Ensembles & Classes Offered

Beginning Band (Honors)

This is an entry level course for students with no playing experience.  Students will demo all of the instruments offered, select an instrument, and will spend the year learning how to read music, play by ear, and improvise with this instrument. We will cover the following topics: basic instrument technique, how to play in an ensemble, ear training, composing music, introduction to music from around the world and more. Beginning Band students will work closely in group lessons with Symphonic Band and Concert Band members as well as professional musicians. The Beginning Band performs at the Winter and Spring Band Concerts.

Concert Band 1 & Concert Band 2 (Honors)

These are our band courses for students grades 7-12 with some playing experience. Combined, our Concert Band has approximately 120 students. Concert Band 1 is a smaller group of students selected through an audition process at the beginning of the school year. Concert Band 2 is open to anyone who has taken Beginning Band or comes to Lane with playing experience. In both concert bands, we work to improve our individual technique as well our ability to perform in an ensemble. Concert Band members will have the opportunity to peer tutor Beginning Band students, and will have work alongside local elementary school bands. Both groups perform at the Winter and Spring Band Concerts, and participate in the Lane Tech Solo & Ensemble Festival. Concert Band 1 additionally performs at the CPS Band & Orchestra Festival. A select group of students from both bands are pulled out of class weekly to form our Concert Jazz Band, where we work on playing jazz standards, becoming more comfortable with improvisation and studying jazz history. All Concert Band students can also join the Varsity Band for specific athletic games. 

*Concert Band 1 members are invited to a one-week band camp.  Percussion are invited to drumline camp.

IN ASPEN this is called INTERMEDIATE BAND and differentiated by period.  Typically Concert Band 2 is 5th period and Concert Band 1 is 6th period.

Varsity Band (Honors)

This is our non-competitive marching band for students with significant playing experience; students must audition to be placed in Varsity Band. The group is composed of around 60 wind, brass, and percussion students as well as 12-14 Flag Corps members and 14-18 Majorettes. The Varsity Band focuses on learning a wide variety of music to be performed at athletic events, community parades, and performance opportunities across Chicago. Most notably, the Varsity Band performs at the Homecoming Pep Rally and football game, the Arts in the Dark Parade downtown, the Black Americans Making Moves assembly and the Green & Gold basketball game. Throughout the year, students will also explore Banda music and form Brazilian and West African ensembles. These ensembles will incorporate percussion, singing and dance in order to explore music from around the world and to develop new musical skills. Varsity Band performs at the Winter and Spring Band Concerts as well as the Spring World Music Concert.  We have been fortunate to perform at the Pitchfork Music Festival, Taste of Chicago, Harris Theatre, Harold Washington Cultural Center, as well as down State Street, Columbus Drive, Roscoe Village and near Rosehill Cemetery.  If you are interested in asking us to peform please reach out! 

*All Varsity Band members must attend a one-week band camp in the summer and Saturday rehearsals in the fall.

Flag Corps

This group of 12 members (grades 10-12) performs with the Varsity Band and Majorettes for major sporting events as well as on their own during halftime at basketball games. This group choreographs unique routines through the "art of flagging." Students also learn traditional dancing from West-Africa and percussion instruments from Brazil.  Tryouts are in January and you must have space in your schedule to take Marching Band as a class.

*Flag Corps members attend student-run practice all summer.

Majorettes (the Champerettes)

This group of 14 members (grades 10-12) performs with the Varsity Band and Flag Corps for major sporting events as well as on their own during halftime at basketball games. This group choreographs unique routines with dancing or the use of batons.  Just like the Flag Corps, Majorettes are expected to learn traditional dancing from West-Africa and percussion instruments from Brazil.  Tryouts are in January and you must have space in your schedule to take Marching Band as a class.

*Majorettes members attend student-run practice all summer.

IN ASPEN this is called MARCHING BAND and you are eligible to receive a PE waiver based on a few criteria

For more information on Flag Corps and Majorettes auditions, visit our Joining Band tab .  

Symphonic Band (Honors)

This is the most advanced performing ensemble in the Lane Tech Band program for students with significant playing experience; students must audition to be placed in Symphonic Band. This group plays some of the most challenging wind band repertoire and will focus on advanced ensemble concepts while continuing to improve individual playing technique. Symphonic Band students will have the opportunity to peer tutor Beginning Band students. In addition to the Winter and Spring Band Concerts, Symphonic Band also performs at the Halloween Hauntcert, the CPS Band & Orchestra Festival, the Solo & Ensemble Festival, and the Chamber Concert. 15 members of Symphonic Band are invited to audition for the ILMEA All-State festival in Peoria every year. The top members on each instrument will join the Lane Tech Sinfonietta to form one of the few combined symphony orchestras in Chicago. A select group is pulled out of class weekly to form our Symphonic Jazz Band, where we work on playing jazz standards, becoming more comfortable with improvisation and studying jazz history. Symphonic Band students will also have the opportunity to participate in Pit Orchestra for the Winter Musical as well as Brass Quintet, Saxophone Quartet, and Percussion Ensemble.

*All Symphonic Band members must attend  a  one-week band camp in the summer.

In ASPEN this is called Advanced Band

Percussion Ensemble World Drumming (Honors)

Previously a semester course paired with Hip Hop it is now a year long course going into even further depths of the percussion world.  The importance and musical genius of the Percussion Ensemble should be explored in school environments. With Percussion Ensemble, students’ exploration of music from West Africa and Brazil will provide a participatory experience at a high level without any previous experience needed.  Group Drumming at its core is an environment where all levels are welcome and able to create a universal experience on the same plane.  A student does not need previous musical experience to achieve success in this format.

We study traditional and match grip as we explore snare drum dexterity exercises and musical literacy.  We create our own Bateria and Ewe Drumming Ensemble.  We listen to and study music highlighted through the transatlantic slave trade.  

This class will engage students meaningfully and challenge them to create their own material rather than playing sheet music that someone else created, as it happens in many ensemble-based classes across Music Education. Culturally relevant pedagogical effectiveness  has been demonstrated over and over to be transformative in students’ lives, and this class is born of that philosophy. Students expressing themselves is what an education in music is all about, and such a class will foster opportunities to do so in ways that other classes do not.

"Samba is participatory music. The music is structured to be inclusive.  Ensemble sizes are flexible (from 3 players to 300!) and players of various skill levels can play together in the same bands.  Samba is perfect for schools with low music participation rates and for schools with large class sizes.  Samba has multiple entry points, is rigorous, develops a high level of rhythmic sensitivity, and is a great deal of fun." - Dana Monteiro

*Students Perform 3 times through the school year (Fall, Black History Month, Spring Showcase)

Extracurricular Ensembles

Pit Orchestra: This group accompanies the Winter Musical put on by Lane Tech's Drama program. The size and instrumentation of Pit Orchestra varies each year depending on the musical selected. Students are chosen for this group based on interest, required instrumentation, and years in the band program. The group meets once a week after school starting in November, with rehearsals become more frequent as the February show approaches. 

Jazz Combo: This group is open to any student looking to take a deeper dive into the world of jazz improvisation. We meet once a week after school, and play eight to ten gigs a year at Lane Tech and around the community. You do not have to be a member of the band program to join this group.  Depending on interest we sometimes have 2 groups separated by ability.

Brass Quintet/Saxophone Quartet/Percussion Ensemble: These small groups are comprised of Symphonic Band students.  These groups perform at various events throughout the school year, most notably Open House and the spring Chamber Concert.