Overview

This is a flexible program with minimum performance requirements that allows students to combine studies in music with other fields of interest (entrance audition required).

Research increasingly confirms and reveals the power and potential of music in human development. The study of music, requiring a variety of learning modalities, develops essential skills that carry over into the study of other fields. The performance components allow for deep cultivation of its expressive potential. The student also has opportunity to develop maturity and poise in public settings, leading to growth in self-confidence and flexibility. In group music making, the student becomes part of an artistic community, reaping the satisfaction of working with others toward common goals and the sense of accomplishment resulting from fine performance.

Program Requirements

Admission to the Major

Students wanting to select Music as a major are expected to have had a variety of pre-college cognitive and affective experiences. These could include high school performance, high school theory programs, individual private instruction with music professionals, and professional and vocational musical experiences. Admission to the Major in Music for all undergraduate degrees is determined by audition. Students must complete this audition and be accepted to the Department prior to being accepted in the major. Those auditioning for the Bachelor of Music Degree must exhibit a high performance competence in the audition.

Transfer students seeking admission to Performance Options must audition at the appropriate entrance-level determined by the number of transferable units accepted by the University. (Example: At the time of the audition, students with more than 60 transferable units must demonstrate musical proficiency at the junior level for admission to a Performance Option.) Exceptions to this policy are rare and are at the discretion of the Music Department.

After admission to the University and admission to the Music Department (audition for Performance Options and audition plus interview for other Options), students will need to complete required coursework in the Music Core curriculum and in an Option. Successful progress toward the Degree is in part determined by appropriate coursework taken in a sequential manner and by earning a grade of “C-” or better in all courses in the Music curriculum, including those outside the Music Department. Students will not be admitted to Upper Division study in Music until all Lower Division coursework has been successfully completed.

Lesson and Ensemble Requirements

To qualify for individual lessons in any semester, an undergraduate student must be enrolled in a minimum of 12 units, including lesson units and the correct number of ensemble units required by his or her Option.

Enrollment in the designated ensemble(s) for the student’s instrument is a corequisite of enrollment in private lessons each semester of enrollment. Students who do not meet this requirement by the third week of the semester will not be eligible for lessons that semester.

All students enrolled in individual lessons must demonstrate their progress in the major before a faculty jury at the end of each semester of study. Students receiving lower than a grade of “C-” in that semester of lessons will need to take additional study at their own expense to achieve their required level of performance before resuming Department-paid lessons.

Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts Degree

1. Lower Division Required Courses (24 units)

MUS 110A Keyboard Musicianship I (1)
MUS 110B Keyboard Musicianship II (1)
MUS 111/L Musicianship I and Lab (1/1)
MUS 112/L Musicianship II and Lab (1/1)
MUS 191/L Fundamentals of Music Technology and Lab (2/1)
MUS 201 Style/Literature of Western Music I (3)
MUS 202 Style/Literature of Western Music II (3)
MUS 210A Keyboard Musicianship III (1)
MUS 211/L Musicianship III and Lab (1/1)
Individual Lessons (1-1)
Ensembles (4)

2. Upper Division Required Courses (6 Units)

MUS 307 Music from a Global Perspective (3)
MUS 483ME/L Music Entrepreneurship and Lab (1/1)
MUS 495 Senior Recital/Project (1)

3. Breadth Studies In Music Option Requirements (35 Units)

MUS 210B Keyboard Musicianship IV (1)
MUS 212/L Musicianship IV and Lab (1/1)
MUS 213 Harmony I (3)
MUS 214 Harmony II (3)
Individual Lessons (1-1)
Ensembles (4)

Upper Division music courses to be selected in consultation with the Breadth Studies Advisor and directed toward a specific Capstone, including two music literature courses (20 units)

Literature (choose two)

306—Introduction to Jazz; 309—Traditional Music of the U.S.; 31o—Understanding World Cultures Through Music; 401—Opera Literature; 403—Vocal Literature; 404—Symphonic Literature, 405—Wind; 407A/B—Keyboard Literature; 409—Chamber Literature; 411—Performance Practices; 412—Choral Literature.

Individual Lessons

Maximum of 2 units (in addition to the required 4 units), may be requested of the Department Chair by the student in writing at the time of the 4th semester jury. If approved, this choice leads to a Capstone no. 4 as listed below.

Ensembles

Maximum of 4 Upper Division units toward the 20-unit elective total (4 units required for students receiving 2 additional units of lessons).

Other

Maximum of 6 units in one or more disciplines outside music. MUS 307, 483ME/L and 495 do not count toward the 20-unit Upper Division requirement.

Capstone (MUS 495 in Core, Credit/No Credit).

One of the following (detailed requirements available from Breadth Studies Advisor):

1. Undergraduate Thesis (35-page minimum).
2. Lecture/demonstration—plus written report (15-page minimum).
3. Custom-designed project. Student must describe the specifics of the project and how it relates—plus written report (15-page minimum).
4. Lecture/recital: Requires Department Chair approval, normally not permitted. In rare circumstances the student and their faculty member may petition the Department Chair during the fourth semester of lessons for consideration of the lecture/recital Capstone and additional lessons.

General Education

The following 9 units of Music courses count for GE: MUS 191/L, 202, 307.

Total Units in the Breadth Studies Option: 65

General Education Units: 39 (Does not include MUS 191/L, MUS 202, or MUS 307)

Additional Units: 16

Total Units Required for the B.A. Degree: 120