CMC is proud to launch the Black Music Studies Program developed and taught by faculty members Maestro Curtis and Nola Curtis. In addition to being well-known teachers and performers, the Curtises along with their five children (who are CMC students) make up The Curtis Family C-Notes aka San Francisco’s First Family of Song and America’s Got Talent contestants on season 16.
The Black Music Studies Program is a tuition-free program designed to inspire and empower students by learning and experiencing the foundations, innovations, and expansion of American music given to the world by the enslaved peoples from the continent of Africa and their descendants. The course aims to give students a deep sense of love, respect, and appreciation for the contributions of Black culture, which has impacted and crossed all ethnic and color lines. The Black Music Studies Program is a carefully designed program that includes lectures, workshops, and interactive participation to explore the history of Black music, including vocal and instrumental music. CMC students who complete varying levels of the coursework will be eligible for certificates of completion.
Fall 2021 Quarter
Online Class 💻
There are two tuition-free weekly online classes available.
Winter 2022 Quarter
Online Class 💻
There are two tuition-free weekly online classes available.
Spring 2022 Quarter
Online Class 💻
There are two tuition-free weekly online classes available.
A musical and cultural reflection on the importance and purposes of music. Drumming, singing, vocal harmonies, ceremony, instrumentation, and the music of agrarian civilization will be explored. This is a required prerequisite for completion of the certificate program.
Location, Days and Times: Tuesdays, 7:00–8:00pm
This class meets online.
Tuition: None. $47 annual registration fee.
A look at the history of barbershop singing and its influence and direct impact on jazz music, as well Minstrels and Vaudevillian structures of harmonies and other dominant subject matters. Includes a survey of 1950’s doo-wop, plus 1960’s–1980’s singing groups (soul, jazz, gospel & pop).
Location, Days and Times: Tuesdays, 8:15–9:15pm
This class meets online.
Tuition: None. $47 annual registration fee.
This course will provide an overview of the development of Black choral ensemble singing, significant influences, and key performers, from origins in field songs, spirituals, and sacred songs to the modern hip hop gospel movement. In addition to the development of gospel music, this class will also include the significance of the Fisk University Jubilee Singers and the publishing of The Gospel Pearls. Other musicians featured include Dorsey, Cambell, Brewster, Mahalia Jackson, James Cleveland, and their successors.
Location, Days and Times: Tuesdays, 7:00–8:00pm *First class of Winter Quarter 2022 will be January 25
This class meets online.
Tuition: None. $47 annual registration fee.
This class provides an historical look at singing with varied accompaniment styles, from small ensembles to big band orchestras and their fronting vocalists. Emphasis on jazz music in the 20th century, beginning with the Jazz Age in the 1920s. Significant musicians covered include Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, Chick Webb, Ellington, Basie, Lunsford, Ekstine, Billie Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Abbey Lincoln, Dinah Washington, Joe Williams and others.
Location, Days and Times: Tuesdays, 8:15–9:15pm *First class of Winter Quarter 2022 will be January 25
This class meets online.
Tuition: None. $47 annual registration fee.
This class provides an exploration of the history of the drum from the 10 most predominant West African tribes who were American, Carribbean, and South American slaves, focusing on Black American contributions to music. We will explore the purpose and musical and cultural value and theories of the drum in West Africa. We will explore the meaning of syncopation, polyrhythms and the depth behind this musical form of communication and its relevance to agrarian society. We will look at how the invention of Traps (drum set and its origins) and descendants of African slaves in the Americas helped to popularize the drum in all of its forms as a legitimate and important instrument.
The class will also include hands-on drumming experience, including crafting makeshift drums and learning specific rhythmic patterns and their purpose in West African civilizations and/or in the Americas. Students will learn and share individual drumming with the class via zoom.
Students who want to participate can participate in in-person drum circles at the end of their quarter.
Location, Days and Times: Tuesdays, 7:00–8:00pm
This class meets online.
Tuition: None. $47 annual registration fee.
This class will investigate specific musical perspectives each tribe brought with them into America during the Atlantic Slave Trade and their subsequent influences on American Music. Students will explore different groups’ musical approaches, their use of the voice as the instrument, and learn basic songs and their meaning, and melodic/rhythmic pattern. Tribes surveyed include: Chamba, Wolof, Abron, Fulani, Mande, Mandinka (Mandingo), Fon, Bakango, Igbo, Yoruba, Mbundu.
Location, Days and Times: Tuesdays, 8:15–9:15pm
This class meets online.
Tuition: None. $47 annual registration fee.
Ages: All ages welcome, but most appropriate for teens and adults
Instruments: Open to all interested, who play an instrument, sing, or are simply interested in the subject matter
Class sizes: 15 students
For questions about the program, fill out the inquiry form at this link
