The Music Department curriculum and the requirements for the major and minor in music have undergone substantial revision, effective July 1st, 2009 (academic year 2009-10). Please refer to the Prospectus for 2009-2011 for a listing of which courses are offered in which term and see below for the revised curriculum.
Students may major in Music, concentrating in history/musicology, composition, performance, ethnomusicology, or a focus of their own design. A modified major is also available in which Music is combined with another area, such as computer science or engineering, English, etc. Students may also choose to double major, fulfilling the requirements for two complete majors. One may also choose to minor in music while taking a major in another department.
Students may take individual instruction in a variety of instruments, including voice, from professional musicians-teachers. Follow the link to find out more about the program!
REFER TO PROSPECTUS ON Registrar's Website for schedule of classes
Requirements for the Departmental Major:
Prerequisite:
Music 20 (unless exempted by a grade of 5 on the AP Music Theory exam, or by an equivalent exam administered by the Music Dept).
Requirements:
1. Music 21, 22, 23 (core sequence)
2. Seven additional courses, of which five or more must be numbered 24 or above, including at least one course in the Music Department’s Individual Instruction Program (Music 53-58) and one course that represents the Non-Western Cultures category within the World Cultures Requirement (in the present year, these courses include Music 45, 50 (section 4), and 51).
NB: Music 1 and Music 7 may not be used to fulfill the elective requirement. Courses in the Individual Instruction Program (Music 53-58) and Music Performance Laboratory Program (Music 50) may collectively fill no more than three of the seven elective slots that comprise the major. Students who wish to enroll in additional terms of Individual Instruction or Performance Laboratory are welcome to do so, but these terms may not be counted toward the major.
3. Culminating Experience: participation in the weekly Music Department colloquium series during spring term of the senior year.
4. Demonstration of proficiency on keyboard instruments either by enrollment through audition in Music 53 (individual piano lessons) or by passing a keyboard proficiency exam administered by the department. Students who do not intend to enroll in Music 53 are expected to pass the keyboard proficiency exam no later than the end of the term in which they complete Music 23.
Requirements for the Modified Major:
Six courses in Music together with four courses from another department. The six music courses must include at least one course from the core sequence (Music 21, 22, 23) and one course involving musical performance or composition.
Requirements for the Departmental Minor:
Same as major requirements except with three additional courses beyond the core sequence.
New courses are indicated by an asterisk. For renumbered or renamed courses, the former number is provided in brackets.
Introductory Courses
1. Beginning Music Theory [Music 2]
2. Music of Today [Music 8/85]
3. American Music [Music 1]
4. Global Sounds
5. History of Jazz [Music 9]
6. Masterpieces of Western Music [Former title: History of Western Art Music]
7. First-Year Seminar
8. Digital Musics, Sonic Arts, and the Internet
9. Music and Technology [Music 3]
10. Lives and Works of the Great Composers [Rotating topics: formerly Music 35/36]
11. Opera [Music 37]
12. Music, Ritual, Ceremony, and Sacred Chant [Music 41]
13. Special Topics [Music 8]
Interdisciplinary Courses
14. Music and Science [This rubric will be activated once we have completed the hiring process for our tenure-track position; topics will change from year to year, and may include “The Origins of Music” (taught in 08S by Prof. Polansky as a grad. Seminar), “Music and Cognition,” “Music and Information,” “The Neurobiology of Music,” and other topics.]
15. Music and Mathematics [This rubric would be used to offer a version of “Music and Computers,” previously taught as CoCo 11 by Profs. Polansky and Rockmore, and would also be used to cross-list Math 5, “The Mathematics of Music and Sound,” taught by Prof. Barnett.
16. Music and Image [taught as CoCo 11, “Music and Animation,” by Profs. Dong and Ehrlich]
[17-19: Slots for future interdisciplinary courses]
Courses leading toward the Music Major and Minor:
20. Introduction to Music Theory [Music 5]
Students who receive a score of 5 on the Music Theory AP exam may request exemption from the requirement to complete Music 20.
Core Sequence: Studies in Musical Form and Analysis
The three courses in the core sequence each include an ear training and musicianship laboratory that meets during the course x-hour plus one additional hour per week.
*21. Melody and Rhythm [New Course].
Through a focus on the relation of melody and rhythm, this course aims to develop students' understanding of how composers organize pitch and time and bring the linear and temporal elements of music into play with one another. Examples are drawn from a variety of musical sources ranging from popular songs and jazz compositions to symphonies and chamber works. Course work includes analysis, reflection, and directed composition. . Prerequisite: Music 20 (previously MUS 5) or Music Department-approved exemption from Music 20. With permission of instructor, students may enroll in Music 21 concurrently with enrollment in Music 20. Dist: ART.
*22. Harmony and Rhythm [New Course]. Prerequisite: Music 20; with permission of instructor, students may enroll in Music 22 concurrently with enrollment in Music 20.
*23. Timbre and Form [New Course]. Prerequisite: Music 21 and 22
Theory and Composition
30. Composition Seminar [Music 19]. Prerequisite: Music 21 or 22; may be repeated twice for credit
31. Digital Music Composition [Music 24]. Prerequisite: Music 20 or exemption from Music 20
*32. Improvisation [New Course].
"Improvisation" describes a wide variety of musical practices around the world through which musicians at least partially extemporize a musical performance. This course aims to develop skills in improvisatory music-making both through practical experimentation and exercises, and by analyzing approaches to improvisation in selected musical styles, traditions, and works, with a focus on pieces by contemporary composers and avant-garde free improvisation. For a final project, students will prepare and present a concert of improvised works. Prerequisite: Music 1 or exemption from Music 1.
*33. Theories of Music (New Course: this course will be implemented in a future year, once we have students who have fulfilled the prerequisites in the new curriculum. Prerequisite: Music 23
History and Criticism
*40. Topics in Music History [New Course]. Prerequisite: Music 21 or 22 or permission of the instructor; may be repeated twice with different topic
In 10W, European Patronage and the Creation of Musical Masterworks, 1600-1820.
Noble and ecclesiastical patrons supported most of the leading European composers of the 17th and 18th centuries and underwrote an astonishing number of musical masterpieces. This course examines the intricate connections between patrons, composers and works: how did the taste, sensibility, political views, and religious beliefs of patrons shape the genre, style, form, and performance history of the works they commissioned? Course work combines close analysis of works with readings in cultural and social history. Dist: ART; WCult: W.
41. Composer Seminar [Music 36]. Prerequisite: Music 21 or 22; may be repeated twice with different topic]
*42. The Spanish Musical Diaspora [New Course—to be initiated in a future year]
43. Opera [Music 37 – offered at a more advanced level]. Prerequisite: Music 21 or 22
44. Music in the Twentieth Century [Music 34].
The music composed during the last hundred years is filled with exciting new sounds, new ideas and is comprised of many different multicultural genres. A close examination of the innovations of these artistic explorations by individual composers, this course intends to give the students a sense of who was doing what, when, where and why in the world of 20th-century art music. Through listening, analysis, reading assignments and class discussions, the course focuses on aspects of the music such as the structure, pitch organization, rhythm and sound texture. Selected works of Bartok, Berio, Cage, Crumb, Debussy, Glass, Ives, Ligeti, Lutoslawski, Ravel, Riley, Schoenberg, Shostakovitch, Stockhausen, Stravinsky, Takemitsu, TanDun, Varese, Webern and others will be carefully studied. Permission of the instructor.
45. Ethnomusicology [Music 40]. Prerequisite: ability to read music
Performance Courses
50. Performance Laboratories
51. Oral Tradition Musicianship
52. Conducting [Music 72]
53-58. Studies in Musical Performance (IIP) [Music 11-16]
60-65. Advanced Study in Musical Performance [Music 71-76]
FSP Courses
70. History of Music in England [Music 30]
71. Perspectives on Musical Performance [Music 29]
*72. Beijing Arts FSP [New Course – development of FSP proposal on hold]
*73. Beijing Arts FSP [New Course – development of FSP proposal on hold]
Individual Research Courses
80-88
Graduate Courses
101-105
