3-Day Curricular Intensives
Each intensive includes three required core courses and electives. You will be asked to rank your elective choices from 1-3 or 1-4. SMC staff will select two electives that most align with your ranking choice. Elective definitions can be found at the bottom of this page.
Register for Summer Music Clinic Junior Session
Registration is open from January 19 until May 31, 2021.
Session I Intensives: June 21-23, 2021, Monday – Wednesday
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Band - Foundations or Experienced
Instruments:Flute, Oboe, Bassoon, Clarinet, Saxophone, Trumpet, Horn, Trombone, Euphonium, Tuba, Percussion, Other
Required Courses:
- Instrument Techniques: A class specific to learning about and skill building on your instrument taught by a professional expert! Classes cover technique, tone, warmups, inspired listening, and repertoire.
- Band Rehearsal/Active Listening: In this class you will be provided music for 1-2 band pieces and learn them collaboratively for an end of camp performance at your home! One of our greatest skills as ensemble musicians is listening and a large part of the class will be focused on listening and learning how to and what to listen to! Grow your ears and knowledge of band music!
- Breathing & Movement: A variety of relaxation exercises and meditations for mind and body that can aid with practice, performance, and general well-being.
Electives (Rank Your Preferences):
- Conducting
- The Harmonic Style of 18th Century European Musicians (Music Theory)
- Global Drumming for Non-Percussionists
- Diversity in Music
Orchestra - Foundations or Experienced
Instruments:Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass, Harp, other
Required Courses:
- Instrument Techniques: A class specific to learning about and skill building on your instrument taught by a professional expert! Classes cover technique, tone, warmups, inspired listening, and repertoire.
- Orchestra Rehearsal/Active Listening: In this class you will be provided music for 1-2 string orchestral pieces and learn them collaboratively for an end of camp performance at your home! One of our greatest skills as ensemble musicians is listening and a large part of the class will be focused on listening and learning how to and what to listen to! Grow your ears and knowledge of orchestral music!
- Breathing & Movement: A variety of relaxation exercises and meditations for mind and body that can aid with practice, performance, and general well-being.
Electives (Rank Your Preferences):
- Conducting
- The Harmonic Style of 18th Century European Musicians (Music Theory)
- Global Drumming for Non-Percussionists
- Diversity in Music
Choir - Foundations or Experienced
Voice Parts:High Voice (Soprano, Tenor) or Low Voice (Alto, Bass)
Required Courses:
- Vocal Technique: The class will focus on vocal health and technique taught by a professional expert! Classes cover technique, tone, warmups, inspired listening, and repertoire.
- Warm-ups: Why and How/Sightsinging:Practical skills for personal warm-up and sight singing designed to help vocalists gain facility with standard rhythmic patterns and interval recognition.
- Choir Rehearsal/Active Listening:In this class you will be provided music for 1-2 choral pieces and learn them
collaboratively for an end of camp performance at your home! One of our greatest skills as ensemble musicians is listening and a large part of the class will be focused on listening and learning how to and what to listen to! Grow your ears and knowledge of choral music!
Electives (Rank Your Preferences):
- Vocal Coaching – Arias to Ariana
- The Harmonic Style of 18th Century European Musicians (Music Theory)
- Global Drumming for Non-Percussionists
- Diversity in Music
Art is Alive! - Non Performance Intensive
Required Courses:
- Let’s Create! This class will explore all elements of human creativity and how it connects to who we are. You will be actively involved in diverse creative projects chosen by you to learn by doing and from others.
- The Arts and the World and our Humanity:How does the creativity of humanity influence the World and how does the World influence our creativity? This question will be explored while traveling around the World virtually to learn about our diverse and similar creativity through history, often exploring major World events and resulting creativity.
- Let’s Listen! Most of us are listening to music during many hours of our days. We also can listen to the natural sounds around us as music. This class will connect what we listen to our World view to in a sharable format to learn from one another through playlists, shared sounds, and album obsession!
Electives (Rank Your Preferences):
- Film Music
- Physics of Music
- Sounds of Superheroes
- Movie Musicals
Session II Intensives: June 24-26, 2021, Thursday – Saturday
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Jazz - Foundations or Experienced
Instruments: Flute, Oboe, Bassoon, Clarinet, Saxophone, Trumpet, Horn, Trombone, Euphonium, Tuba, Percussion, Guitar, Bass, Piano/Keyboard, Other
Required Courses:
- Jazz Rehearsal/Active Listening: In this class you will be provided music for 1-2 jazz pieces and learn them collaboratively for an end of program performance at your home! One of our greatest skills as ensemble musicians is listening and a large part of the class will be focused on listening and learning how to and what to listen to. Grow your ears and knowledge of jazz music!
- Improvisation: This class will help you develop and share your musical voice through study of jazz scales, rhythmic styles, and standard patterns that will help you take effective solos with ensembles and improvise as an individual player.
- Jazz Greats/Jazz Styles: Learn about some of the greatest musicians in jazz history as well as some living legends whose innovation and creativity have made a significant impact on jazz. Learn about the rhythms, scales, and improvisatory skills for the variety of styles of jazz (swing, Afro-Cuban, Latin, etc) plus resources for listening.
Electives (Rank Your Preferences):
- Jazz Theory and Composition
- Breathing & Movement
- Global Drumming for Non-Percussionists
Musical Theater - Foundations or Experienced
Voice Parts:High Voice (Soprano, Tenor) or Low Voice (Alto, Bass)
Required Courses:
- Musical Theatre/Dance: Students will be involved in creating and practicing musical theatre and dance virtually! Topics will include taking auditions, projection, and dramatic movement as well as production aspects of theater such as direction and staging.
- Vocal Technique:In this course students will learn healthy and helpful techniques to use their singing and speaking voices in the genre of Musical Theatre.
- Acting/Improv:Learn the skills needed to project your voice clearly, represent your character through body movement, take your performance to the next level, and how to relate acting and improv to all of the arts!
Electives (Rank Your Preferences):
- Breathing & Movement
- African Dance/Dance Hip Hop
- Global Drumming for Non-Percussionists
- Theatre in Contexts
Express Yourself - All Experience Levels Welcome
Instruments:All instruments and voice parts welcome
Required Courses:
- Performance Option (rock, country, hip hop, spoken word):In this class you will choose your group performance experience and be provided materials for 1-2 pieces and learn them collaboratively for an end of camp performance at your home!
- Songwriting/writing:You’ve sung so many songs, but have you tried writing your own? Whether you’ve composed before or not, this class will help you craft lyrics and melodies and give life to that song inside you.
- Instrument Technique:In this course we will explore the various techniques on instruments and voices utilized in your performance options course! Techniques and inspired listening will be a focus of the course. Students can also choose to learn additional instruments in this course.
Electives (Rank Your Preferences):
- Spoken Word
- Hip Hop
- Evolution of Rock
- History of Country
Electronic Music - Non Performance Intensive
Required Courses:
- A Survey of Music Technology:This course will explore the plethora of technology available for music! A focus will be learning purpose, what you need, and quality per price point.
- Project/Home Studio Design:This course will explore how to set up your own studio or perfect what you have! Once set up, uses and techniques will be a focus of the course.
- Electronic Composition:A large amount of the music we consume is electronically composed and made in our modern world! This course will explore methods of electronic composition and actively creating music yourself!
Electives (Rank Your Preferences):
- Sound Design/Electronic Music Mixing Techniques
- Critical Listening
- Careers and Paths
Daily Schedule
Morning
| 8:00 a.m. | Check in: Community |
| 9:00 a.m. | Welcome, Guest Performer |
| 9:45 a.m. | Required Course 1 |
| 10:45 a.m. | Elective 1 |
| 11:30 a.m. | Elective 2 |
Afternoon
| 12:00 p.m. | Lunch (Off Screen) |
| 1:00 p.m. | Community Activity |
| 1:25 p.m. | Required Course 2 |
| 2:20 p.m. | Required Course 3 |
| 3:10 p.m. | Community Activity |
| 3:30 p.m. | End of Day |
Community Activities
Students will take part in Summer Music Clinic traditions, meet their community managers and connect with peers from across the country and world.
Guest Performer
Like in past years of SMC, students will have the opportunity to listen to musicians who have honed their craft and excel in their field.
Class Electives
African Dance/Dance Hip Hop
Learn to dance these genres and the music we utilize in this medium.
Breathing and Movement
A variety of relaxation exercises and meditations for mind and body that can aid with practice, performance, and general well-being.
Careers and Paths
This course will be an exploration of the variety of opportunities in the music business and how to get there!
Conducting
Learn fluid beat patterns and expressive skills, view scores from classic literature to contemporary compositions, and experience the perspective from the podium from preparation to performance skills.
Critical Listening
One of the most important skills we have as musicians, sound engineers, consumers of music, etc. is our ability to listen and critically to certain sounds to perfect our work! This course will guide you through skills to improve your listening skills in all parts of your life.
Diversity in Music
The events of our World influence music and music influences the events of the World. This course is a survey of cultures of music around the World, who makes it, who is included, and who is excluded in history and now and why.
Evolution of Rock
Most people agree that Hip-Hop was born out of the Bronx in the 1970s, but elements of the art form were present much earlier. Learn about key cultural events, people, and politics that shaped Hip-Hop over the years and where it is today.
Film Music
Learn about the rich genre of film music and its history from the beginning of films with sound to modern day!
Global Drumming for Non Percussionists
Explore the vast array of drumming styles from the World in a drum circle/ensemble format online with what you have at home! Each student will get the opportunity to learn about global percussion instruments and learn their specific techniques.
Hip Hop
Most people agree that Hip-Hop was born out of the Bronx in the 1970s, but elements of the art form were present much earlier. Learn about key cultural events, people, and politics that shaped Hip-Hop over the years and where it is today.
History of Country
This course is designed to help us grow in our appreciation, understanding, and enjoyment of country music, while learning about its cultural context. Is it folk music or what is folk music? Significant contributors to the development of country music are presented and landmark recordings are heard and discussed, and we will learn to place these uniquely American art forms into their historical, social, religious and philosophical contexts. We will also learn how popular music has and continues to shape popular culture.
Jazz Theory and Composition
This class explores music theory as it explains the jazz genre. Acquire skills that help you combine melody, harmony, and rhythm creatively into your own music writing styles.
Movie Musicals
A look at the evolving genre of movie musicals, both in terms of original films and stage musical adaptations, and how film impacts our interpretations of stage shows.
Physics of Music
Explore a variety of scientific topics through a musical lens, from the impact of materials used in building instruments to the acoustic design of concert halls.
Sound Design/Electronic Music Mixing Techniques
This course will be a survey of sound design and mixing technologies and how to effectively utilize these tools!
Sounds of Superheroes
Learn how to define “hero” as broadly as possible, covering more than just Marvel and DC. A survey of this genre of film, going back to the old swashbuckler films right up through Endgame, Black Widow, and The Rise of Skywalker – breaking down instrumentation and scoring techniques, continuity, and source/reference material. A look at diversity in scoring both in terms of sound and composers.
Spoken Word
This course is taught in coordination with the Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives (OMAI) at UW-Madison and their Spoken Word organization, First Wave. This course is designed to help us learn this unique spoken artform and its relationship to personal and current cultural experiences.
Theatre in Contexts
Learn about the many areas of our world and life where theatre is present. How does theatre change the world and how does the world change the theatre?
The Harmonic Style of 18th Century European Musicians (Music Theory)
To understand western music theory is to understand the building blocks of music you play and sing that is largely influenced by this tradition. This class will cover the fundamentals you need to know to support your development as a musician. Review major, minor, diminished, and dominant-seventh chords; clefs, notation, scale degrees, and musical rhythms and patterns.
Vocal Coaching – Arias to Ariana
Whether you are preparing to belt your favorite pop song or floating up to perfect high notes in your aria, Arias to Ariana is for you. No matter your style, this class will help you learn helpful vocal techniques to bring into your daily practice as well as what harmful habits to avoid to keep your voice developing properly for years to come.