The status of commercial music programs in California's public two-year colleges

Includes bibliographical references (pages 45-49)The purpose of this study was to determine the status of commercial music programs in the public two-year colleges of California during the 1974-1975 academic year. It was designed to collect and document the current commercial music course offerings of the various colleges.\ud The data for the study was derived from questionnaire replies from fifty-two California public two-year college music department chairmen or their representatives, information extracted from current 1974-75 college catalogues, class schedules, music department bulletins, personal interviews, plus material discovered through extensive research in numerous public and university libraries. The compiled data was analyzed, presented, and discussed in text and tabular form.\ud The following conclusions were formulated: (1) The greatest number of public two-year colleges offering commercial music programs and courses in commercial music are located, almost exclusively, in the southern section of the state of California, (2) the most popular commercial music course continues to be, historically, the Stage or Dance Band, (3) new courses such as Music Notation and Copying, Arranging, Studio or Recording Band, Commercial Music Technique, and Jazz Theory and Improvisation are finding their way into the curriculum, (4) further investigation of course content in the area of commercial music is recommended for greater uniformity and possible standardization, and (5) reflecting rising student demand, more courses in commercial music will gradually find their way into the curriculums of most California public two-year college