Listen Live
Magic 95.5 Featured Video
CLOSE

Bootsy Collins is taking folks to school – literally – with the launch Funk University, an online bass guitar school he is co-creating and curating with actor-entrepreneur Cory Danziger.  Collins will deliver exclusive lectures on his two specialties – funk and the bass. Guest professors will include a who’s who of bassology: John B. Williams, Flea , Les Claypool and Victor Wooten – each leading their own classes.

Funk U. students will also be provided with online lessons and periodic staff reviews of student performances. In time, he said, the curriculum will expand to include other instruments and styles.

“It’s about music,” Collins, 58, told ABC News. [Watch clip below.] “Because I play bass, we have to start there. Because I’m known for funk, we have to start with that. But it’s really about the whole adventure of music. We want to embrace everything that has something to do with music and creating.” Bootsy, whose real name is William Earl Collins, hopes the school will also help young people learn about music pioneers.

“If you say anything about those old musicians to youngsters today, most of them don’t have a clue,” he told ABC News. [Watch clip below.] “All they know is who their favorite bass player or guitarist is now. They have no idea how to connect those dots, where this style or this music comes from.”

Funk University is scheduled to open on July 1.

(Courtesy: ABC News)