Local Dishwalla Rocker Joins Laguna's Lower School Faculty & Offers Fresh Musical Perspective to Students

Laguna Blanca is proud to welcome George Pendergast as the new Lower School Music Instructor, bringing over 40 years of music experience to students in grades EK–4.
 
As a seasoned musician, George brings a variety of percussion experience from classical music, pop, jazz and blues to modern rock. The Santa Barbara native says that music has been his passion from an early age.
 
“My dad was very into listening to music; there was always music playing and we would talk about it,” George said. “And finally at age 5, they got me a drum set.” George's love for music also included piano lessons for five years, and clarinet when he was in junior high school.
 
George graduated from San Marcos High and attended Santa Barbara City College before pursuing his dream of touring with the emerging alternative, local rock band, Dishwalla. The band eventually received their big break in the early 1990s, earning gold records and the #1 Billboard Rock Song of the Year in 1996. Dishwalla continues to play live shows and later this year will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of their hit song, “Counting Blue Cars.
 
George has provided private drum lessons for over 15 years to aspiring youth, and at the Santa Barbara Rockshop Academy that he founded in 2009. The Rockshop Academy is a year round music and mentor program that fosters the next generation of aspiring musicians in Santa Barbara.
 
Excited about the opportunity to teach at the Lower School, George looks forward to providing a fresh perspective with new ideas, while also collaborating with fellow instructors for the upcoming winter and spring music concerts on December 10, 2015, and May 5, 2016.
 
George’s teaching methods include peer-to-peer mentoring and the Six Pillars of Character, basing his programs and materials on elements of the six ethical values of Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship. He recognizes that learning music advances a student’s understanding of mathematical measures. “Music is math. It’s all division of quarters and fourths,” he explains. “And so you’re multiplying, you’re dividing, or you’re subtracting. And even for people who don’t like math, it’s a way of getting math without knowing you’re doing it. Music kind of sneaks it in there!”
 
Currently, George is teaching sea shanties to Laguna’s fourth grade students who will stay overnight on a tall ship in the Santa Barbara Harbor on October 22. For second grade students who will be participating in an Africa Day celebration on November 20, George is teaching a traditional djembe pattern on the African drums that was intended for a call and answer. Working closely with other Laguna teachers, George is adding a new twist to Laguna’s already well-integrated performing arts curriculum.
 
His approach is a blend of Orff and the Kodály Method with his own variations, where rhythmic notation is taught with traditional methods and a syllable approach called “Play You Say,” that, “has proven to get groups to be able to play as an ensemble with very little rehearsal,” George said.
 
George’s philosophy also leverages individual talents and provides everyone in the room an opportunity to be musical, allowing all students to learn and benefit from each exercise in the class.
 
While teaching, George has observed that a child’s confidence, and ability to concentrate and take risks naturally increases as the student becomes more proficient with an instrument. “I’ve also noticed that music is an organic community builder. When you’re playing music together, you are part of a group. This part cannot exist without that part. And so everyone has to be in it together in order for it to work,” he explains.

Head of Lower School Andy Surber couldn't be more pleased. "George has extraordinary experience in many areas of music from instruction to performance. The students are enjoying his lessons on voice, percussion, notation, and performance," he adds.

In addition to music, George enjoys hiking, biking, and spending time outdoors at the beach with his children. He is the proud father of daughter, Lilly (11), and son, Gavin (9).

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