General Music Courses

The purpose of Unified Music is to provide on experiential music course specific to students with congnitive impairments. Regular education students will also enroll in the class to act as peer mentors, to gain knowledge of the needs of special education students, and to foster important and meaningful relationships through music.  The class will focus on movement to music, singing, basic in-class performance (drum circles, call and response, etc.) and overall experimentation with different genres and equipment.

Credit: .50 E Gr: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

This NEW COURSE is designed to give students with an interest in learning a string instrument, the opportunity to do so in a classroom setting. Note reading, rhytmic principles and basic music theory will also be introduced. Students will choose between learning cello or violin. This course may be repeated multiple times and is open to students of all music ability and experience levels.

The History of Rock and Other American Music will be a comprehensive overview of the music produced over the last 100 years. It will begin wiht the origins of American music (Ragtime, Jazz, Broadway, etc.) and cover every major musical genre in America as a result of those musical forms. The main objective of this course is to provide students with understanding of American music in its relationship to our unique history and culture. This course will have students listening, analyzing, and describing music everyday, well beyond basic levels. Students will consistently be evaluating music with constant examples of how all aspects of culture influence each other, which will explain the relationship between music and other disciplines.

Credit: 1 E/CP Gr.  9, 10, 11, 12, 13

The Music Biz From MTV to MP3 will be a comprehensive overview of the marketing and branding of pop stars, the innovations in music recording, and the massive shifts in music distribution, following the year 1980. The main objective of this course is to provide students, with a better understanding of how the music industry has adopted, and advanced, to fit the technological, and social demands of the past 40 years.  Beginning with the invention of the music video, and the reimagining of the "pop" star, and ending with the musical climate of present day, students will follow the major advancements in the music industry, as it has become one of the most profitable, diverse, and influential markets of today.  This class will cover many different genres of music such as rap, rock, and electronic music, and how other markets have used their music, and image, to cross-promote other areas of entertainment. Students will also be exposed to the time leading up to the technology "boom" of the new century, and how our consumption of music has changed drastically since the year 2000.  Students will be listening to, and analysing many genres of music, creating music videos, and learning that thsnks to the internet, "You too, can easily become a pop start in the music biz!" Taking "History of Rock and Other American Music" prior to enrolling in this course is recommended.

Credit: 1 /E/CP Gr: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

This class is designed to give the student with an interest in learning to play the piano an opportunity to do so in a classroom setting. Note reading, rythmic principles, and elementary music theory will be introduced. This class is designed for students of all piano ability levels.

Credit: 1 E Gr. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

This course is a continuation of the Piano 1 course. Piano 2 is an every other day class for one semester. Through this course, students will continue their study of classical piano repertoire and basic music theory alon with the addition of modern repertoire. Students musy receive a B or higher in Piano 1 or test into Piano 2 through a written and performance assessment administered by the teacher.

Pre: Piano 1 and teacher recommendation.

Credit: .5 E Gr. 10, 11, 12, 13