll from several perspectives, including literature, musicology, history, performing arts, technology, business, and law. For musicians working towards degrees in performance, proficiency in rock and roll is standard, particularly for aspiring session musicians. The rise of contemporary musicians holding comprehensive academic credentials over the last 50 years is partly the result of more universities offering programs in the field, which, in turn, has increased the demand for contemporary oriented music educators with academic credentials at universities. Because the Musicians Institute was an innovator in rock and roll in higher education – and years ago began offering bachelor of music degrees – its alumni are well-represented as educators of contemporary music at institutions of higher learning. Japanese businessman Hisatake Shibuya (born 1937) bought the school in 1994 and Musicians Institute began developing new programs to keep abreast of the modern music industry. Programs added under Shibuya include: * 2000: Independent Artist Program (IAP) * 2000: Audio Engineering * 2000: Guitar Craft Academy (GCA) * 2002: Music Business Program (MBP) * 2016: DJ Performance and Production (DJP) * 2016: Associate of Science in Music Business (AS.MB) * 2017: MI Online (MIO) * 2018: Artist Producer and Entrepreneur (APE) * 2018: Master in Music Degree (MM) On 25 August 2007, the

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the Legislature, lawmaking body for the Government of Los Angeles, city government of Los Angeles, California, the second largest city in the United States. It has 15 members who each represent the 15 city council ...

adopted a resolution declaring 25 August 2007, "Musicians Institute Day in the City of Los Angeles" in recognition of its achievements over three decades during its 30th anniversary celebration. The resolution was presented by Eric Garcetti, seconded by Tom LaBonge, and passed by a vote of twelve to zero out of fifteen, three being absent.

Former institutional and division names

Active names * MI College of Contemporary Music™ (service mark & trade mark) * MI Connects™ (service mark) – online talent resource for students and alumni * MI Musicians Institute™ * Guitar Craft Academy™ – for the design, construction, and maintenance of guitars and basses Trademark names of Campus Hollywood * Tricycle Entertainment™ (service mark – abandoned in 2004) Former names * Guitar Institute of Technology (service mark – became inactive 22 June 1990) * Vocal Institute of Technology (service mark – became inactive 19 May 1989) * Bass Institute of Technology * Percussion Institute of Technology * Keyboard Institute of Technology * Recording Institute of Technology (trademark – became inactive 5 December 2005) * Film Institute of Technology (trademark – became inactive 5 December 2005) * Encore Program * World Institute of Percussion (launched in 1987) Trademark notes

Academics

The Musicians Institute offers instrumental performance programs for

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, keyboard technology, and vocals. Music industry programs include

audio engineering Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound *Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound * Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum *Digital audio, representation of soun ...

, Independent Artist Program, the Guitar Craft Academy and Music Business. The school offers

Associate of Arts An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree ...

, Associate of Science, and

Bachelor of Music A Bachelor of Music (BMus; sometimes conferred as Bachelor of Musical Arts) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. The degree may be awarded for performance, music ed ...

degrees in addition to certificates. The

Institute of International Education The Institute of International Education (IIE) is an American 501(c) non-profit organization that focuses on international student exchange and aid, foreign affairs, and international peace and security. IIE creates programs of study and training ...

, in its assessment of "Top 40 Specialized Institutions, 2009/10," from its publication, ''International Students: Leading Institutions by Institutional Type,'' ranked Musicians Institute 13 in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

out of 40. Musicians Institute and its programs are registered by the state of California by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education. It has been an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) since 1981. In 1992, new musicologist Robert Walser cited the Musicians Institute as one of the best-known schools for guitarist, one that has flourished outside the ivory tower, offering students broader professional training. But a trade-off, according to a review in the October 2012 issue of Performer Magazine, is that a lack of academic accreditation – specifically from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges – can make it challenging for students to transfer credits from MI to academic institutions. To meet the academic criteria for a Bachelor of Music Degree – 45 quarter units or 30 semester units in

liberal arts Liberal arts education () is a traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''skill, art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. ''Liberal arts education'' can refe ...

– the Musicians Institute has a partnership with nearby

(LACC) to study English, mathematics, natural science, social science, and humanities. LACC is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges The Carnegie Foundation has designated the Musicians Institute as a "Special Focus Institute in Music."

Facilities and constituent institutions

MI began in second floor rooms above Hollywood Wax Museum on Hollywood Boulevard. When MI celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2007, its facilities included over 75,000 square feet of studios, performance venues, classrooms, and practice rooms across several blocks in central Hollywood. In 2013, the Musician's Institute Stage was added as a venue for the Annual Mayhem Festival and The ESP Company, LTD, unveiled plans to expand its Campus Hollywood complex of schools in Los Angeles. From 2010 to 2013, ESP invested $47 million in new property with plans to expand its facility to exceed 180,000 square feet of adjoining buildings on or near Highland Avenue between Hollywood Blvd. and Sunset Boulevard as part of a reorganization and upgrade of existing Campus Hollywood properties that accommodate the Musicians Institute, Theatre of Arts, International Dance Academy, and Elegance International. The new facilities were planned to include a performance venue, student dormitory, and parking lots."ESP Set to Expand Campus Hollywood"
'' Vintage Guitar'', 10 December 2013 Constituent institutions of Campus Hollywood, Inc.: # Musicians Institute # Theatre of Arts, an acting school founded in 1927 # Elegance International, a school for professional makeup artists # Los Angeles College of Music # International Dance Academy Hollywood International sister educational institutions: # MI Japan (ja) –

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,098,335 in 539,698 households, making it the List of cities in Japan, twelfth most populated city in Japan. ...

and

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

# UTB Video Academy (ja),

Chiyoda, Tokyo , known as Chiyoda City in English,
." ''City of Chiyoda''. Retrieved on December 28, 2008. is a S ...

, founded in 1998 under the auspices of United Television Broadcasting Systems, Inc. (ja) # ESP Entertainment, Kita-ku, Osaka Other entities closely held by Hisatake Shibuya: # Hollywood Entertainment ESL, founded as a California corporation in 2012, active () # ESP Investment Holdings, Inc., founded as a California corporation in 2010, active () # ESP Gakuen, founded as a Japan corporation in 2001, registered as a foreign non-profit corporation in California, active () # Schecter Guitar Research, acquired by Shibuya in 1987 – Hisatake Shibuya, President # ESP Company, Limited, ''doing business as'' ESP Guitars, founded by Shibuya in 1975 # United Television Broadcasting Systems, Inc. (ja), a Japanese language television station based in Los Angeles and syndicated in Japan # E.S.P. Shibuya Enterprises, Inc., founded as a California corporation in 1998, active () Inactive entities that were closely held by Hisatake Shibuya: # Tricycle Records, Inc., founded as a California corporation in 2001, dissolved # ESP Co., LTD., doing business in California as ESP Real Estate Investment, Inc., registration surrendered # Entertainment Enterprises Hollywood, Inc., founded as a California corporation, dissolved # CHMG, Inc., founded as a California corporation, no longer active # Hollywood Pop Academy, Inc., founded in 2003 as a California corporation, no longer active

Musicians Institute Press

The Musicians Institute Press is a division of the Musicians Institute, and is focused on instructional publications – print and video – by instructors of guitar, bass, drums, vocals, and film editing, audio engineering, composition, arranging, musicology, music theory, sight reading, sight singing, and the entertainment business. The publications are distributed by the Musicians Institute and

Hal Leonard Corporation Hal Leonard LLC (formerly Hal Leonard Corporation) is an American music publishing and distribution company founded in Winona, Minnesota, by Harold "Hal" Edstrom, his brother, Everett "Leonard" Edstrom, and fellow musician Roger Busdicker. Cur ...

Performing Arts Publishing Group. Since 1997, the publishing imprint has been the "Musicians Institute Press." Before that, from about 1982 to 1997, the imprint was "Musicians Institute Publications."

Notable faculty

Faculty – current and former Guitar * Chris Broderick * Dean Brown * Joe Diorio * Ron Eschete * Brett Garsed * Paul Gilbert * Jude Gold * Scott Henderson *

Steve Lynch Steve Lynch (born January 18, 1955) is an American guitarist. He is best known as the co-founder and lead guitarist of the glam metal/hard rock band Autograph (American band), Autograph, which formed in 1983. He decided to commit himself to m ...

* Alex Machacek * Pat Martino * Doug Rappoport *

* Dale Turner * Carl Verheyen * Dave Weiner * Keith Wyatt * David Oakes * Jamie Glaser * Dave Hill * Joe Elliott * Jennifer Batten Bass guitar * Tim Bogert * Louis Johnson * Stuart Hamm * Bob Magnusson * Chuck Rainey * Alexis Sklarevski * Greg Weiss (son of Larry Weiss) Vocal * Debra Byrd, Chair * Anika Peress Percussion * Cengiz Baysal (tr) * Efa Etoroma * Chuck Flores *

Horacio Hernandez Horacio \ho-ra-cio\, a masculine given name, is a variant of Horace (given name), Horace. The given name Horacio is found sporadically throughout all of Latin America. Horacio is a boy's name with Latin origins said to mean 'timekeeper'. The Portug ...

* Thomas Lang * Glen Sobel * Ralph Humphrey Keyboards * Russell Ferrante * Carl Schroeder * Steve Weingart Audio engineering * TJ Helmerich Music Industry, entrepreneurship * Don Grierson * Vicky Hamilton Independent Artist program * Lisa Harriton, Chair * Marko DeSantis Original Song Pre-Production *

Richie Zito Richie Zito (born August 21, 1952) is an American songwriter, composer and record producer from Los Angeles. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Zito has experienced success as a prolific session musician, being featured on a wide array of ...

Guest instructors – current and former Guitar * Jimmy Boyle * Kim Carroll * Marty Friedman *

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai ( ; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a Transcription (music), transc ...

Bass guitar *

Jaco Pastorius John Francis Anthony Pastorius III, also known as Jaco Pastorius (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987), was an American jazz bassist, composer, and producer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential bassists of all time, ...

* Alphonso Johnson * Patrick "Putter" Smith * Gary Willis Percussion * Thomas Lang * Dom Famularo Guitar Craft Academy * Howard R. Paul

Notable alumni

* Sharon Aguilar * Howard Alden * Juan Alderete * Shane Alexander * Ioannis Anastassakis (el) * Viktoria Andersson (sv) * Mateus Asato(br) * Corrado Sgandurra (it) * John Ballinger * Jennifer Batten * Cengiz Baysal (tr) * David Becker * Jean Marc Belkadi * Jeff Berlin * Curt Bisquera * Roberto Bossard (de) * Jimmy Boyle * Rolf Brendel (de) * Gunnlaugur Briem (de) * Bishop Briggs * Norman Brown * Jeff Buckley * Bruce “Buck” Cameron * Mike Campese * Joacim Cans * Sydnei Carvalho (br) * Giacomo Castellano (it) * Alberto Cereijo (es) * Jeffero Chan (zh) * Hinson Chou Tsz Yeung (zh) * Tanya Chua *

Alessandro Cortini Alessandro Cortini (born 24 May 1976) is an Italian musician best known for his work with the American industrial band Nine Inch Nails. He plays modular synthesizers, keyboards, guitar, and bass guitar. Cortini is the first Italian inducted ...

* Rivers Cuomo * Demir Demirkan * Marcus Deml (de) * Michael Denning * Francesco DiCosmo * Douglas R. Docker * Kenan Doğulu * Greg Edmonson * Peter Engberg (fi) * Backa Hans Eriksson (sv) * Emil Ernebro (sv) * Gustav Eurén (sv) * Big Chris Flores * Kevin Fowler * John Frusciante * Shane Gaalaas * Frank Gambale * Greg Garman (es) * Synyster Gates * Isabell Gerschke (de) * Terje Gewelt * Roney "Giah" Giacometti * Paul Gilbert * Kat Graham * Shruti Haasan * Kenya Hagihara (ja) * Scott Henderson * Tony Hernando (es) * Magos Herrera * Jimmy Herring * Rick Hill * Allen Hinds * Pelle Holmberg (sv) * Gabriel Improta (pt) * Cherno Jobatey (de) * Amaire Johnson * R.J.Jones (sv) * Elli Kokkinou * Folayan Kunerede * Dave Kushner * Charles Olivier * Wolfgang Laab (de) *

Lex Lang Lex Lang is an American voice actor and voice director, who has provided voices and served as a director for a number of animations and video games. He is best known for voicing Doctor Neo Cortex in the '' Crash Bandicoot'' franchise, Suguru ...

* Daniel LeBlanc * JinJoo Lee * Chris Letchford * LaToya London * Ray Luzier * Matt McJunkins * Christopher Maloney * Guernica Mancini * Paul Masvidal * Meja * Miri Miettinen (fi) * Nikki Misery * Teri Moïse (nl) * Sonny Moorman * Rafael Moreira * Taps Mugadza * OX (aka Samer El Nahhal) * Naomi Namasenda * Ant Neely * Ehsaan Noorani * Mark O'Leary * Stefan Olsdal * Naoki Osawa (ja) * Anderson .Paak * Phillip Michael Pacetti * Mimi Page * Toss Panos * Russ Parrish * Patiparn Pataweekarn *

Marcus Paus Marcus Nicolay Paus (; born 14 October 1979) is a Norwegian composer and one of the most performed contemporary Scandinavian composers. As a classical contemporary composer he is noted as a representative of a reorientation toward tradition, tonal ...

* Anel Paz * Francisco Pachi Paz * Ridho Hafiedz * Rio ''(né'' Takeshi Kubo) (ja) * Yannick Robert (fr) * Rose Villain ''(né'' Rosa Luini) (it) * Constantine Roussos * Mitsuhisa Sakamoto (ja) * Ilya Salmanzadeh * John Shanks * Scott Shriner * Kelly Simonz (ja) * Marcus Singletary * Micah Sloat * Chad Smith * Ashwin Sood * Jorma Styng (fi) * Midori Tatematsu * Bobbi Taylor * Shane Theriot * Carl August Tidemann *

Jasmine Jasmine (botanical name: ''Jasminum'', pronounced ) is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family of Oleaceae. It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of Eurasia, Africa, and Oceania. Jasmines are wid ...

''(né'' Chu Ting) * Jerry Torr * Les Townsend *

(Honorary) * Leonardo Valvassori * Eric Vandenberg * Jakob Wahlberg (sv) * Brooke White * Nick Wong (zh) * Aguai Wu (zh) * Keith Wyatt * Yammy (ja) * Jennifer York(August 2, 1994
"Jennifer York's High-flying Days, Bass-playing Nights"
''Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved February 27, 2024. * Jeff Young * Bibi Zhou * Jeff Zwart (nl) Language codes : hr = Croatian : de = German : el= Greek : es = Spanish : fi= Finnish : fr= French : ja= Japanese : it= Italian : nl= Dutch : pt= Portuguese : sv= Swedish : tr= Turkish : zh = Chinese

References

Primary sources

General

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Educational institutions established in 1977 For-profit music schools in the United States Music schools in California