The Collective Sound Summer Music Academy

The Collective Sound Music Academy, a non-profit, has been filling a gap in youth music education for over a decade, with programming that focuses on collaboration and creativity in current music genre. Working with music industry leaders such as Capitol Records, Volcom Entertainment, Sabian, the D’Addario Foundation, Gallien-Krueger, Gretsch Drums, Gibraltar, Dunlop, Roland, Digidesign, Yamaha, and Genz-Benz as well as music teachers, students will not only experience the creative process and hone their instrumental and technical skills, but will get a good look at the music industry.

“Much of what’s taught in school music programs today is repetition of selected traditional music…with little emphasis on the collaborative process that is inherent in writing and performing music” says TCS Founder, Zac Smith. “In today’s scene, creativity is key and the use of a sampler or software application is as relevant as, say, the use of a trumpet. Our goal is to present youth from varying socio-economic backgrounds with an outlet for creative expression through the vehicle of current music trends.”

According to Smith, kids not only compose their music for live performance, they also produce additional creative media content in the form of band photos, recordings, midi compositions, music videos, electronic press kits, and online profiles, giving them the tools needed by today’s do-it-yourself musicians.

“TCS showed me that playing the drums is not just a hobby, but something that I can actually do for the rest of my life,” says student Lane Beckstrom. “There are a variety of youth based programs out there that involve sports and other activities, yet it is peculiar that creative expression through music has few guided and funded options. It is a valid plight to offer youth a platform to conceptualize and bring to fruition their musical ideas, while teaching them the value working and communicating with others in developing an idea. Our foundation is promoting and empowering young musicians and developing their confidence in their creative and musical potential.”

Highlights from last year’s summer music camp, including watching the kids work on a music video for award-winning Australian artist, Ben Lee, can be seen in the Web Series “Let it Be Heard…” – The Story of the Collective Sound at: www.thecollectivesound.com.

“As soon as camp was over, I couldn’t wait for it to start up again,” says last year student, Andrew Rywak.

For more information, visit www.thecollectivesound.com, email info @ thecollectivesound.com, or call 530-354-4045.

More Music Trends Articles

Big Band Jazz Music became popular around 1930s, also called as swing era, when it was played in the music concerts held at hot spots, such as New York and Chicago. Radio stations throughout the world begun to play this music thereby becoming the top choice of youngsters and adults who craved for intermediate jazz tools so as to learn and practice jazz piano.

Historical facts suggest that jazz grew popular when the touring musicians started singing songs based on themes of big band jazz music among the natives of America especially on the streets of New Orleans from where the touring musicians started their jazz tour in America. The modern style, steady rhythm and bluesy feel of jazz music got shape in New York and Chicago. Gradually jazz became so popular that the era of 1920s is still called as “jazz age” when people attended coaching so as to know how to play and practice jazz piano. By 1930, jazz emerged as the strongest and most popular mainstream music, and standard jazz songs got composed by the popular jazz musicians of that era.

One of the most common reasons for popularity of Big Band Jazz Music is that the musicians play all intermediate jazz tools in it thereby giving audience more time to dance. Another reason which led to the popularity of jazz is that the Lindy Hop dance introduced in 1930s by Charleston promoted solo dance thereby allowing jazz musicians to play for a long time.

Gradually Big Band Jazz Music became the popular choice of almost all the premier dance clubs throughout the America. The syncopated rhythms and blue notes of jazz emerged through usual waltzes and foxtrots.

Radio was one of the most popular sources by which Big Band Jazz Music became extremely popular. The era of 1930s and 1940s witnessed sky high popularity and huge demand of Big Band Jazz Music. Some of the common Big Band legends of that era include Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and Count Basie.

Till date, the Big Band jazz music is considered as a favorite of many youngsters and that is why modern bands like Squirrel Nut Zippers and The Brian Setzer Orchestra performs new and standard songs from Big Band Jazz Music. Youngsters who are passionate about jazz music opt for intermediate jazz tools so as to practice jazz piano.

MP3, CD players, iPods and the internet maintain teenagers connected to their favorite artists and music most of the time. Teenagers are very selective in choosing music. This variety and selectivity is crucial for teens because it represents the symbolic environment of genres and the preferences are linked to individual or group identity element. That’s why teens choose their songs according to what music style they prefer. In some way, it reflects who they are.

“… it reflects our personality and that’s one reason we are friends, because we like the same kinda stuff.”

“We don’t want to be like everyone else on the streets today. We like to be individual. We admire the stars of Hip Hop”

A sense of individuality is only achievable by firstly knowing your sense of place – understanding who you are in terms of your relationships with others and common subscriptions to styles, values, attitudes, likes and patterns of behavior. There is nothing new in this, and it is by no means specific to youth– we have all developed our personal identities in this way.

Evidently personality characteristics are associated with youth’s preferences for the different themes of teen- age music. At around the ages of 14 or 15, issues such as personal appearance and dress style become more significant and it is at this stage that the desire to be associated with a particular genre of music is evident.

The present study aims additionally to develop a dependant variable by which adolescents actual preferences or various music themes may be measured quantitatively, in order that youth’s musical taste may be compared in terms of variables such as peer relations, parental control, and high school extracurricular activities.