Root, Jazz, American Music Studies
Launching in August 2021, The Fine Arts program at Weatherford College is presenting a unique music degree program for emerging artists and students of diverse musical backgrounds. The program addresses the dynamic and changing landscape of the music profession, serving the needs of musicians who do not fit the traditional offerings that are typical in most university music programs.
Mission
Embracing communities and building lives! We are dedicated to applying music performance and training with audiences around the world.
“We’re all ears"
The Gift of a Story Told
We are dedicated to the effort of coaching people as they learn to respect the gifts that they have been given in spirit and truth.
Community
Our heart is to share our gifts and understanding with others, by helping them to efficiently grow in their devotion to one another as a lifestyle.
Feeling and Thought
Our goal is to inspire people with compassion and help them with the process of conveying feelings and thought through melody and song.
Bridging The Gap
Our present and future communities will be enriched as we bridge the gap of non-formal and formally trained people.
Our program is open to instrumentalists, vocalists, producers, and songwriters pursuing studies in contemporary pop/rock, folk-rock, R&B/Hip Hop, Latin/Salsa, and other popular styles with a concentration on small ensemble performance, live performance, studio and film scoring sessions.
In every case, our mission is to provide students with the necessary skills - business, creative, intellectual, and social - so that they might succeed as leaders in evolving music industry. We encourage students to develop innovative musical ideas and envision new music, business models. All students will be active in contributing to RJAM Music Group's advancement, the first student/faculty recording label with International digital distribution. We will also encourage students to work collaboratively and cultivate intellectual rigor and a willingness to experiment artistically.
The program's course of study includes a two and four-year, progression of courses structured around the study of production, performance, and entrepreneurship. There are three main areas of curricular study: performance, production, and history & criticism. All students entering the program will take fundamental music theory courses, arranging, improvisation, songwriting, performance, ear training, and training piano/drum proficiency. Students will also take courses on business and legal issues related to the modern music industry's specialized needs, in conjunction with a series of practicums in the recording studio, where students are expected to become proficient in a range of recorded music practices. Concurrently, students also explore critical writing and music journalism, delving into the cultural impact of recorded music and the history of contemporary musical genres such as rock, R&B, hip-hop, pop, world, and electronica. By graduation, students are required to actualize a comprehensive creative plan to launch a music business venture, such as a record label, production company, or new media enterprise, and produce a three to five-song EP and EPK.
Career Opportunities
We anticipate that the students who enroll in the Root, Jazz, American music program would have a wide range of aspirations. Some will come with aspirations to become CEOs of record labels. Others will come with aspirations of being innovative record producers who helm successful production companies. Other students will have aspirations of having successful careers performing artists/songwriters or music critics who want to develop their business acumen to build a successful brand.
- Teacher
- Performer
- Arranger
- Sound Engineer
- Song Writer
- Music Business
25 Grammy winners got their start in WC Jazz
Related Programs
Scholarship
If you have any additional questions about the program or scholarship opportunities, please email the program director, Fredrick Sanders
Faculty
- Aden Bubeck (Miranda Lambert Band) - Bass Instructor