Rock musicians with musical education.

@edesilva: It was actually Garth Hudson---The Band's organist---who was allowed by his parents to join under the cover story that he was providing the other members with musical education for $10/wk each. Garth was playing Classical music in a relative's funeral parlor (! ;-) while the other members were already playing in bars.

Band bassist Rick Danko said when Garth joined The Band he asked Rick if he knew his scales (he didn't). Rick says learning them was the best advice he was ever given. Garth was not a Rock 'n' Roller, but a listener and lover of Jazz and R & B, pianist Bill Evans and Ray Charles particular favorites. To call a superior Rock 'n' Roll band like The Band makers of "garbage" music is not only a display of extreme ignorance, but also of smug superiority, a constant with the utterer of that statement.  

simonmoon, thank you for your mention of “Aranis”. Excellent band new to me. Great musicianship in this very interesting brand of chamber/prog with nods to Piazzola and Glass and some humor for good measure. For anyone interested:

https://youtu.be/NSIFpi4fBQc

https://youtu.be/mJzrFbdthyg

Berklee in Boston has a huge list including John Mayer, St Vincent, Joey Kramer, Aimee Mann, Susan Tedeschi and many more, Google Berklee alumni.

Not clear to me whether OP is suggesting a university degree is a "better" approach to musical education or whether more "complex" (Prog, Fusion) forms of Rock are "superior" to simpler forms. "Musical education" need not be in a classroom environment. 

I've seen interviews with Jazz masters who've lamented that the university path is inferior to the old "apprenticeship" approach, where younger players learned by playing night after night on stage with more seasoned players. 

Clapton's musical education consisted largely of spending untold hours with a guitar and record player, going over and over solos by Chicago and Texas blues masters, laboriously learning their licks, note by note. In his case, given his interests, this was an excellent approach.  

The level of technique in guitar-playing has come a long way. For my tastes, this has not necessarily been a plus. I'd rather listen to someone who actually has something to say play three notes than sit through blizzards of notes by someone who possesses great technical facility but has not learned how to translate their life experience into something universal.

Chops and sophisticated theoretical knowledge are great, in the hands of an artist!

To my ears, the rise of guitar schools has resulted in a surfeit of hot-shot fretmeisters who haven't a clue about art. Needless to say, each to his/her own.  

 

 

 

 

 

... not that young hot-shots can't mature into fine artists... Ritchie Kotzen's a terrific example. Check out his Live in Japan live video on youtube. The chops are now in the service of something much greater.