Program Description

The Bachelor of Music option in Keyboard prepares students for a variety of professional activities in piano performance and piano pedagogy (entrance audition required). Capstone experience: one-hour recital. During their studies at CSUN, piano majors are given an opportunity to develop their skills in solo performance, as well as within chamber music and piano ensemble settings. The Chamber Music and Piano Ensemble classes culminate in end-of-semester public performances. Piano students also have a variety of other performance opportunities, including the biweekly informal noon recitals, studio classes and during master classes by visiting artists. Additionally, the CSUN Music department holds a yearly concerto competition in which the winners perform concertos with the CSUN Symphony Orchestra.

Program Requirements

A. Admission to the Major

Admission to the major in Music for all undergraduate degrees is determined by audition. Those auditioning for the Performance options must exhibit a high-performance competence in the audition. Audition procedures and standards are listed on the Department of Music—Audition and Placement website.

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.

B. 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. Students enrolled in music ensembles in the Fall semester normally are expected to re-enroll in the same ensemble for the Spring semester. The nature of these classes makes it essential that consistent personnel be maintained throughout the year.

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.

C. Grade Requirement

Students in all options of the B.A. and B.M. Music degrees must earn a grade of “C-” or better in all courses in the Music curriculum, including those required courses that are offered in other departments.

D. Course Requirements

1. Lower Division Required Courses (46 units)

MUS 112/L Musicianship II and Lab (1/1)
MUS 132A Functional Keyboard Skills I (1)
MUS 132B Functional Keyboard Skills II (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 211/L Musicianship III and Lab (1/1)
MUS 212/L Musicianship IV and Lab (1/1)
MUS 213 Harmony I (3)
MUS 214 Harmony II (3)
MUS 307 Music from a Global Perspective (3)
MUS 311/L Musicianship V and Lab (1/1)
MUS 312/L Musicianship VI and Lab (1/1)
MUS 316 Musical Analysis (3)
MUS 483ME/L Music Entrepreneurship and Lab (1/1)
MUS 495 Senior Recital/Project (1)
Individual Lessons (2-2)
Ensembles (4)

Choose 2 units from the following:

MUS 210AJ Keyboard Musicianship III—Jazz (1)
MUS 210 BJ Keyboard Musicianship IV—Jazz (1)
MUS 235A Contemporary Keyboard Styles—Latin (1)
MUS 235B Contemporary Keyboard Styles—Jazz/Rock/Pop (1)

2. Keyboard Option Requirements (34 units)

a. Piano Performance

MUS 314 Tonal Counterpoint (3)
MUS 407A Keyboard Literature I (2)
MUS 407B Keyboard Literature II (2)
MUS 432/L Master Class: Piano and Lab (4) (1/1 units; taken twice)
MUS 461A/L Elementary Piano Pedagogy and Lab (1/1)
MUS 461B/L Advanced Piano Pedagogy and Lab (1/1)
Individual Lessons (12)

Ensembles

Note: Piano Performance majors take two semesters of choir and two semesters of piano ensemble (MUS 484) as their 4 units of ensembles in the core.

MUS 476 Keyboard Accompaniment Practicum (4) (1 unit; taken four times)
MUS 487 Chamber Music Techniques (3) (1 unit; taken three times)

b. Piano Pedagogy*

MUS 407A Keyboard Literature I (2)
MUS 407B Keyboard Literature II (2)
MUS 432/L Master Class: Piano and Lab (4) (1/1 units; taken twice)
MUS 461A/L Elementary Piano Pedagogy and Lab (1/1)
MUS 461B/L Advanced Piano Pedagogy and Lab (1/1)
MUS 478A/L Piano Pedagogy Resources and Practicum and Lab (1/1)
MUS 478B/L Directed Teaching in Piano Pedagogy and Lab (1/1)
Individual Lessons (12)

Ensembles

Note: Piano Pedagogy majors take two semesters of choir and two semesters of piano ensemble (MUS 484) as their 4 units of ensembles in the core.

MUS 476 Keyboard Accompaniment Practicum (4) (1 unit; taken four times)
MUS 487 Chamber Music Techniques (2) (1 unit; taken two times)

*Students in the Piano Pedagogy emphasis are strongly encouraged to take PSY 150 (taken as part of GE requirement—meets 3 units of the GE requirement in D1 Social Sciences).

c. Organ

Individual Lessons (12)

Ensembles

MUS 276 or MUS 476 (4) (1 unit; taken four times)
Elective Ensembles (chosen in consultation with advisor) (8)

Select 10 additional units from the following, in consultation with advisor:

MUS 314 Tonal Counterpoint (3)
MUS 315 Orchestration I (2)
MUS 363/L Choral Conducting and Arranging and Lab (3)
MUS 407A Keyboard Literature I (2)
MUS 407B Keyboard Literature II (2)
MUS 411 History of Performance Practices (2)
MUS 412 Choral Literature (2)
MUS 438 Master Class: Church Music (2)

3. General Education (48 units)

Undergraduate students must complete 48 units of General Education as described in this Catalog.
9 units are satisfied by the following courses in the major: MUS 202 satisfies C1 Arts; MUS 191/L satisfies E Lifelong Learning; and MUS 307 satisfies 3 units of upper division F Comparative Cultural Studies.

If taken, MUS 397R/L satisfies B5 Scientific Inquiry and Quantitative Reasoning.

Total Units in the Major/Option: 80

General Education Units: 39

Additional Units: 1

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