Beat 4 Beat

Mission

Beyond the Grade develops confidence and community in underserved youth in Central Texas through after school music education. Taught by local musicians, our curriculum is inspired by students’ interests, providing opportunities for expression and empowerment.

About Us

Beyond the Grade (BtG) provides semester-long and summer music classes for guitar, keyboard, drums, digital audio production, and more. Classes are taught by professional musicians who perform for the students, teach, and inspire them to pursue their interests in music as far as they want to go. The activities center around experiencing music, practicing and applying the students’ lessons, and learning how to use their skills creatively. 

In six years, BtG has grown significantly: currently reaching over 800 students per year, we teach music 60 hours a week in 26 locations through 45 semester-long classes. Our students attend over 80% of our classes, and receive over 120 hours of instruction per school year. We employ 20 part-time instructors, providing over 3000 labor hours to working musicians. Our students have the opportunity to perform at an Austin venue at least once per semester, and often have in-school performances as well; over 90% of our students participate; these performances will introduce over 700 students to the stage in 2020.