Peaceland Music offers instruction for piano, keyboard, voice, violin, guitar, bass, drums, ukulele, mandolin, banjo and digital audio recording techniques to students of all ages and all levels! PEACELAND MISSION OF EXCELLENCE IN ALL OF LIFE
Our mission at Peaceland Music is, and always has been, to contribute everything we can to the future of music, to assist anyone and everyone in moving forw
ard, to make this world a better place, artistically, as well as every other way we can. We also believe that proper technique and training are essential in developing good habits, thus saving valuable time in becoming more effective in expressing your unique talents, abilities and inspirations. Our commitment to you is to help you make your dreams come true - whatever they may be. Sometimes, in order to become a better artist, you must also become a bigger person. Our lessons do not only consist of musical instruction. Our lessons include how to live a better, more effective life, so that you will have the resources available to you to better yourself as a human being, as well as an artist. We want to see you succeed in all areas of life. Many of our students have had difficulty in school, because school is more difficult now than ever before. If you are having difficulty with school, please let us know. We can arrange to spend a portion of time with you to assist in this area. This is very important to us, as we believe it is necessary to excel in all areas of life, not just in music. We have amassed a number of very useful tools to assist you in doing better at school. Many students at Peaceland have found this information very helpful in solving their educational challenges. We look forward to working with you, and making this world a better place than we found it. Peace, Love, and Music! PEACELAND HISTORY
Peaceland Music began in 1966 when James Musser's Dad, Walter Musser, pulled a fast one on him. Life would never be the same. It was Walt's intention that James start playing guitar at age 6. To achieve this, he crafted an awesome plan - and of course, it worked like a charm. Walt decided that he, himself, would start taking guitar lessons, in hopes that James might eventually take an interest. When he came home from the lessons and began practicing, of course, James wanted everything to do with it. Pretty soon, James would be standing at the door, waiting for his Dad to get home, "What did you learn, Dad?"
Soon after, Walt suggested, maybe James should take the lessons instead of him (lucky James, the plan all along)! By age 8, James was performing in classical guitar recitals. By age 10, however, James was tired of playing classical guitar (this happens to many young children learning classical piano, as well, btw). So, he decided to hang up the guitar from age 10 to 11 (a move he now wishes he could reverse, but alas, the wisdom of a 10 year old prevailed). Fortunately, age 11, James' best friend got a drum set for Christmas, along with a "soundproofed practice room" where they could both get together and "jam". His friend said, "Get an Electric Guitar". This was the turning point, and from there, they never looked back. James' brother also got a drum set, and so the household was once again filled with the sounds of music. The drums and guitar duet turned into a small band ("Shadow") that eventually ended up playing their own Junior High School dance (did someone say "heroes" of the school for a day)? This was pretty big motivation, but the best was yet to come. In 1974, Shadow lost their drummer, as he needed to move to Sacramento with his family. This would end up being the biggest blessing that could ever have happened (even though it seemed like the worst thing ever at the time). The sister of one of the guitar players in the band heard that they had lost their drummer. She just happened to be going out with one of the BEST drummers in South Bay. Luckily for the band, the sister said to her boyfriend, "Play with my brother's band, or I won't go out with you anymore"... oh my! Serious motivation folks. This guy was big league. And so it was. Along with the new drummer came new music. He introduced the band to Chick Corea, Return to Forever, all kinds of amazing jazz - serious players, like Al DiMeola, John McLaughlin, Allan Holdsworth and Jean-Luc Ponty (elec. violin). It was the perfect storm. The 70s were a time of amazing creativity, with new talent bursting at every seam. James began practicing 18 hours a day (during the summer) to find a way to join the new league of incredible musicians he was hearing. The music was known as "Jazz-Rock Fusion" - The Olympics of Music, as James would eventually call it. Having started at such an early age, James was involved in helping a number of his friends in becoming better musicians. By the time he was in high school, he began teaching lessons. Because of the creativity during that time, it became a lifelong quest to do everything possible to further that creativity on every possible level artistically. Eventually, along with his friends, the bands that were formed would soon be playing Fusion with some of the best players in the world, at the Lighthouse Cafe, in Hermosa Beach (when all the jazz greats used to play there), and the Comeback Inn in Venice, CA. The band was known as Underwater Traffic
http://www.gepr.net/u.html (scroll down the page for review). This is how James met some of the players he would eventually come to work with in later years. Underwater Traffic went through many incarnations, and eventually released a CD in 1997 ( http://www.allmusic.com/album/return-to-the-deep-mw0000936361). The band was nominated "Best LA Band" and James was nominated "Best Guitarist" at the LA Music Awards. The band was also awarded "Best South Bay Band", as well. Because the music was more progressive in nature, the band never achieved a huge following, but did manage to garner some interest from a couple of labels. Eventually, it was time to move on, and Peaceland Music teaching studios were officially opened in 1998. James continued the pursuit of new ideas by introducing the patented Peaceland Guitar Rings at the 2005 NAMM Show, and was awarded the highly coveted NAMM Award for "Best in Show". He is also working to produce another pat. pending software to further musical education, as well as additional software to assist investors in doing better at trading Forex and the stock market.
