Chorus, band, keyboard and guitar…  These are all music classes offered at our school. Many students who take these classes are very engaged in playing their instruments or singing, sometimes, even both.  However, some students are so passionate about music they are interested in expanding their knowledge. That is why the school introduced the music theory class in the 2019-2020 school year.

Taught by band director Mr. Campos, the class was created for different reasons. “For students to understand how music really works,” he said. “Also, to study and appreciate the great composers such as Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, and Chopin.” The class offers an in-depth curriculum on how music is made on a technical level and how musical concepts apply to the music we listen to.

Some of Mr. Campos’ goals this year are to start off the foundation of Music Theory so that an AP Music Theory class could be offered in the future. In fact, some students in the class are looking forward to it and are willing to expand their musical knowledge to take the AP level class that may be coming the next school year.

Current music student Rodrigo Noguera said, “I really enjoy this fast-paced class because it is teaching me concepts I would need to know for the AP course next year.”

Although this class is open for anybody to join, most of the students who join are music students who are either in the choir, school band, or have experience playing an instrument. Mr. Campos recommends this class to mostly music students because they already have a basis of musical knowledge on the instrument that they play. This class can help students better understand their instruments and get better in making music.

Students joined this class for a variety of reasons Chorus student Ashley Tellez said, “I joined to be better at sight reading music and theory in general.”

Rodrigo Noguera joined to get a better understanding of music and to understand the purpose of why composers wrote music. He said, “What did certain composers write about? Was there anybody they wanted to write their music for?  If so, who was there to satisfy…?”

In spite of their interest, some students in this class find the material quite challenging. Yanet Gimenez says that the class is too early in the morning and it is sometimes a handful of content.

Chorus student Alain Diaz said, “The class sometimes extends to more instrumental and band related topics, which makes them quite challenging for me because I am a chorus student. I do not know much about instruments.”

Although there may be challenges about it, students like different aspects of the class. Yanet Gimenez said, “My favorite thing about the class is finally understanding a concept  of music that I’ve been trying to understand.”

In fact, many students would not change anything about the class. Leilanie Morales said, “I’m happy with learning new things about music. The dedication to the music in this class is my favorite.”