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1. Commercial Music Program Inspires Students at Huntington Beach High.................................................. 1

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Commercial Music Program Inspires Students at Huntington Beach High

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Resumen (Abstract):
"These are not the ASB [Associated Student Body] kids I'm dealing with," says [Jamie Knight]. "I took some of
my students to ASB camp last year to learn leadership skills, and I heard a very interesting thing. ASB programs
are not designed for the 20 kids who are turned on to school. They're trying to find things that turn on the largest
part of the student population." Knight says that the pep-band musicians playing their hearts out, his CRAD kids
doing their rock 'n' roll thing, and the cheerleaders dancing to hip-hop combine to provide a program that has
something for everyone. Band director [Gregg Gilboe] agrees. "Programs like this will grow," he muses. "They
serve a different segment of the student population and keep the students active and involved in music."
"We have had a little crossover," notes Gilboe, "but I think that CRAD students are different [from band
students] in their musical interests, being more rock- and pop oriented. CRAD students tend to reject classical
studies, much like some of them reject serious school studies. Rock 'n' roll is about rebelling and doing things
your own way." Knight agrees, observing, "I think that's what gives this group its "cool" factor." It seems that
Knight has found a way for kids to rebel against school and still participate in it.
<col width="25%" align="left"></col> <col width="20%" align="left"></col> <col width="55%" align="left"></col>
HOURS:MINUTES ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

Enlaces: Buscar en Revistas electr&#243;nicas de la UGR

Texto completo:
Located in a region of southern California where surfers and music-industry people abound, Huntington Beach
High School is pioneering a new way to build music departments in public schools. The key to its success is its
focus on vocational education, specifically, a commercial recording-arts program through the California
Regional Occupation Program (ROP).
Here's the secret of the program's success: it happens outside of the music department. Thanks primarily to
ROP funding, Huntington Beach High has developed a program that weaves in and out of the traditional music
programs.
The school has a student population of about 2,600 students. Its award-winning Academy of Performing Arts is
the arts magnet for the district, and approximately 500 students are enrolled by audition in subjects as varied as
set design, musical theater, choir, drumline, jazz band, orchestra, keyboard ensemble, and marching band. The
APA's instrumental-music, theater, and dance productions are legendary in southern California.
The class offerings in the Commercial Recording Artists department (CRAD) consist of two guitar sections, two
music-technology sections, one songwriting section, and one recording section. The program draws students
from outside of the traditional music department, which may well be the new model for how school music
departments will grow.
WE CAN WORK IT OUT
Dean Torrence of the musical duo Jan &Dean christened Huntington Beach "Surf City," and the duo's song of
that name is a favorite pep tune played by the marching band at football games and graduation. The high
school's sports department has had its most success with surfing and volleyball. Multitudes of guitar players lurk
at Huntington Beach High - or that's what Jamie Knight thought.
A former professional bass player, Knight (see Fig. 1) majored in voice at college. "At the time, [the faculty of]
California State University, Long Beach, didn't feel that electric bass was a valid musical instrument," he says.
Knight eventually left college to pursue his rock 'n' roll dreams, and when that didn't pan out, he began looking
for a day job. He credentialed in history, and then found out that lots of people had done the same. Fortunately,

29 March 2017 Page 1 of 7 ProQuest

Fountain Valley High School offered him a librarian job, and he took it.
While working as a librarian at both Fountain Valley and Ocean View high schools, Knight started having
student rock bands practice in the library after school. A battle of the bands earned him the nickname of the
Loud Librarian. At the same time, he was gaining a reputation for building a music program that attracted
students who were not drawn to the schools' mainstream music programs.
After his first battle of the bands brought attention to the library's musical activities, Knight was approached by
his high-school alma mater, Huntington Beach High School, to teach a songwriting and recording class. (Knight
was Huntington Beach High's 1972 Associated Student Body president.) He began with one class of 13
students, and within a year his new Commercial Recording Artists department attracted almost 150 students -
all by audition. So many students had signed up that he had a waiting list (see Fig. 2).
"[My class] attract[s] a lot of "at-risk" kids," says Knight. True, Huntington Beach is one of the more affluent
communities in southern California, but "You can have "at-risk" students who come from million-dollar homes,"
he says.
Indeed, Knight's class is often the only thing that keeps these kids connected. He has students who barely
graduate from high school as well as kids who are accepted at Stanford and USC. Few students participate in
both the traditional- and the alternative-music programs, because the time commitments of each program are so
intense; he often teaches until 9 p.m. "To do both would be a lot of work," he says.
The CRAD program flourished because Knight insisted that the program should be more than just a theory
class and should integrate music history, individual performance skills, and plenty of performance time. "I am a
firm believer in [first] teaching [about] the historical aspect of a song, and then having the students perform it,"
he says.
MONEY, THAT'S WHAT I WANT
The first activity of one of his classes was to perform live at a local Chinese restaurant. The restaurant seated
100, and 115 people lined up at the door. "It was a casual show, where the parents met me for the first time. We
fed them, and they got to watch as I worked with the kids on their stage presence. If the students looked
awkward or uncomfortable, I'd get up and show them how to do it - moving their mic stand, things like that." Half
of the set was students' original compositions, and the other half were covers of Beatles songs. "When we did
the first Beatles song, something magical happened. I thought "We're on to something here."" The Beatles
concert has since become an annual event.
Knight says he learned something very valuable that night: "Have your kids play music their parents love, and
people will open their wallets to you." Fortunately, the ROP foundation at Huntington Beach was willing to fund
the program with $15,000 in startup money, allowing Knight to outfit his lab with MIDI, digital recording
equipment, and stage gear. A combination of fine arts and ROP money enabled him to make CRAD his full-time
job.
Knight thought that in this age of "shuffling" music singles, parents would enjoy hearing an entire album
performed in exact order, which inspired a show based on the Beatles' Revolver. Admittedly, there were
moments in the first year's Revolver show that were horrible. Among other things, the students didn't have the
Roland Fantom synthesizers that they have now, and it was difficult for them to get the needed sitar sounds out
of a guitar.
When the CRAD program grew to two classes, the students suggested that they cover the Beatles' legendary
White Album, a 2-record set. One class would play the songs from one disc, and the other would play the
second. The idea was a success, to say the least: after the White Album show, other teachers came up to
Knight with tears in their eyes, telling him how emotional it was to hear students playing the music that the
teachers had loved in high school.
This year, Knight's class performed the ambitious Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (see Figs. 3 and 4).
"This is my favorite show of the year," says Knight. Technology made it possible to produce the show; for

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example, the students triggered sound effects and loaded samples into an electronic drum pad that one of the
drummers played live.
The Internet also proved to be a valuable tool in helping the students learn the songs. Instead of figuring out a
song by ear, they were able to find a video clip on YouTube of what Knight calls "a Beatles geek" performing the
songs. That saved the students a lot of time learning the material.
They performed the orchestral parts on three Roland synthesizers. Originally, Knight had hoped to have band
and orchestra students playing some of the parts on acoustic instruments, but a schedule conflict with the
honors band prevented that from happening this year.
In 2006 Knight had the opportunity to take the Beatles experience one step further. He took his students to
Liverpool, where they played at the Cavern Club, a 1992 reconstruction of the famous club where the Fab Four
often performed in the early 1960s. "Standing on the stage, playing bass with my students at the Cavern Club
was the experience of a lifetime for me. It was like a pilgrimage to Mecca," he says.
In 2008 CRAD will stay a little closer to home. They're doing the Beatles' Rubber Soul and the Beach Boys' Pet
Sounds albums. "I'm hoping to get a little help from Brian Wilson's band," says Knight.
TICKET TO RIDE
A big reason for CRAD's success is its visibility. The CRAD kids perform all year at the school and often gig in
the community. The band's two biggest events are homecoming and Retro-fest. The students perform after the
homecoming game outside of the theater at the high school. After the game, most of the students, teachers,
and parents stay to watch a professional-quality rock concert, complete with concert-quality lighting and sound.
Huntington Beach alum Ryan Steidenger of Pacific Coast Entertainment helps with the concert's sound system.
(Knight suggests making friends with a local audio company if you want to have your kids put on large shows in
the community.)
This year the rockers at the homecoming show included a horn section made up of marching-band students,
and they played funk and R&B songs from such groups as Earth, Wind, and Fire and Tower of Power. You can
see a clip of the event at . Including the marching-band students allowed band kids to live out their rock 'n' roll
fantasies and helped develop a closer relationship between the CRAD kids and the band kids. Knight and
Huntington Beach band director Gregg Gilboe have already begun talking about future collaborations.
Huntington Beach High's biggest show of the year is Retro-fest, in which students form bands and perform
classic rock songs (see Figs. 5 and 6), including putting on a televised show. Held in the APA's historic theater
and with sets designed by the musical-theater crew, Retro-fest sells out the auditorium on two consecutive days
and is easily the best-attended musical production of the year. Knight has worked with Time-Warner Cable and
the local Golden West Community College to produce a professional-quality live and cable-access show. To
see a clip of the event, go to .
WITH A LITTLE HELP
The short version of the Huntington Beach CRAD story is that it all started with one classroom and a bass-guitar
player. The long version is that the students, over time, built this department, brick by brick, with their talent. The
funds came as a result of their visibility, and then more funds came with each success.
Knight believes that there is a lot of untapped talent in education today. He says that his job is to help these left-
out students realize their dreams. "The problem with young people is that they don't have enough information to
know what those dreams are," Knight explains. He believes that successful kids create successful programs;
his part is to develop kids who may not have felt successful before. Parents want to see their kids turned on
about something. Administrators want to see happy parents. The program grows from there.
"These are not the ASB [Associated Student Body] kids I'm dealing with," says Knight. "I took some of my
students to ASB camp last year to learn leadership skills, and I heard a very interesting thing. ASB programs
are not designed for the 20 kids who are turned on to school. They're trying to find things that turn on the largest
part of the student population." Knight says that the pep-band musicians playing their hearts out, his CRAD kids

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doing their rock 'n' roll thing, and the cheerleaders dancing to hip-hop combine to provide a program that has
something for everyone. Band director Gilboe agrees. "Programs like this will grow," he muses. "They serve a
different segment of the student population and keep the students active and involved in music."
Knight has a healthy respect for the amount of work that Gilboe puts into the band and sees his commercial
music program as aiding the traditional music program. "For example," Knight observes, "I have a lot of
drummers who would love to be in drumline." Those drummers don't come from middle-school band programs
(which are few in the district), so they aren't in the school-band system. To address this, the Huntington Beach
teachers are hoping to integrate the CRAD drummers into other music programs. Precision drumming creates
better kit drummers, and individual attention ultimately makes bigger and better drumlines. Everyone wins.
Knight thinks his program is a natural for traditional music programs because he can support the band director
in a multitude of ways that help him develop better bands. "For example, I can take the guitar players in the jazz
band and teach them about song styles. I can introduce them to Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and
teach them about comping styles. I can give individual instruction that Gregg [Gilboe] doesn't have time to do. I
can tighten up his rhythm section and send back musicians who will be the backbone of the band."
COME TOGETHER
Most band directors wonder whether incorporating technology and popular music into their music departments
will damage their traditional marching-band program. "At first I wasn't sure that the impact wouldn't be negative,
taking kids away from the band program," says Gilboe. "Face it - to the average high-school kid, it is far sexier
to be a rock star than to be a bando." Gilboe says that CRAD has had very little impact on his numbers,
because Knight's program mostly brings in new students who wouldn't participate in traditional band or
orchestra. The tech-based CRAD can, however, impact the money. "It's not like there is more money available;
it just gets spread out more," explains Gilboe.
Gilboe notes that programs like Knight's often don't suffer from the recruiting problems that a band program
does. In California, at least, music programs in elementary and middle school have become a rarity, so finding
feeder programs for the marching band and orchestra has become increasingly difficult. "It is much easier for
CRAD to take beginning students and build a program of good quality in a couple of years," Gilboe says.
Still, according to Knight, the numbers help the bottom line across the board. More students mean a stronger
arts program, one that can better withstand the whims of state and federal government. Much of the money
comes from the ROP budget and does not tap the Academy of Performing Arts funds. Beyond that, CRAD is
developing students who pay more attention to what the traditional programs are doing, and that can only mean
better audiences and increased attendance at events.
"Recently my kids backed up the dance team for their fusion show," Knight relates. "They were sitting in the
audience listening to the dancers' canned music. At one point, they turned around and said, "Mr. Knight, whose
music is this?" They'd never heard Pat Metheny before." Knight and Gilboe are working on more combined
shows, and that is another positive for Knight's kids because they will listen to what the traditional bands are
doing. Audiences who come to hear the rock kids will be introduced to the music of Ornette Coleman and Miles
Davis.
This year, only two students (both drummers) are participating in both the band program and commercial music.
Senior Matt Franklin has been in the marching band since his freshman year. Franklin took private lessons but
had no band experience before high school, when he joined the Oiler band. (Huntington Beach High was built
100 years ago, largely to educate the children of Standard Oil employees, hence the team's name the "Oilers.")
Franklin auditioned for CRAD after seeing last year's Retro-fest show. "I just wanted more time on the kit; I
wanted to play more," he explains. "And I wanted to get a chance to play with different musicians." In addition to
participating in CRAD, Franklin is the drummer in the jazz band, plays percussion in the wind ensemble, and
plays tenors in the drumline and marching band (see Fig. 7). He still plays gigs with his rock band called the Big
Four, which is made up of other band students, and until recently he played bass in another band. How does he

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handle that schedule? "I don't know," he answers.
"We have had a little crossover," notes Gilboe, "but I think that CRAD students are different [from band
students] in their musical interests, being more rock- and pop oriented. CRAD students tend to reject classical
studies, much like some of them reject serious school studies. Rock 'n' roll is about rebelling and doing things
your own way." Knight agrees, observing, "I think that's what gives this group its "cool" factor." It seems that
Knight has found a way for kids to rebel against school and still participate in it.
ALL I'VE GOT TO DO
Is it possible for one band director to operate both types of programs? Gilboe and Knight agree that it is
possible for many band directors, but it would be difficult in their situation. Gilboe, for example, already oversees
both the Academy of Performing Arts and the Huntington Beach High School Band. Besides, band directors are
already under the gun with pep band, competitions, drumline, and orchestra.
A band director who taught traditional band and commercial music would have to be versatile enough to change
skills, teach differently for each group, and acquire the material wherewithal to make it work. But given a couple
of open periods, you could do both. "Take the horns away from your jazz band, take your choir teacher to lunch
and ask him or her to have the five best vocalists come down and jam with the band," says Knight, "and you
have a commercial music program." (To see how Knight structures his program, see the sidebar "A Day in the
Life.")
ROP may be the answer for music teachers who need to pick up an extra section to become full-time staff.
When a school can fund only three or four out of five sections, a teacher can justify a full schedule by adding
classes outside of the traditional music-department offerings.
"The payoff in this for a band director," says Knight "is that if you're willing to hustle a little bit, you can always
use the gear you get for your traditional music classes. For example, the computers can have Makemusic
Finale for notation, along with Apple GarageBand."
California is different from the rest of the country in that entertainment and software are big industries there.
Music technology can be the key to a viable career in the Golden State, so it is not difficult for an industrious
teacher to make the connection for the California ROP superintendents. During the next ten years, Knight
intends to work on making it easier for other teachers to do what he does.
GETTING BETTER ALL THE TIME
As this story went to press, CRAD was preparing for Retro-fest on May 4 and 5, and Knight brought in a voice
coach for the first time to work with the abundance of female vocalists who have come over from the musical-
theater program. He intends to focus more on the vocal aspects of music making, adding a more sophisticated
choral and harmony component. In the past, he brought in members of his own band, sparkle*jets u.k. () to play
along with the instrumentalists, but his students have progressed far enough that fewer adults will be on stage
this time.
The school is in the process of upgrading its entire music department, band room and all, and the musicians are
operating out of portables until the process is complete. ROP is already talking about replacing computers and
adding gear. Knight would like a drum lab in which students could use headphones for group instruction, and
he's going to add a sound booth for recording.
Knight also seeks a closer relationship with the school's multimedia, video, and computer teachers, especially
because in recent years, music technology has blurred the lines between who teaches what. "Many of those
guys are teaching a music-theory component because their kids are using software to make music for gaming
or Web sites," he says. He believes that if music teachers don't get involved with the teachers of these related
disciplines, the result could be students trying to make music without qualified instruction.
Knight, like many observers, believes that video is the next big thing. For example, bands are increasingly
traveling with VJs who add a visual component to music. "Like it or not," he says, "today's kids are a visual
generation, and they expect pizzazz." He wants kids to get more involved in creating and editing their own

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music videos. "I also want to use video as an assessment tool," he adds. "There's nothing like seeing yourself
on stage, tugging your shirt and looking at the floor, to see that that's not so cool."
AND IN THE END
While sitting in a practice room and hearing a student playing "Lady Madonna" in another practice room, Knight
recounts a scene in the movie Freedom Riders. An older, embittered teacher says something to the effect of,
"We have to educate the masses. Who can possibly educate every kid?"
"Well, I'll tell you," he begins, with a sigh that tells you this is important to him, "I have a ten-year-old son. When
he becomes a teenager, as much as he loves me, he's going to stop listening to me. I seriously hope there's
another teacher out there who will put the same energy into my son that I put into these kids."
Debra Barbre is the Music Education Specialist for Roland Corporation and sits on the executive board of
TI:ME. For more information on integrating technology in your school music program, contact her at or visit .
A Day in the Life
"Kids have a 15- to 20-minute attention span," says Knight, in explaining the way he structures his class time.
Huntington Beach High School is on block scheduling, so Knight structures the class in 15- to 20-minute blocks.
Each class period includes learning, writing, practicing, and performing the genre of music studied.
The benefit of this structure is that the administration may pack a class with more than 30 students, and the
additional students are easily accommodated. Two students can be on a computer or can take turns practicing
with other students.
<col width="25%" align="left"></col> <col width="20%" align="left"></col> <col width="55%" align="left"></col>
HOURS:MINUTES ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION
00:01-00:20 Lecture The class assembles for Knight's lecture and listens to samples of different blues artists
and styles. The class is broken into thirds.
00:20-00:40 Computer Lab One-third of the class goes to the computer to work on original blues compositions.
00:40-00:60 Private Practice Individual instrumental practice of the assigned style. If a kid goes outside and
plays guitar for 20 minutes, that's considered time on task.
00:60-01:20 Ensemble Practice Practicing with an assigned band for an upcoming performance.
01:20-01:40 Song Six-Pack Students assemble to hear six original songs by their peers. "After six songs, it can
get ugly," jokes Knight.
Get Back
Jamie Knight ties his teaching closely to state rubrics and the University of California standards, although it
takes a little creative thinking at times. "For example, recently my kids began bringing in acoustic instruments:
mandolins, banjos, and acoustic guitars," says Knight. He thinks that this is a reaction to the heavily electric-
oriented CRAD department and the war in Iraq. Knight says that contemporary politics has turned his
"counterculture" kids on to the protest music of the '50s and '60s, much of which descended from older folk and
protest music. So he began teaching about the music from the earlier movements, including the work of Pete
Seeger, Bob Dylan, and Woody Guthrie. The kids then performed their first folk hootenanny. "This meets a
music-history requirement in my book," says Knight. It also meets MENC national standard 9 - understanding
music in relation to history and culture.
In addition, Knight teaches his students about the effects of rock culture. He begins by showing them clips from
the Woodstock documentary film, moves on to footage of the Monterey Pop Festival, and ends with clips from
the disastrous 1969 Altamont festival. Knight's point is to show students the effects that the drug culture had on
rock 'n' roll. "It's all intended to be a warning," says Knight. "What begins as Utopianism can become a
destructive mess. Drugs were a major factor in that, and they need to know it."
Teachers have the great advantage of some terrific rock footage. From YouTube to the great rock
documentaries, there is a wealth of material to use in teaching. Two of Knight's favorites are The Language of
Music (about record producer Tom Dowd) and Moog (about synthesizer pioneer Bob Moog). "Moog has this

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beautiful way of talking about the spirituality of music making," says Knight. "He says that he just thinks about a
problem, gets quiet with it, and the answer comes. That's something I want my kids to relate to in their own
music."

Materia: Secondary schools; Music education; Commercial markets; Vocational education; Curricula;

Empresa/organizacin: Nombre: Huntington Beach High School-California; NAICS: 611110;

Ttulo: Commercial Music Program Inspires Students at Huntington Beach High

Ttulo de publicacin: Music Education Technology; Overland Park

Tomo: 5

Nmero: 2

Pginas: 18

Nmero de pginas: 0

Ao de publicacin: 2007

Fecha de publicacin: Apr/May 2007

Ao: 2007

Editorial: Penton Media, Inc., Penton Business Media, Inc.

Lugar de publicacin: Overland Park

Pas de publicacin: United States

Materia de publicacin: Education--Teaching Methods And Curriculum

ISSN: 15509400

Tipo de fuente: Magazines

Idioma de la publicacin: English

Tipo de documento: Feature

ID del documento de ProQuest: 195568621

URL del documento: https://search.proquest.com/docview/195568621?accountid=14542

Copyright: (Copyright 2007 by Penton Media, INC. All rights reserved.)

ltima actualizacin: 2013-06-15

Base de datos: Social Science Premium Collection

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