Music, BA

Admittance to the Major

Any student wishing to major in Music must pass an audition in voice or instrument and a musicianship examination that tests aural skills and musical literacy (elementary theory, interval recognition, simple melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic dictation, and sight singing). The undergraduate musicianship examination is given four times each year: the first or second day of each semester, in February, and at the end of April. Auditions are held in the General and Scholarship Auditions in February of each year and during the first week of classes. Students should consult the Department office or contact the director of undergraduate studies to sign up for the undergraduate musicianship examination and to make an appointment for an audition. Please see the department webpage for information on how to audition.

Degree Requirements

The major in Music leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree. All courses offered for the major must be passed with a letter grade of C or higher.

Completion of the major requires 63 credits.

Music Honors Program

Candidates for honors in Music must be nominated by a faculty member who agrees to act as sponsor for the honors project. An eligible student may submit a proposal for a project to the proposed sponsor, who forwards the proposal together with a letter of nomination to the Department of Music’s undergraduate studies committee. To be eligible, a student must have maintained at least a 3.00 cumulative g.p.a., and a 3.50 g.p.a. in music. After entering the honors program, a student must maintain at least a 3.50 g.p.a. in music.

Students must register for MUS 495  and complete a project in performance, composition, history, theory, or ethnomusicology. The project must have a speaking component and must be carried out under the supervision of a sponsor. The completed project is reviewed by an evaluating committee consisting of the sponsor, another member of the Music faculty, and an outside evaluator.

Complete guidelines for the honors program are available from the director of undergraduate studies.

SBC Courses

This table illustrates major courses that can also be used to fulfill SBC requirements. (See Note 1 & Note 2)

Note 1: Some course information may be subject to change. Please contact your major advisor for additional consultation.

Note 2: For majors that require study in a related area or completion of a minor, visit the respective program’s “Major SBC Courses” page to view expanded SBC options. 

Note 3: Denotes any course in which students can choose from more than one option. These may include, but are not limited to, major electives, concentration/track/specialization courses, or calculus/physics/chemistry sequences.

Note 4: CEAS majors, the Athletic Training major, the Respiratory Care major, and the Clinical Laboratory Sciences major are exempt from the LANG learning objective. Students enrolled in the major in Social Work are exempt from the LANG learning objective, but are required to enroll in and pass with a letter grade of C or higher the first semester of an elementary foreign language course numbered 111, or satisfy through alternate methods.

Note 5: Students are responsible for completing the general education requirements published in the Bulletin that was current as of the first semester of matriculation (or rematriculation). The following student groups must satisfy the DIV learning objective as part of their degree requirements:

• Freshmen who matriculate in the Fall of 2019 or later
• Transfer students who matriculate in the Spring of 2020 or later
• Students who rematriculate in the Fall of 2019 or later

Sample Course Sequence