Make Music New York spoke with Dan Emery, founder and CEO of NYC Guitar School, who organizes the annual Mass Appeal: Guitars event, about how to get involved in this summer’s jam in Union Square on Saturday, June 21st.
MMNY: Hi Dan! We are excited as always to be working with you and the NYC Guitar School on this year’s Mass Appeal event. How many years has this been happening and how did it get started?
Dan: Oh my gosh…we got involved back in 2009, when we first heard about Make Music New York. At the time we thought it would be a one-off fun in the sun in Union Square. We didn’t bring any amps or PA–I didn’t realize that 150 people playing acoustic guitar in the park cover enough space that different sections can get out of time with each other! We’ve been involved with Make Music New York almost every year since then–we took a break for the Pandemic of course, and one year we did a day of free guitar lessons in Times Square with the Naked Cowboy–but besides that, every Summer Solstice since then we’ve helped host a mass jam in Union Square park. The Union Square Partnership and Parks Department have been very supportive, and most importantly a lot of guitarists have gotten involved! It’s been really fun!
MMNY: Some Make Music fans might not be familiar with Mass Appeal and the NYC Guitar School. Can you share the mission and history of the organization, including the work that you do beyond our Make Music partnership throughout the year?
Dan: There are lots of Mass Appeals for different instruments–ukulele, tuba, you name it. These are super inclusive and collaborative music events where players of all ages and skill levels can enjoy playing music together. As hosts of the NYC Guitar Mass Appeal, we typically have five beginner friendly songs–and at least one or two of those are insanely beginner friendly songs, like 2 chords only! We put together video tutorials and PDF resources and links to official charts, and we are in the park with lots of volunteers a couple hours before the play-along to hold practice sessions.
We found that we do need song leaders and a drum and especially singers with microphones to keep everyone in time with each other…but we keep the focus on the mass jam by putting the jammers on the natural stage created by the awesome steps at Union Square south. It ends up being a very natural, beautiful sound–100s of guitars, plus the ambient sounds of New York City and park sounds.
At NYC Guitar School, we make a promise to the world – you CAN play guitar! So we feel really aligned with the Mass Appeal philosophy and I’m grateful that we’ve had the chance to be so involved!
During the rest of the year we are also busy playing and teaching guitar–we have four NYC locations, NYC’s largest adult rock band program, NYC’s biggest rock camp for teens, and even though some of our students have gone on to be rock stars and we have some extremely skilled students, we never forget that it all starts with that first step–or strum. We like to say “we don’t teach guitar–we teach people.”
MMNY: It’s been fun to watch and the Mass Appeal participants and audience expand over the years. Can you share some details for this summer’s version and how musicians can become involved?
Dan: This year is going to be the first time since 2015 that the Union Square Mass Appeal Guitars event will be on a weekend–so not only will this make the day more relaxed, we’re also really excited that more kids and teens may be able to come out. Internal Creations, a non-profit that brings guitar playing to city schools, is already planning on bringing a bunch of their students and those guitar playing kids will even lead one of the songs.
The easiest way to get involved is to go to our Mass Appeal meetup site to get all the details and links to song tutorials and charts. And if you have a music school or guitar group and want to get involved–the more the better–you can contact me at dan@nycguitarschool.com.
MMNY: Any final thoughts?
Dan: Yes! To recap, it is a free, outdoor, live, EPIC ensemble of guitarists open to players of all ages, styles, and skill-levels. So tell your sister, tell your brother, tell your cousin, tell your granny! EVERYBODY’s invited! Sign up at Mass Appeal!
Oh, and somehow since 2009 we’ve been rained out ZERO times! I’m looking forward to keeping that streak going–so that means bring water and sunscreen!
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