There’s nothing “general” about 8th grade music class at Cazenovia High School.

During the first five weeks of the 10-week class, students learn to play the guitar with songs like “Love Me Do,” “American Pie” and “Yellow Submarine.”

This is the first step in a process that ends with students writing and recording their own masterpieces.

“After guitar skills are mastered, the students learn composition skills so that they can write songs,” said teacher Todd Macreery.

Classes break up into smaller groups to work on writing “pop” songs. Students compose songs using vocals, guitars and any other instrument they think will enhance their songs.

“When the songs are completed, I record them using my computer’s DAW, or digital audio workshop, the Logic Pro Suite,” Macreery said. “This way the students can get a feel for what a recording session in a professional music studio would be like.”

The students lay down tracks, overdub recordings and add effects to their instrument and vocal tracks.

At the end of the process, each student receives a CD recording of the songs written and recorded by the class.