Although many universities had bona fide a cappella groups quite early, Cornell did not really adopt the trend until the 1980s when previously non-a cappella groups such as Cayuga’s Waiters, The Hangovers, and Nothing But Treble became a cappella. In 1983, The Touchstones became the first a cappella group to be founded as an a cappella group. The Class Notes were next, founded later that same year. The Class Notes are absolutely the first mixed a cappella group at Cornell.

The Class Notes was founded in 1983 by Justine Johnson, David Lefkowitz, and Tim Peierls. Their goal was to start a mixed-voice group (still a reasonably novel concept, although other Ivy League schools, such as Princeton and Yale, already had them). The original idea was to create a sort of blend between jazz and pop styles.

Finding a niche for mixed-voice a cappella was not always easy as there were not really any popular choral ensembles for mixed voices; only the Sage Chapel Choir and the Cornell Chorale—which were more community organizations than student groups—provided mixed-voice singing. Even the Songs of Cornell book from that period contained no mixed-voice arrangements! Mixed-voice groups were still relatively rare in the national collegiate a cappella scene, and there was an opinion (which still persists to some degree in the present) among many people that men and women cannot develop a natural blend with each other and so mixed-voice groups would necessarily be inferior to the single-sex groups.

However, the group was always able to attract talented members and built, even in the early days, a reputation of excellence among its relatively narrow group of fans.

Over time, the jazz roots of the group were gradually phased out. The group has performed a repertoire of primarily recent pop for about fifteen years.

The Cornell Jamboree was established in the 1984-1985 academic year as a concert featuring the active a cappella groups at that time: Cayuga's Waiters, The Hangovers, Nothing But Treble, The Touchtones, and The Class Notes. Each group would perform for about twenty minutes.

In addition, The Class Notes had their own annual show, also established in the 1984-1985 academic year: Cuttin' Class. Traditionally, each a cappella group had one major show a year. The Class Notes considered Jamboree to be a major show and so would schedule Cuttin' Class for whichever semester did not contain Jamboree.

The Class Notes always had a substantial fan base; however, Jamboree V in Fall 1988 was the first time The Class Notes received serious popular press. This moved the group forward in the public eye.

In the 1980s album recording was prohibitively expensive for most a cappella groups at Cornell and everywhere. Although The Class Notes were not able to afford the high costs of recording, the group received a generous long-term interest-free loan from the family of one of the members enabling them to record Out On The Arts Quad in 1990. This album was released on cassette, normal for the time.

The Class Notes were fortunate to receive a loan for the production of the first album, but they could not count on such generosity forever. The group wanted its second album to be released on compact disc, but they did not have the funds to record a major album. So, in 1994, The Class Notes released Naturally, the second album, and the first on compact disc, as a compilation of live concert tracks from Cuttin' Class VII, VIII, and IX.

Although it would not be fair to say that recording has become cheap, modern technology has made affordable, high-quality recordings available even to younger, less established, less affluent groups. As a result, The Class Notes has been able to release new studio-recorded albums every two or three years since 1994, albeit not without sacrifice and belt-tightening: Destinations (1996), Break The Silence (1998), Afterhours (2001), Unfolded (2004), Hint of Lime (2007).

In the late 1990's, The Class Notes started an annual fall concert of their own. This concert was originally called All For A Dollar, but in 2000, the name was changed to Classified, presumably because The Class Notes wanted to charge more than a dollar for the show! Classified is still the name of annual fall concert just as Cuttin' Class is still the name of the annual spring concert.

“Only You” is a song recorded by Yaz in 1982. It was covered in 1983 by the professional British a cappella group The Flying Pickets. This version reached Number One on the British charts. Don Snow, a member of The Class Notes, arranged this song for the group during the 1986-1987 academic year. Prior to this time, The Class Notes had no well-known signature tune.

“Only You” has always been popular with the fans, and, over time, the song was performed more and more frequently. By the mid-1990s, “Only You” became the signature song of the group, traditionally sung at the end of each major concert with alumni invited up from the audience.

“Only You” is the only song to appear on all seven of The Class Notes' albums.

The Class Notes started going on tour during Cornell's Spring Break; although, since the mid-2000s, the tour has occurred during the Fall Break. Usually, The Class Notes visit destinations within driving distance of Ithaca, such as New York City, Washington, D.C., and Boston. However, the 2008 tour was a trip to southern Florida, and, in 1999, The Class Notes made their first international tour to Jamaica.

The Class Notes are still going strong. Over one hundred fifty men and women have been a part of this ensemble, and over the last twenty-five years have performed over three hundred distinct songs and have released seven albums. When The Class Notes began it was one of five a cappella groups on campus and the only mixed group. At present, there are thirteen a cappella groups at Cornell, five of which are mixed (and only three of which are male) demonstrating a new a cappella norm on campus and demonstrating the influence The Class Notes had and still has on the campus a cappella community.