Thanks @heidekraut @musicprnt !
We have a nice piano. Sometimes he sits down and plays. Never had a lesson; I have no idea how he knows how to play. Maybe from the percussion keyboards. I’ll ask him if he’d like to take lessons.
I can’t tell you whether it was the right decision, but we talked to all of DS’s teachers and they all said not to do it. He would have had to drop another music class (he has two already - band and orchestra) or his foreign language to take it. They all said the credit would not transfer, he will have to take it anyway for the same number of semesters - the only thing that would change is the level at which he would start. Also, they said the AP course is very difficult and time consuming, and that time is better spent senior year on other pursuits, such as ensembles or audition prep. (BTW, my son is also a percussionist).
@missjen Thanks. Is your son in college now? Is he pursuing percussion? Does he specialize in one area of percussion? I’m trying to learn the lay of the land.
@brantly He is a junior now and will be applying for music education on classical percussion next year. It’s a minefield! I am happy to share what I know so far (which isn’t much) if you PM me! Also, like your son, mine started on viola and still plays in orchestra.
@missjen You’re one year ahead of me. My S is not 100% sure yet how he’ll study music—whether it will be a major, minor (ha, not pun intended) or maybe just a B.A. in music as a liberal arts subject.