Back in the 80’s, when I thought nothing of spending 4 hours in my drummer’s basement jamming on Smoke on the Water, singing into cheap Radio Shack microphones, I would occasionally stumble across a PBS/BBC show called Rock School.

The idea of such a show was nothing short of revolutionary for me because I’d never seen anything like it. I remember clips of Iron Maiden and Deep Purple, among other British rockers. I remember discussions on the finer points of Eddie Van Halen style tapping, on guitar pedals, on all things rock. I saw Bootsy Collins interviewed for God’s sake. All this on PBS, the same channel that played Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood and The Electric Company!

I didn’t learn a whole lot from Rock School, although I do remember trying to incorporate one of the tunes the band played into my band’s regular rotation, but I did learn that I wasn’t alone in thinking that rock music could be studied and respected, just like plumbing or geology.

Anyway, I found a few episodes from season 2 on YouTube. Without further ado, may I present Season 2, Episode 4, which has some tidbits about guitar soloing in part 3:

There are a few more episodes posted by user “tomstimemachine.”