We will Rock U.: College of rock music takes root in Woodstock, NY

WOODSTOCK, N.Y. – It's a syllabus you can head bang to.

Students at the Woodstock Music Lab will bend notes alongside guitar heroes, and jamming in class will be encouraged.

So it will go at the rock school for college-age students planned for the famous artists' colony in the coming years. Think Juilliard with power chords. Partners behind the venture include Michael Lang, the promoter of the original 1969 Woodstock festival.

Their group is trying to raise millions quickly enough to open the school as early as next year, though Lang said that timetable is optimistic. They reached a milestone this summer by closing a $1 million deal on an old elementary school.

Lang and fellow co-founder Paul Green will use their music-world connections to bring in name guest professors.