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Music

Music

For as long as there has been “civilization”—and in all likelihood, before—humans have engaged in music.


About Us

College of the Redwoods offers an array of music courses that fall into four categories. 

  • Music Theory Courses which build foundational skills and prepare music majors and minors for transfer to a four-year program.
  • Music History Courses which meet CSU and UC General Education requirements. 
  • Multi-semester classroom instruction in brass, percussion, and woodwind instruments.
  • Audition-level ensembles which perform publicly both on campus and the surrounding region.

Degrees and Certificates

CR does not currently offer a music degree or certificate. Students interested in obtaining an associate degree in music can select the Associate of Arts Degree, Liberal Arts: Fine Arts and take all of the music courses in that Area of Emphasis. Please click here to see the Music Area of Emphasis Pathways.

Please see Counseling & Advising for more information.


Transfer Opportunities

Many of our music courses articulate with corresponding music courses at regional institutions. For more details, click here.

Check www.assist.org and contact Counseling & Advising to check specific articulations

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Why Music?

For as long as there has been “civilization”—and in all likelihood, before—humans have engaged in music.  For a very long time, people have been aware of music’s power to convey emotion and to coordinate a group’s energies and intentions, ranging from its central role in religious ceremonies to the subcultures that have cohered around specific musical styles in the twentieth and early twenty first centuries.  Finally, cognitive psychologists are aware music is unique amongst the arts in coordinating body, intellect, emotion.  In short, paraphrasing Plato, music retains its power to shake the walls of the city.


"The modes of music are never disturbed without unsettling of the most fundamental political and social conventions."

- Plato, The Republic, Book IV


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The Emerging Demand

While the emergence of the internet has profoundly impacted today’s music profession, even as old forms of music entrepreneurship disappear, new forms are emerging.  There is still a call for composers for film, video, TV, advertisement, and digital gaming.  Songwriters are still penning hits, recording studios still require producers and engineers, large halls and promotion companies still require sound technicians and stage managers, and record labels still employ a host of specialized staff and work with managers, agents, promoters, publicists, publishers, and licensing agents.  There is still a demand for music retailers, music journalists, and music instrument builders and technicians.  There is a growing need for music therapists, and a continuing need for music educators.  And, while the field of music performance remains as competitive as ever, there are still those who succeed.  In short, music remains a multi-billion dollar industry that rewards talent, innovation, and out-of-the-box thinking.

Ed Macan

Ed Macan

"Ultimately, if I have done my job in both my practical music and my music-in-culture courses correctly, students will understand that, while mastery of musical craft is important, it is but a means to an end, which is to communicate as immediately and effectively as possible with one's audience."

Contact Us

Division Information

Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Division

 Peter Blakemore, Dean

 Laura Meglemre, Administrative Secretary
 707-476-4559
 Arts & Humanities Division Office, CA-124

  2023 College of the Redwoods