ICC holds summer class to help students with musical aspirations

FULTON, Miss. (WCBI) – Although the fall semester for colleges doesn’t start until mid August,  some incoming freshmen at ICC are already in class.

Mallory Gray has a clear goal in mind when it comes to her musical aspirations.

“I want to be able to go work at Disney one day,” Gray said.

To get there, she  knows being able to proficiently read music is a must.  That’s why she is enrolled in ICC’s Musicians Academy.   The class is known as “Fundamentals of Music Theory”. Students spend hours, each day, making sure they get the basics.

Mallory spent years in choir, but her high school didn’t offer advanced music classes for vocalists.

“We only had music appreciation, that’s more instrumental, so I had to do things on my own,” she said.

That’s one of the main reasons ICC decided to offer this course during its summer schedule, to give those incoming freshmen interested in a music degree, a firm grasp in the fundamentals.

“You can certainly create music by not reading, but if you’re going to do this as a professional, you have to have all the skills and decoding those symbols is not a luxury, it’a a necessity,” said Dr. Cass Patrick, who is chairman of the Fine Arts Department at ICC. He believes offering the class in the summer will give music majors a better chance at success.

“It helps out with my understanding with notes and more in depth with the music,” Gray said.

The Musicians Academy wraps up July 31.

Students who complete the class earn seven hours credit.