At a typical American high school like UC High, as soon as the dismissal bell rings, what do we do? We pull out our iPods, cram headphones into our ears, and crank up the music. Innovator Steve Jobs’ world-changing invention (may he rest in peace) is popular among teenagers not because of the technological qualities it possesses, but because of what it stores: music. Music is a crucial part of almost every teenager’s life, which is what the new Music Appreciation Club is aiming to explore.

Founded by Sophomore AJ Lee and Junior Reginald Wilson, UC High’s newest club was created to allow students to explore a vast variety of music. “We made the club because it seems like many people don’t really know or understand music, but they want to know about it and how to make it,” said Lee. The club aims to introduce different music styles to students and hopes to show students how to find ways to incorporate music into everyday life.

Similar to many clubs at UC High, the Music Appreciation Club meets once a week, for them on Wednesdays in room B-9. So far they have involved over 30 students in the exploration of the hip-hop and rap genres that are popular among many teens. The club is unique in that it is primarily student-run, giving Lee and Wilson the freedom to address the musical styles students want to learn about.

Throughout the year, the club wants to expand and talk about every type of music. “We’re hoping by next year to have enough people to move our meetings to a bigger room like the auditorium, and to have more performances throughout the school year,” Lee said. “For the rest of this year, we want to go into every kind of music. When we go into genres that people aren’t as interested in, we’ll have discussions and let people express their opinions about the type,” he added.

Free expression and music are incredibly useful, especially to high school students. According to Advisor Aaron Pores, “Most teenagers are at the age where they start to think of the outside world around them. Music is like literature, with energy and content. It can even be therapeutic, and help you accept yourself.” Lee added, “In general, music can be used to drown out everything else complicated going on in your life, especially work.”

In addition, some believe incorporating music into students’ lives can benefit their educations. According to a profile of SAT program test takers from the College Entrance Examination Board, “Students taking courses in music performance and music appreciation scored higher on the SAT than those with no arts participation.” In this study, students involved in music performance on average scored 53 points higher on the verbal section and 42 points higher on the math section of the SAT, while students in music appreciation scored 61 points higher on the verbal section and 42 points higher in math (childrensmusicworkshop.com).

Club members have enjoyed the variety and focus of the Music Appreciation Club so far. Senior Tiffany Kao said, “This club has been pretty interesting, because I’m really into hip-hop and beat-boxing.” Of course, as the year goes on the club will introduce different genres, according to Wilson, but so far the club has been popular based on its leadership and student participants.

Whether you listen to music while you walk home from school, play a musical instrument, sing, or steal lyrics from songs to describe your days, music can find a place in everyone’s life, as well as being a release from everyday stress. The Music Appreciation Club hopes to give every student who joins the opportunity to express his or herself through music.