Course Catalog – Music

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Music

The Music Department at Lane offers students opportunities for meaningful music making at any experience level, no matter what they’re interested in learning about. Students in music classes play Mozart Symphonies and make Hip Hop beats. They play guitar solos, sing beautiful choral music, and pump up the crowd at the basketball games in the pep band. Even if you’ve never touched a musical instrument or sung before, we have beginning classes for every instrument and ensemble. You can start from scratch learning to play ukulele, piano, saxophone, drums, violin, and many other instruments at Lane. If you’re not as interested in playing instruments, but want to learn how to sing or produce music, we have options for that as well.

All music classes at Lane fulfill one of the two Arts credits that are required for all Lane students. If you take Beginning Guitar one year and Sound Engineering another, as an example, you’ll have fulfilled your Arts requirement for graduation. With so many classes to choose from though, you can take that much further and move toward our Music Concentration. This requires that you stay in an ensemble during your time at Lane while also exploring at least one other course or ensemble in the department. As an example, you could be in band all four years, but also take Music Theory or Ukulele & Songwriting to fulfill that last requirement. Some students choose to learn a second instrument or sing in another ensemble in the department. The opportunities are endless.

Our ensemble classes are the heart of our music program. Our choir, band, and orchestra departments put together bi-annual concerts, participate in solo/ensemble competitions, and take field trips around the city to experience some of the best musicians in the world. Lane’s great reputation and connections within the larger Chicago music community also bring a lot of guest artists (and sometimes the entire CSO) to Lane. Hip Hop artists, opera singers, jazz guitarists, Brazilian percussionists, and Latin trumpet players have all shared their talents with students in recent years. The music department is a place where students can make and experience so much amazing music, a place where they can express themselves creatively, and a home away from home where they’ll meet life-long friends.

Please reach out to the teachers below with specific questions about courses or ensembles that aren’t answered in the course descriptions below. If you are a prospective student looking to audition into an upper level (non-beginning) ensemble, please contact the directors of those ensembles directly.

Name Classes Taught Room # Email Address
Comiskey, Miles Sound Engineering, Hip Hop, Music Theory 138, 154 mcomiskey@cps.edu
Flygt, Reed Band 444 aflygt@cps.edu
Hart, Angelo Piano 403 ahart1@cps.edu
McKinstry, Ashley Choir, Piano 402 aemckinstry@cps.edu
Morales, Devon Orchestra, Music Department Chair 400 dreedy1@cps.edu
Payano, Javier Ukulele, Music Therapy, Guitar 138 jrpayano@cps.edu
Saltz, Ben Guitar, Sound Engineering 154 basaltz@cps.edu
Sweet, Joe Guitar 154 jsweet2@cps.edu
Veren, Sam Band 444 sveren@cps.edu

Music Department Websites

Department Video

 

Courses

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Level:

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Semester(s):

Course Fee:

Description:

Prerequisite Classes & Grades:

Typical Grade Level:

Level of Challenge (1-5) 5 is extremely challenging:

Typical Homework Commitment:

Mandatory Summer assignment:

Interests / Career Aspirations:

Other:

National AP Passing Rate:

Lane AP Passing Rate:

*All AP Courses are expected to have a $100 fee ($25 class fee and $75 exam fee).

The exact exam fee for testing in May 2016 will be released by the CollegeBoard in October 2015. This exam fee determines the total price that students will owe for each AP Course/exam. The AP exam fee may be fully or partially reduced for students with free/reduced lunch, per funding by district and state grants. The exact fee will be provided as soon as the district and state release their funding statement.