Future Creators Composition Workshop

Some background is required. The class works directly with melody, rhythm, harmony and songwriting, and students need to be able to follow that material. A student starting from nothing is better served by Sound Lab, which asks for no prior training and is also open to students from Irvine and nearby communities.

Each student completes an original melody or a short song of their own. The piece grows out of the term's exercises in melody, rhythm and harmony rather than appearing at the end, and it is presented in class, so students hear their own work performed in full.

It is co-taught with a well-known composer from the Beautiful Arts Center, meeting in person in Irvine with an online section held in parallel. The material centers on the basic elements of songwriting, and the exercises are built so that a student's own ideas and feelings end up as music rather than as theory worked through on paper.

Composition works on melody, rhythm and harmony themselves, and ends in an original melody or short song. Electronic Music Production & Mixing is aimed instead at producing a finished electronic track. Both assume some existing music background, so the choice comes down to the end product.

Yes, the course is offered as a concentrated two-week summer session, which suits a student who would rather try it once before committing. The year-long version runs 35 weeks, with separate sections for grades 4 to 8 and grades 9 to 12.