Teen Classes

PRE-COLLEGIATE PROGRAM - New for 2008-2009!
JAZZ STUDIES - New for 2008-2009!
OTHER TEEN GROUP CLASSES


PRE-COLLEGIATE PROGRAM (Ages 12 to 18)   

2009 Pre-Collegiate auditions!  Click here for more information.

The Sherwood Conservatory of Music at Columbia College Chicago Pre-Collegiate Program provides talented and motivated students with intensive training in a diversity of styles, and prepares them for professional training and a life-long engagement with music.  The curriculum is designed as an accellerated training option for talented young musicians who may be interested in music as a career. 

The Pre-Collegiate Program features:

• A three-year certificate program with curriculum jointly designed by Sherwood and Columbia Music faculty
• Individual lesson curriculum emphasizing repertoire most required for auditions at major colleges/conservatories
• "Alternative Styles" curriculum for Individual Lessons built on jazz and contemporary genres
• Comprehensive Musicianship course comprising theory, ear training, sight-singing, improvisation, and experience with various musical genres (classical, jazz, blues, urban contemporary)
• Solo and Ensemble performance opportunities; Master Classes
• Audition Skills Workshop to ace the college audition and entrance process
• Diverse faculty with expertise in a variety of musical genres and styles
  
  
  PRE-COLLEGIATE COMPREHENSIVE MUSICIANSHIP
  Beyond theory--this course is designed to create a fully integrated musician, equally comfortable with a variety of musical styles.  This course comprises six distinct levels of core music study: ear training/signt-singing, music theory, analysis of pieces, writing exercises, music history, including experience with various musical genres (classical, jazz, blues, and urban contemporary) and reportoire, and class performance/improvisation.  Six 18-week terms are required to fulfill the Comprehensive Musicianship Component of the Pre-Collegiate Certificate Program.

  Day	Time	Tuition
  TBD	TBD	$150

  
  PRE-COLLEGIATE INDIVIDUAL PIANO
  Individual Lessons with specially designed curriculum that emphasizes piano repertoire most required for auditions at major colleges/conservatories.  Six 18-week terms are required to fulfill the Individual Lesson component of the Pre-Collegiate Certificate Program.  See the Individual Lessons page for more details.
  
  PRE-COLLEGIATE PIANO: JAZZ AND CONTEMPORARY STYLES
  Individual lessons with specifically designed curriculum to explore and gain proficiency in jazz, pop, and contemporary genres.  Students will work on blues and standard jazz and pop repertoire using traditional seven modes, blues, and pentatonic scales; all tertian diatonic chords, inversions, and extensions up to 13ths; quartal harmony and cluster chords; chord progressions, use of flat five substitution, chord movement and voice leading, in modal harmony.  Six 18-week terms are required to fulfill the Piano: Jazz and Contemporary Styles component of the Pre-Collegiate Certificate Program.  See the Individual Lessons page for more details.
  
  2009 PRE-COLLEGIATE AUDITIONS   
  Sunday, May 3, 2009
  12:00-5:00 p.m.
  
  For musicians ages 12-18.  Open to the following instruments: Voice, Piano, Percussion, Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass, Flute, Clarinet, Oboe, Bassoon, Saxophone, Trumpet, French Horn, Trombone, and Tuba.

  Audition Registration
  To request an audition, please email us, and include your full name, address, telephone number, and instrument.  Comprehensive audition information will be mailed on February 1, 2009.
  
  
  JAZZ STUDIES (Ages 13 to 18)    
  Columbia College Chicago is world renowned for its approach to urban contemporary music.  Now as part of the college, Sherwood Conservatory has direct access to jazz traditions reaching back to Louis Armstrong classics and forward to improvisations still in the composer's head.  In conjunction with Columbia Department Chair J. Richard Dunscomb and faculty, Sherwood is proud to present its first Jazz Studies Program, beginning Fall 2008.

  Jazz is among the most conversational of musical idioms.  It is our goal that each student finds and shares his or her own voice through the jazz experience.  Students interested in studying jazz are strongly encouraged to enroll in both Individual Lessons and Jazz Combo. 

  INDIVIDUAL LESSONS
  Sherwood's diverse faculty are adept in many different styles of music and are able to customize your individual lessons to include Jazz study in the following instruments: Saxophone, Trumpet, Electric Guitar, Electric and Upright Bass, Piano, and Drum Set.  See the Individual Lessons page for more details.
  

  JAZZ COMBOS
  Jazz Combo is an excellent introduction for young students interested in this great American art form.  Students will learn about improvisation, feel and groove, comping, and soloing by playing starndard jazz repertoire.  Students of similar ability will be matched in small groups such as trios or quartets.  In order to audition for jazz combo, students should have basic instrumental competency and must be taking individual instruction with a Sherwood faculty member who is accomplished in jazz.

  Day	Time	Tuition
  TBD	TBD	$250

  
  ELECTRIC GUITAR INTENSIVE PROGRAM
  Now, as part of the School of Fine and Performing Arts at Columbia College Chicago, Sherwood has teamed up with the guitar faculty of Columbia's Music department to design a comprehensive study in electric guitar.  Beginning in Fall 2008, the Electric Guitar Intensive Program offers the following components:
  
  INDIVIDUAL LESSONS IN ELECTRIC GUITAR
  Covering scalar "Ninth Elements" for Major, Mixolydian, and Dorian Modes - three scales which comprise 60% of the harmonic basis of jazz.  Chordal studies beginning with harmonized Major scale diatonic sevenths.  Repertoire including the modal style of playing introduced by Miles Davis in the late 50s and sight-reading studies with works such as Bill Leavette's "Melodic Rhythms."  See the Individual Lessons page for more details.
  
  ELECTRIC GUITAR TECHNIQUES CLASS
  Supplementing techniques started in Individual Lessons, this course is divided into three separate areas of study: linear techniques, fretboard harmony, and more sight-reading, taught in sequence in the same class time.  Only for guitarists, this course concentrates on techniques other insttrumentalists cannot use.  It is highly recommended for guitarists who hope to become jazz professionals.

  Day	Time	Tuition
  TBD	TBD	$190

  ELECTRIC GUITAR ENSEMBLE
  To learn jazz is to play it, and the jazz musician learns in ensemble.  This is a unique opportunity for students to apply elements learned in Individual Lessons and Guitar Techniques to the group experience.  Students will learn to work with a rhythm section, listen to each other, and react to their musical surroundings.

  Day	Time	Tuition
  TBD	TBD	$250

  
  OTHER TEEN GROUP CLASSES   
  
  AUDITION SKILLS WORKSHOP
  One-day workshop to help students execute top-notch presentations as they navigate the entrance process for the college or conservatory of their choice.  Students will get help with preparing stellar performance tapes to submit with applications, and receive direction with performance techniques to ace the entrance audition.  Pre-Collegiate Certificate Program elective.  This is a one-day class.

  Day	Time	Tuition
  TBD	TBD	$100

  
  SUSAN H. KINCAID HONORS ENSEMBLE
  A piano trio or quartet open by audition only to students performing at intermediate through advanced levels with prior ensemble experience.  The ensemble gives students the opportunity to collaborate with other young musicians and to work closely with artist-coaches on a broad range of repertoire.  The ensemble performs on Sherwood concert programs and represents the school at venues throughout Chicago.  Date and time are arranged by mutual agreement.  Tuition-free. 

  Day	Time	Tuition
  TBD	TBD	$0

  
  TEEN CHAMBER ENSEMBLE
  Teen Chamber Ensemble is an excellent introduction to playing in small groups of up to five students in various instrumental combinations of piano, string, and wind instruments.  Students are matched according to similar playing ability and work with a faculty coach on diverse repertoire.  Participants will perform at Sherwood and off-site throughout the year.

  Day	Time	Tuition
  TBD	TBD	$250

  
  SEE ALSO
  
  INDIVIDUAL LESSONS

  CLASSES FOR TEENS AND ADULTS 
       Group Piano
       Sing Out!
       Sherwood Community Chorus
       Sherwood Symphony