Graham English

5 comments on “Who is Dick Grove?”

• • Taura Eruera said:
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  • Nov 24th, 2006 at 7:54 am

  Dick Grove Is The Absolute Bomb.

  I studied under him for six calendar months but they were like six musical years. I left New Zealand for a year to study at the Guitar Institute in Hollywood. Five months into that I discovered Grove and not wanting to miss either, I studied at both schools full time.

  GIT was great for being a guitar player. And I’m forever grateful to Howard Roberts for his inspiration and the lights that she shone for guitar players to follow.

  Dick wasn’t just a player. He was a fantastic arranger, thinker and teacher. I didn’t know enough about LA to know whether his peers loved him or hated him. But I bet they couldn’t teach like him.

  Dick was a total workaholic who set a amazing pace and example for his students. The day was never long enough for him.

  I always regarded Dick as the Chomsky of Modern Day Commercial Music. He came to LA when the studios were starting up and landed heaps of arranging gigs. he taught us to write for the client, then for the client and after that, for the client.

  What was Chomskyan about Dick in my view was that he was able to take vast amounts of musical data and organise them into logical, comprehensible units that were practical and useful, not academic and sterile.

  His systems allowed us to write music that clients wanted and music that we wanted—and to know the difference.

  I have not come across harmony systems that are better organised or rationalised than his. His concept of chord families is particularly powerful and his harmonic grids are absolutely breathtaking.

  I wrote twenty charts with Dick and had them performed. That experience turned me from a guitar player into an arranger who could write for instruments that I had no idea how to play.

  I always say Howard R was my inspiration and that Dick G was my perspiration.

  While I regretted not being able to study longer with Dick I am forever grateful for those six calendar months with him. I have made most of my musical money from his teachings.

  More than that his sheer scholarship inspired me to finish two major works I started after graduation: a rational system for talking, reading and writing rhythms that works for every musician from primary school to professional player and a rational theory of melody.

  My only regret was that Dick missed most of the information and internet age. Had he come two decades later he would have been a computer science programmer as well and he would have left behind not only a whole lot (albeit extremely valuable) books but chord family and harmonic grid interactive software.

  On the other hand, he would have missed those two valuable decades that gave him all the ground-breaking experience that he could synthesise into powerful curriculum and education that I, and thousands of others, benefitted from.

  At the end of each term, every student would have a few moments with Dick. At our last meeting Dick said to me,”I really admire you man!”. I was flabbergasted. As my jaw dropped, he leaned over his desk, eyeballed me and said, “I really admire you man!”. I was speechless. The rest of the brief meeting was a haze and when we stood to shake hands, Dick said with his twinkling eyes, “I really admire you man!”.

  I am forever grateful that I had the opportunity to have Dick Grove share his life and music with me. To me, Dick is a giant.

• • Graham English said:
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  • Nov 26th, 2006 at 2:23 pm

  Dick really is a giant. Thanks for your comments Taura.

• • Lee Lontoc said:
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  • Jun 15th, 2007 at 8:29 pm

  Those are great comments. Dick Grove and his school have had the greatest impact on my life because it opened my ears and mind. He will be my greatest mentor.

  I have started a forum page for Dick Grove Alumni located at:

  http://p068.ezboard.com/bdickgroveschoolofmusicalumni

  Please join and tell us more of your stories. It’s free.

• • Graham English said:
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  • Jun 18th, 2007 at 7:08 pm

  Wow. What a resource. Thanks Lee!

• • Cameron Lasswell said:
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  • Jan 12th, 2008 at 4:37 am

  I was in the very last C.A.P. program before the school went under. Dick worked so insanely hard at his profession. I know for a fact that he worked at least 80 hour weeks. He drove an old and modest Isuzu coup to prove that he didn’t prioritize in the superficial and material world. He loved music and he believed in what he did. He was no sell out! He’s a hero.

  After the riots back in ‘92 (I think) Grove lost virtually all of his incoming students from abroad. Foreign countries portrayed Los Angeles as a war zone and as dangerous. This was the first nail in the coffin.

  Then began the internal wars between various factions within the Grove school. It was sad and pathetic. It was like high school! In an effort to recoup we moved from Van Nuys to Woodland Hills (a smaller facility). It never worked out and that was the end of it all. We (in the final C.A.P. ) almost made it through the end but due to the school’s financial issues we were never able to compose our final project.

  Dick Grove is a very, very special person and a true inspiration. I know that he is in a good place.

  R.I.P.