It’s no secret that the music department at SRHS has been struggling for many years now. It’s quite evident from the loss of our marching band and the choir, the cuts to the ensembles, the jazz band’s 40-year-old uniforms, and the dangerously small classes. Just 4 years ago we regained our orchestra after years of instruments gathering dust.
Yet next year, with the introduction of a new AP Music Theory Class and the reintroduction of the Chorus, SR music may be revived.
AP Music Theory will be an AP class centering on the theory of music. AP Music Theory is essential for anyone thinking of creating music for a career or hobby after high school, more so for college. Music Theory is the systematic explanation of the organization of music and is required for students going into a music major. The AP class, which has never been seen at SR before, will be taught by Mr. Gordon, who teaches guitar, piano, and digital music composition at SRHS.
“It would, sort of be part of the high-level music production class, so you’d have hopefully 5-10 AP Music Theory students working inside of that,” says Mr. Gordon. The combined Digital Music Composition and AP Music Theory class will be a new career pathway at SRHS, similar to the MAX and Construction academies. The new Music Career Pathway will be the only program in Marin dedicated to preparing students for a career in music, whether as a musician or as a producer, that offers AP Music Theory.
In the class, students will learn how to write music and hear the pitch, form, and design of various styles of music. Combined with music production, they will be creating their own compositions.
“They’d compose on the computer doing digital production type stuff but along with learning the rules of music theory,” says Mr. Gordon. A group of students taking AP Music Theory would share a classroom with advanced music production, composing music alongside their peers while also preparing for the AP test and learning how music is created and written.
Digital music production is the gateway for many students to create music, given the ability to erase and move notes as much as one wants to. Senior Walter Armas reflected on his time in music composition. “Music production gives the liberty to the students to be able to create anything, the only limit is their imagination,” he says. After just a month of class, he was creating full songs and remixes. He plans to make music later on as a hobby.
Chorus used to be a popular class at SR many years ago, however, it was cut from the class list three years ago after almost no incoming freshmen signed up for the elective. The class was small, and students kept dropping the class out of shyness, and eventually, the class was cut. Now Chorus is coming back onto the class list.
“It’s a great chance to learn how to perform,” Mr. Burdick says. In Chorus, students learn to sing together and read music. No need to come in playing an instrument or having ten years of experience under your belt, all you need for chorus is your voice and the drive to improve. Chorus is a good place to learn to sing and overcome any anxiety or stage fright.
The reason for the near-death of the music department was the lack of students willing to push themselves to play, sing, and create music. Participation at SR has been dwindling for the past 10 years, and after COVID, many students entering high school were unmotivated and shy. Now freshmen who didn’t experience a post-COVID middle school are entering high school. The revival of the music department at SR now depends on the students who choose to sign up for these now-available courses.
“The key is to get a total of 20 students to sign up,” says Mr. Gordon. Just 20 students can change the music program at SR forever.
