Popular Performance Core Curriculum

The Private Lesson is individualized and tailored to the level, background, and needs of each student. It stresses a solid foundation in technical skills and covers a wide range of literature.  Private study includes studio classes which provide students an opportunity to perform for their peers in an informal setting. 

Choir is a requirement for all first-year pop majors and is open to all students. The choir participates in numerous concerts during the year, performing works from a diverse range of styles, time periods, and composers.

This course explores the skills and concepts fundamental to live sound reinforcement and audio recording. Students will be introduced to gain levels, I/O (inputs and outputs), cabling and monitoring, PA systems, basic microphone designs and application, sound reflection and room treatments, digital audio interfaces, DAWs, audio plugins, mixing, mastering, and various audio file formats.

Required of all music majors and can serve as an elective for non-majors. This year-long course meets four days per week. Theory I focuses on the fundamentals of music. We will study reading in all clefs, intervals, scales, key signatures, triads, and 7th chords. We will learn about rhythm notation and meter. Students will work on projects creating their own musical material. A large component of the class is building foundational musicianship skills including sight-singing, rhythmic studies, and basic piano skills. Students must receive a grade of  ‘A’ or ‘B’ in this course to meet the Theory requirement.  Students may place out of this course after a placement test and the approval of Dr. Childs. 

This course focuses on the core concepts of songwriting. Understanding rhyme schemes, prosody,  and meter in lyric writing along with accompaniment exploration is the focus in the first semester.  The second semester explores a wide variety of genres, helping students write outside their natural gravitation and musical influences.  Students also begin to look at their rhythmic choices for melody and accompaniment delving into various time signatures. First semester welcomes non music majors, second semester is for songwriting majors, others upon approval from Associate Director of Contemporary Music.

While listening to vinyl recordings spanning from the 1960’s to the present, students explore and examine music in the book series 33 ⅓. Class discussions surround what is highlighted in the book series, examining each recording's significance, recording process, writing, performance, lyrics, arrangement, and more. Open to all majors.

In this course, students explore the business of contemporary music.  Topics discussed include copyright, music supervision, how to build a team, crowdfunding, publicity (bios, branding, cyber PR and printed), touring, PRO’s, publishing, establishing yourself as an artist with the IRS, good book keeping, write-offs, entertainment law, and more.

This year-long course explores use of the piano and keyboard in contemporary styles. Students will learn fundamental technique (scales, keys, triads & seventh chords, etc.) and basic chord theory. We will apply this knowledge to a variety of styles with an emphasis on rhythmic comping patterns and harmonic ear training.

Jazz History is a chronological study of jazz beginning with its origins in African and African-American folk music music, through the most recent trends.  Emphasis is placed on learning the subtle differences between the various eras and styles associated with jazz (New Orleans, Swing, Bebop, etc.).  There is a considerable amount of time devoted to listening and discussing recordings by important jazz stylists.  Additionally the students gain an awareness of the cultural events throughout the 20th century that affected jazz and the musicians who performed it. 

Contemporary Music Theory begins with a review of fundamentals including intervals, triads, seventh chords, scales, keys, and chord inversion. Students study extended chords (jazz harmonies), diatonic harmonic function, cadence, and chromatic chords, particularly secondary dominants and related ii chords. Students learn the broadstrokes of Nashville Numbers and have pProjects includinge transcription and arranging for individual instruments and small groups. This class is required for all students in songwriting and popular music who attend Interlochen Arts Academy for multiple years. Passing Theory I is a requirement, This class welcomes all students interested outside the majors lisred above. 

This course explores popular songs from the past in a performance-focused setting. Students are placed into bands and work together to match the tone, style, and feel of an original recording, and present the song as a polished performance. Students learn how to hear and delegate parts, how to rehearse as a band, and how to realize a performance that is audience-focused and enjoyable to watch. This is a prerequisite for Popular Music Ensemble unless approved by the Associate Director of Contemporary Music.

These ensembles perform a variety of contemporary music styles. The ensemble serves as the standing band for the Singer-Songwriter program. This ensemble is by audition only and Performance Lab must be completed for all majors unless permission is obtained by the Associate Director of Contemporary Music.

Students will work with their private lesson teacher or the Chair of the Contemporary Music department to develop a personalized Senior Capstone Project. An example project is to record an album of cover songs, along with an album release cycle including videos, album art, and a mock tour. This is open to three and four year students only.