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  • Does Playing an Instrument Make You Smarter? Wednesday, June 15, 2022
    “Smarter” doesn’t mean better than anyone else, or superior.  The word “smarter” means developing a more facile mind which picks up new things quickly. Learning to ...
  • Finding Your Voice – 3 Steps for Building Your Authentic Musical Self Wednesday, May 4, 2022
    Fellow musicians:  How many times have people criticized you?  Told you that you lacked talent?  Made you feel down about your skill?  Let me tell you something:  Every pe...
  • Top 10 Podcasts for Band Directors Wednesday, September 15, 2021
    Are you a band director looking for professional development, classroom management ideas, teaching tips, and more? Take some time to check out our list of podcasts for band directors. We've inclu...
  • Why You Need a Step-Up: Trombone Thursday, April 15, 2021
    Learning to play an instrument is such a great activity! You’ve been working hard all year- perfecting your embouchure, improving your playing technique, and learning new songs. But someth...
  • Print Music Preview: February & March Saturday, March 27, 2021
    We've had a busy month here at Amro, so we're combining our new sheet music releases for February and March! Read about each selection below. Don't forget, you can place an order for any ...
  • Why You Need a Step-Up: String Instruments Saturday, February 20, 2021
    Calling all string players! As the winter (eventually) thaws into the month of March, we enter my favorite time of the year at AMRO - Fiddle Fair! What is Fiddle Fair? It’s an a...
  • Why You Need a Step-Up: Clarinet Tuesday, February 9, 2021
    Learning to play a new instrument is fun and exciting, isn't it? You’ve been working hard– perfecting your embouchure, improving your playing technique, learning new songs&ndash...
  • Why You Need a Step-Up: Flute Tuesday, February 2, 2021
    It’s that time of year again! You’ve been working hard – perfecting your embouchure, improving your posture, learning new songs– and now you’re ready to upgrade to your ...
  • Print Music Preview: January Saturday, January 30, 2021
    Looking to brush up your piano skills for the new year? We have some really great selections featured in this month's Print Music Preview. Read more about each piece or collection below. If you&#...
  • Can Adults Learn to Play the Piano? Tuesday, January 19, 2021
    In today's blog, Joel Hurd, Amro Print Music Manager, shares a bit about his personal experience taking piano lessons for the first time as an adult.    OK, technical...

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Category: Amro in the News

Friday, June 13, 2014

A Brief History of Memphis Music

The musical legacy of the Bluff City is exciting, diverse, and extremely significant in the history of American culture. Today Memphis's best-known landmarks are two places--Beale Street and Graceland--intimately associated with the city's place in American music history, especially that of the blues, rockabilly, and rock-n-roll. But key institutions in Tennessee's classical music history are based in Memphis as well, and several nationally recognized artists in jazz, gospel, and rhythm-n-blues... Read More
Posted by Ben Fonville at Friday, June 13, 2014
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Thursday, September 15, 2011

Why Amro Is My Favorite Music Store

Memphis, Tennessee's Amro Music Carries on Long Music Tradition My heart was touched the first time I brought my high-functioning autistic son to choose his first instrument for band and a perky salesman soothed a worried mother's bullying concerns.  You see, my son firmly chose a clarinet, an instrument some view as traditionally played by females, because it reminded him of the recorder he'd played during elementary music class.  (Don't talk to me about Benny Goodman; middle... Read More
Posted by CJ Averwater at Thursday, September 15, 2011
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Sunday, May 15, 2011

Employee of the Century

He has gone by many titles, but most people just call him Mr. Amro. Vernon Drane has been with Amro Music of Memphis, Tenn., since 1945.  Now 86, he has worked with several generations of the owners and has regulars that span four generations, as well. "People ask me all the time, 'How's Mr. Amro doing?'" said Chip Averwater, CEO of Amro Music.  "Sometimes I ask, 'Do you mean my father, my grandfather, or do you mean Vernon?'" Drane, affectionately known as "Cowboy" for his... Read More
Posted by CJ Averwater at Sunday, May 15, 2011
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Monday, October 1, 2007

Meet NAMM's New Chairman

New association head pledges to raise service levels and aid retailers in negotiating an increasingly competitive market. A seasoned retailer who transformed Amro Music into one of the nation's top producing single locations, Chip has no illusions about NAMM's ability to come to the rescue of struggling retailers.  "No one has a silver bullet," he says.  Yet, he believes firmly that NAMM can become a more valuable business resource.  "The challenges for retailers are pretty... Read More
Posted by CJ Averwater at Monday, October 1, 2007
Amro in the News
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Sunday, July 1, 2007

Congress Gives Music Ed Props

Recent actions at the federal level could have positive effects on the state of music education in schools. On April 26, Congress passed House Concurrent Resolution 121 by unanimous consent.  Introduced by Reps. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) and Jon Porter (R-Nev.), the Resolution states that learning music in schools helps develop skills needed by the 21st century workforce, such as critical thinking, creative problem solving, effective communication and team work; keeps students engaged in... Read More
Posted by CJ Averwater at Sunday, July 1, 2007
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Friday, November 3, 2006

Play It Again

Salvaged musical instruments help students who couldn't afford to play otherwise. The mission of Play It Again Memphis is simple: Get musical instruments donated, fix them up, give them to city and county public school students. Helped along by Amro Music Stores and Ticketmaster, that's exactly what the nonprofit foundation has done for going on a decade—to the tune of about 100 instruments per year. "There are a lot of kids out there who would like to play music, but they can't... Read More
Posted by CJ Averwater at Friday, November 3, 2006
Amro in the News
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Saturday, August 26, 2006

Amro Earns Arkansas Band Supporter of the Year

Celebrates business for aiding world's musicians On July 31, Amro Music Stores Inc. was presented with the Arkansas Band Supporter of the Year Award at the annual convention of the Arkansas Bandmasters Association in Little Rock ...  (see article) Read More
Posted by CJ Averwater at Saturday, August 26, 2006
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Sunday, January 1, 2006

Amro Plays to Generations

Chip Averwater, president of Amro Music, loves many things about his job, but he takes particular delight in selling band instruments to school children.  Sharing music, for him, is a family tradition that spans four generations. Quick success .  It began in 1921 when his grandfather, Mil Averwater, rented a second-floor studio at 166 S. Main St., to give piano lessons.   The studio grew over time, and Averwater added lessons for saxophone, banjo and guitar.  Amro... Read More
Posted by CJ Averwater at Sunday, January 1, 2006
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Friday, August 1, 2003

Where the Players Go

Styles change, but instrument store stays in the family. It's a truism in business that the real, long-term money of a gold-mining area isn't so much in digging up the ore, but in supplying the shovels. If the home of the blues and the birthplace of rock and soul has been a gold mine for music, Amro Music has been supplying the instruments to mine that talent since 1921. That's when Mil Averwater and a friend, Frank Mormon, moved to Memphis from Cincinnati and started Amro Studios on... Read More
Posted by CJ Averwater at Friday, August 1, 2003
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Wednesday, March 7, 2001

Focus on Music Education Driving Sales at Amro

While many businesses expand services to grow revenue, Amro Music Stores president Chip Averwater did exactly the opposite in 1997, growing his family business by cutting inventory. "We walked away from a $1.5 million business in guitar, drums, and keyboard sales, but we immediately picked that up in band and piano," he says.  ...  (see article) Read More
Posted by CJ Averwater at Wednesday, March 7, 2001
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Thursday, August 26, 1999

Virtuoso Performance Strings Rogues Along While Playing Phones, Internet

 The man at the Poplar Avenue music shop eyed the 240-year-old violin in the immaculate case and two roguish-looking men who'd ambled in, offering the instrument for sale. They didn't look like any string players that Chip Averwater had ever seen.  He asked each man, separately, how they'd obtained it. It's been in the family for generations, said one.  The other simply replied, "At a yard sale."  When Averwater pointed out the conflicting versions, he said one of them... Read More
Posted by CJ Averwater at Thursday, August 26, 1999
Amro in the News
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