DJ Skills Curriculum

The DJ Skills Curriculum is a relevant, innovative and immersive music curriculum for youth in Baltimore. It will expose them to an increasingly popular creative art form that is accessible, expressive, and interactive. The curriculum will equip students with music skills, strengthen their confidence, and introduce them to a diverse and growing creative industry in this country. The Curriculum is designed to provide foundational knowledge of the craft to youth in Baltimore, within a time span of 7-8 week programming sessions. Through this program, youth will: 1) establish and value their own standards for their learning community; 2) create new relationships and build upon current relationships through learning together; 3) develop creative thinking and problem solving skills; 4) gain confidence in acquiring and practicing a new skill; and 5) be aware of local resources for digital audio education and production. While designed for replication at any potential site, presently, the program is to take place at 3 locations: the Lillian S. Jones recreation center, the Baltimore City Juvenile Justice Center, and the Community Studio at Baltimore Youth Arts. The class will meet at each respective site for 1-2 hours per week, with a class size of 6-12 students per session. I will visit each site once per week with DJ equipment for 2 workstations, music files, and other teaching tools, to give lessons on the following topics: the history of DJing; introduction to DJ software and a mixer; beat matching; volume, EQing, and transitions; and track selection and reading the crowd. The curriculum is designed to span 7-8 weeks, with 2 weeks dedicated to practicing and recording mixes. For Lillian S. Jones and Baltimore Youth Arts participants, the final week will be dedicated to a learning showcase event in the community. At the event, each of the program participants will have the opportunity to perform a DJ set for community members, and be compensated for their performance.

Financiado pelo capítulo Baltimore, MD (February 2018)