MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The coronavirus pandemic is not stopping a local music school from teaching and educating people on Memphis’ music history.

Students of the Stax Music Academy have moved from in-person classes to online.

“The students were so excited to come back and have classes in this forum after having spring break and not knowing what things would look like,” Music Director for the academy Paul McKinney said.

Stax Music Academy launched its online classes last week and instructors are teaching students their major and minor scales, music theory and how to read music with proficiency.

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“We still have vocal classes going on for middle school and high school,” Pat Mitchell Worley said. “We have studio production where students are learning live sound engineering, beat making and video editing.”

Worley is the Executive Director of the Stax Music Academy.

“If you’re going to have music, education is vital. We just want to make sure that we continue to train the professional musicians of tomorrow,” Worley said.

Other Memphis and Mid-South band students will soon be able to sign up for an online course if they are already not enrolled.

Students who are interested can email the Stax Music Academy to apply. The e-mail address is