Advanced students have the opportunity to perform in school concerts and special events, and are encouraged to participate in the ensemble classes. Private lessons not for credit are also available. Lesson fees vary with the instructor. I covers the rudiments of modern music production techniques in the Arts Department's computer studio. Topics include understanding and using MIDI hardware and software, using the computer keyboard and mouse, using the piano keyboard as a data entry tool, basic music theory, musical form, single and multi-track sequencing, and final product recording and storage.
Students work towards the creation of short original works of music as projects.
Using the Arts Department digital recording facility, students in this course produce CDs of the Music Department Fall and Spring Concerts, the Winter Musical, and concerts by artists performing on our Cultural Events series . The course covers all aspects of CD production from microphone placement and the use of other external audio hardware to handling software for recording, design and printing, including Adobe Photoshop and Cubase Audio. Students interested in composition may produce their own CDs as a part of this course. This course is designed to acquaint students with the fundamentals of guitar playing including note reading, chord charts and standard musical notation, nut position chords, simple strums and picking patterns, scales, and practice techniques. As part of the course, students learn several simple pieces.