The music men.

Byline: ED RUSSO The Register-Guard

FOR THE PAST FEW YEARS, Tom and Paul Hemphill enjoyed teaching guitar and bass guitar at a Eugene music store but figured there had to be a way to make the experience more fun for their students and more profitable for themselves.

Their classroom was in a back room at Musician's Friend - later to become a Guitar Center store - in north Eugene. Their students were energized by the once-a-week lessons, but some would lose steam because they had to practice at home by themselves.

So the brothers composed a new teaching venue.

On Monday, they opened a music teaching business - their attempt at providing private, for-profit music instruction in an innovative setting.

The Lesson Factory, near Green Acres Road and Delta Highway in north Eugene, has a roster of music teachers who provide individual instruction in guitar, drum, bass guitar, keyboard and vocals. The cornerstone of the business is a stage and a practice area that lets students of all ages play instruments or sing with people of similar abilities and interests.

Students can play blues, rock, jazz and other kinds of music. They also can take classes in sight reading of music, and in music theory, plus attend lectures and participate in clinics and recitals.

"We wanted to create something that is very novel and fresh," Tom Hemphill said. "There will be something going on every night of the week."

Aside from schools, colleges and conservatories, music instruction is generally given by private musicians in their homes or at music stores.

The American Music Institute in Eugene combines performance and music education, and, in some ways, is similar to The Lesson Factory. However, AMI is a nonprofit organization affiliated with the Oregon Festival of American Music.

By contrast, The Lesson Factory is a for-profit entity - or at least the Hemphills hope to make it one. Whether their concept resonates with the public is yet to be seen.

The Hemphills, helped by the financial backing of their father and six other investors, are hoping there's room in the music market for a business dedicated exclusively to music instruction.

With budget cuts decimating music education programs in Oregon's public schools, the Hemphills say the time is right. They entertain thoughts of opening outlets in other cities.

Their effort has attracted support from a national music retail chain, Guitar Center, and one of the world's best known instrument makers, Fender Musical Instruments Corp.

One obstacle the Hemphills may face: the growth in popularity of video games and computers nationwide means fewer youngsters are learning to play musical instruments.

The gym concept

The monthly rate for guitar instruction at The Lesson Factory is $80. That buys the student one half-hour session a week, plus access to clinics and events, and use of the facility for practice at any time.

The Lesson Factory is like a gym, where members might have sessions with a personal trainer but also come to the gym several days a week to work out on their own, Tom Hemphill said.

Local music experts say the Hemphills may have hit a winning note, one that apparently hasn't been developed successfully anywhere else.

"It's interesting," said Bob November, owner of McKenzie River Music in Eugene, a store that sells new and used guitars.

"It could be a model for that end of the industry. The question is, can all the overhead and taxes of the business be paid out of the money you generate? If the answer is yes, they have a great idea."

Don Latarski, a Eugene musician and head of guitar studies at the University of Oregon, said musicians can make a decent living by teaching, but they prefer to work independently and don't want to concentrate on developing the business end of the profession.

The Hemphills' business "is requiring huge amounts of money, and it requires business savvy," Latarski said. "You are putting yourself out on a pretty scary limb, and most musicians don't want to go there."

Using floor space

Tom Wheeler, a University of Oregon journalism professor and author of books on guitar, said traditional music-product stores make money, but they have little interest in developing teaching into anything other than an added feature to their main business of selling music goods.

Music stores probably figure floor space "can be more profitable if it's piled with product," Wheeler said.

The Hemphills say their business has some key things going for it: an appeal to parents, plus proximity to a busy music store, and financial backing.

Parents who may be nervous leaving their child at an instructor's home for lessons should be more at ease because the instruction takes place in a business, Tom Hemphill said.

The Lesson Factory is next door to a Guitar Center store. The chain, which sells music instruments and accessories, has 106 stores nationwide. In Eugene, the two businesses hope to benefit from their side-by-side location in the former Future Shop building.

When it sells guitars, bass guitars, drums and keyboards, the Guitar Center gives a coupon for a free lesson at The Lesson Factory.

"I can sell a guitar to a kid and he can take a couple of lessons, but unless he has a place to play, it's not as much fun," Guitar Center manager Todd Barnes said. "We're thinking long term, not short term. With our customers (if they continue playing) we've got a client for life, basically."

Nathan Smith, a Churchill High School sophomore, has taken guitar lessons from Tom Hemphill for more than four years.

Smith, 15, said he was eager to shift practicing from the back room of the Guitar Center (which until Aug. 15 was in Santa Clara Square) to The Lesson Factory.

"They have some really cool stuff going on," he said. "They are getting backed by Fender equipment and have a practice room, amplifiers, keyboards and drum sets. So if you want to schedule a band to play with, you can do that."

Studio and gospel work

Tom Hemphill graduated from South Eugene High School, and Paul Hemphill graduated from Eugene Christian High School. They attended the University of Oregon, then left Eugene to pursue careers as musicians.

Tom Hemphill, 36, worked as a studio guitarist in Hollywood and segued into films, working as an extra and casting director. He returned to Eugene in 1994, began teaching and continued to perform music.

Paul Hemphill, 32, also went to Hollywood and played bass guitar, mostly in gospel music groups. He returned to Eugene in 1998, started teaching bass guitar, and played in local bands and gospel groups.

The brothers' financial backers include their father, Thomas Hemphill, who is their financial consultant and chairman of the board.

The senior Hemphill is a former mortgage insurance company executive and retired chief executive of medical dye maker Molecular Probes in Eugene.

Six other Eugene investors, who the brothers declined to name, own minority stakes in the company.

The Hemphills declined to say how much it cost to start their business. But it wasn't cheap to construct and equip the 3,300-square-foot school in space they lease in the building from the local Vik family. Building permit information from the city of Eugene listed a value of $35,000 for the Hemphills' construction work, but that is only a partial cost that does not include things such as paint and carpets. Rent for retail space in the Delta Oaks area ranges from $1.10 to $1.50 per month per square foot. Tenants also have to pay a share of building and landscape maintenance costs, property taxes and insurance.

The Lesson Factory's layout features six practice studios, a 22-foot-wide circular stage, a 400-square-foot practice garage with a retractable, glass garage door, and a 15-foot-wide projection screen that musicians can use to see themselves perform.

Fender Musical Instruments, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., has agreed to let The Lesson Factory use the latest guitar and bass guitar amplifiers and public address systems, Tom Hemphill said. After six months, the Fender products are to be moved next door and sold as used equipment at Guitar Center, Hemphill said. Fender then will send The Lesson Factory a new batch of gear for another six-month period.

Guitar Center and Fender are partly motivated by self-interest, experts say.

Guitarist Latarski said music companies worry that less instruction in schools and increased competition from other pastimes, including video games, means that fewer young people are learning to play instruments.

"The average guitar player is aging," Latarski said. "Younger people are not so much into guitars, and the manufacturers, in particular, are concerned."

Singers and drummers 

The Lesson Factory has 16 instructors, including the Hemphills. The other teachers include high school band and music instructors, and well-known local musicians, such as singer Shelley James, and drummer Tim Donahue of The Cherry-Poppin' Daddies.

The instructors are paid an hourly rate based on their education, musical experience and teaching backgrounds, Tom Hemphill said. He said some instructors may prefer to remain teaching at home so they don't have to share their hourly fees. However, Hemphill said his company offers advantages to teachers.

The Lesson Factory already had about 165 students on the day it opened, so instructors will not have to spend time and money drumming up business for themselves. The Lesson Factory also will handle scheduling, and instructors will no longer have to use their home as studios, Hemphill said.

November, the owner of McKenzie River Music, lauded the brothers for trying something new. "I've known the Hemphills for years, since they were kids," he said. "It's cool to see younger people sticking their necks out and trying to succeed."

MUSICAL DEBUT

The Lesson Factory: 1011 Green Acres Road, Eugene.

Business: Instruction for guitar, bass guitar, drums, keyboards, vocals; plus a setting that encourages group performances.

Owners: Brothers Tom and Paul Hemphill and father Thomas Hemphill lead ownership group that has six other Eugene investors.

Contact: 683-9000, or www.thelessonfactory.com

Marketing partners: Guitar Center, a national music retailer with an outlet next door, is helping with marketing; Fender Musical Instruments Corp. is lending equipment.

CAPTION(S):

Brothers Paul Hemphill (left) and Tom Hemphill take to the stage at their new Eugene music business, The Lesson Factory. The Lesson Factory has opened in the old Future Shop building next to the Guitar Center at Green Acres Road and Delta Highway in north Eugene.