At The Rock Shop, Practice Has Somewhere to Go

There is a moment in learning an instrument when practicing alone starts to feel like preparation for something else. At The Rock Shop in Nyack, that next step has a practical shape: a small band, a set list and a performance to work toward.

The shop’s band program brings three to five musicians together to choose songs and learn to play as a group, with a local-venue performance at the end of a session. Its website specifies prior experience through private lessons and an instrument of your own. That makes the program a bridge for someone who has already begun learning and wants a reason to bring those skills into a room with other players.

It is an appealing way to think about progress. A song becomes something you build together; practice has a destination beyond getting through the difficult part one more time.

The business itself grew out of a search for connection. In an October 2023 Visit Nyack profile, Dylan Kelehan described developing the shop after his touring work with Pink Floyd tribute band The Machine stopped during the pandemic. Working with Caroline and Jeff Spindel, he opened the original store in December 2020. By March 2023, it had moved to 98 Main Street, into a space the profile described as having eight band-themed lesson rooms.

The current teaching roster suggests several directions a musical curiosity can take. Joey Calfa’s specialties include ukulele, guitar and band leading, alongside experience touring with Cousin Earth. Norvin van Dunk teaches audio engineering and DJ lessons. Those details widen the picture beyond the familiar guitar-on-a-stand version of a music shop.

There are useful everyday supports here, too: the official site lists both in-person and virtual lessons, along with instrument maintenance and repairs. Keeping an instrument playable belongs in the same conversation as learning what to do with it.

At 98 Main Street, The Rock Shop offers a compelling possibility for a developing musician: the thing you have been working on by yourself can become something you share.