This course is open to those who play saxophone, trumpet, trombone, bass, piano, guitar, drum set and vocals. This course covers the basic principles of ensemble playing in the jazz and rhythm & blues idioms. Areas covered will be technical concepts and sound production. The primary focus of this course is improvisation and the creation of original material. Students will study the ensemble playing through performance in this small ensemble.

Prerequisite: Rhythm and Blues band is open to students enrolled in any other band or choir course at Oak Bay High School or by the discretion of the director.

This course, examines the history of rock, primarily as it unfolded in the United States, from the days before rock (pre-1955) to the end of the 1970s. This course covers, but is not limited to, the music of Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Chuck Berry, Phil Spector,  the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, and many more artists, with an emphasis both on cultural context and on the music itself. This course will enable students to work in a band and learn how to set up performances, run a band, use sound equipment and use related hardware.