Our core programming provides on-site mobile music education to underserved students from K through 12th grade and at-risk, homeless and foster youth, ages 17 – 24, using contemporary music to teach the fundamentals of musicianship. Through one-on-one interaction, demonstrations and instruction from professional musicians, composers and audio engineers, we offer age-appropriate instruction in alignment with VAPA standards for school aged students. In The Band also offers songwriting, recording and production for homeless and foster youth, ages 17-24. School aged students will learn to play a minimum of four quality pieces of music and will master an instrument within one year, while our older youth will write, produce and record music. In addition, students will have opportunities to release music on the internet and perform at events throughout the city. In The Band curriculum includes the following topics: Tempo; Dynamics; Techniques specific to each instrument; Techniques for audio production and recording; Rhythmic concepts; Understanding and Reading musical notation; Writing musical notation; Understanding ‘beat’ and measures in 4/4 and other time signatures; Introduction to the music of world cultures; Introduction to rhythmic concepts (reading and writing); and Introduction to ensemble playing; and Introduction to performance.