The music room at Redwood is never quiet. At any given moment, you can find a drummer working on a fill, a pianist practicing a solo in the studio or a band rehearsing during their lunch break. Tucked away in the art hall, the music department often goes unnoticed by other students – as well as the gradebook. High level music classes should have honors level weighting in order to reflect the rigorous coursework and commitment required.
The music department offers two advanced courses, Symphonic Band and Advanced Performance Workshop (APW). Students must either audition or gain teacher approval by demonstrating their proficiency in intermediate/beginner classes in order to enroll in either of the courses. I am in my third year in the program and my second year in APW. My time in the music program has allowed me to express myself creatively while growing as a musician and person, yet this would not have been possible without a tremendous amount of work. In all Redwood music courses, the expectation is for students to come to class already confident in the material. Class time is for rehearsing with the group, not for practicing your own part. As a result, students have to put time and effort into learning, memorizing and perfecting their parts outside of class. In the advanced courses, the music and pace of the classes are much more demanding, with students often working together outside of class to ensure they can be successful for assessments and performances. The time I have spent working on material for APW has at times exceeded that which I have spent on other honors or Advanced Placement (AP) classes.
Senior Zac Viola is in his fourth year of Symphonic and Jazz band, an eighth period class offered once weekly. Viola highlights the commitment required outside of the classroom in order to be successful in the program.
“Our homework is to practice, and we play hard stuff so we have to practice a lot,” Viola said. “I [spend] as much time practicing [for band] as I do doing homework for other classes.”
Lack of honors weighting can discourage students from joining the program altogether. According to a September 2024 Bark survey, 87 percent of students take honors weighting into consideration when selecting their courses. Students may feel the need to take other courses with honors weighting in order to boost their GPAs in an attempt to increase their chances of college admission.
Additionally, both the visual arts and drama departments offer AP and honors courses, including honors ceramics, honors photography, honors theater production and more. The dedication of advanced music students should be reflected in the grade book just as it is for visual arts and drama students.
Some may raise the concern that the subjective and creative nature of the courses can make it difficult to evaluate students in the same way that more traditional academic honors classes do with clear and standardized evaluations such as tests and essays. While there are some music theory tests in the advanced courses, the majority of evaluations, which are typically performances, assess skills such as collaboration, leadership and communication – which are just as, if not more important to success beyond high school as what may be tested in traditional academic courses. In APW, this often looks like musical directors forming bands, writing charts, planning rehearsals and communicating with band members. Projects can have high stakes as being unprepared reflects poorly on the entire band and performing in front of an audience adds increased pressure that is unique to the program. Ultimately, advanced music classes require students to demonstrate skills that can’t be measured on a standard test but are critical to student success outside the classroom.
Redwood’s advanced music students deserve to be recognized for their dedication and excellence. The rigorous coursework, outside commitment and soft skills required to succeed in high level music classes should be reflected with honors level weighting.
