San Diego High – Band 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 (5020, 5021, 5320, 5321, 5325, 5326, 5322, 5323)

Mar 2026 · 2nd Semester

Band 1,2 teaches the musical concepts and technique of performing at a beginning level. In this course, students will learn how to produce controlled and accurate pitch and create a mature wind/percussion tone, as well as learn the basics of music notation and musical vocabulary. Students will be exposed to the major scale and diverse repertoire and will be asked to think deeply about the discipline of music from a number of perspectives, including style, genre, mood, and historical and cultural context. Additional topics of study include demonstrating appropriate performance etiquette, identifying musical contrasts, evaluating performances, and creating new music through compositions and improvisations. Band 3,4 teaches the musical concepts and instrumental technique of performing at an early intermediate level. In this course, students will increase their knowledge of music notation and musical vocabulary, and will continue to refine their pitch accuracy, instrumental tone, and performance skills. Students will interact with music through composing, improvising, transcribing, performing, and evaluating performances. They will be exposed to the harmonic minor scale, musical careers in media, and additional diverse repertoire, and will be asked to think deeply about the history of American music and the cultural functions of music. Band 5,6 allows intermediate musicians to further develop their wind/percussion technique and tonal control. They will begin to monitor and modify their own pitch and interpretation independently and evaluate performances using more sophisticated analysis. More complex musical concepts, notation, and vocabulary will be studied, including modulations, cadences, and multiple types of scales. Students will perform diverse repertoire in a variety of performance settings and venues. They will create longer and more intricate compositions, improvisations, and arrangements of music, and improve their aural skills through transcription. The students will complete a musical career research project and draw conclusions about the context of a piece based on its stylistic features. Band 7,8 completes the musical education of advanced students by connecting their performance skills with their ability to investigate and solve musical challenges, using research where necessary. Students will demonstrate independent performance alone and in small groups, making appropriate personal choices of tone, interpretation, and musicality. They will study diverse repertoire, with foci on multi-movement works, 20th- century notation, and the music of the Americas. They will develop an expanded knowledge of scales and cadences, create multipart compositions, and evaluate musical performances at an advanced level. They will study instrument development, analyze the role of form in works from different backgrounds, and identify the process of composing for film.