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Music

Basic Structure of the Department

  • The Music department offers a single major, a modified major, and a minor. Courses in Music are in one of three categories: Music Theory, Music History and Literature, and Performance. Courses are offered in Western and World music. A large number of music courses have no prerequisite requirements and fulfill the ART, WCult, EU or NW College Requirements.
  • Music Theory courses range from an introduction to musical notation, solfeggio, and harmony, to advanced tonal analysis and orchestration.
  • Music History and Literature courses include offerings devoted to Western classical music, American music, jazz, ethnomusicology, and music and technology.
  • Performance and Musicianship comprises individual instruction on an instrument, instruction in conducting, or participation in the department's new Music Performance Laboratory Program (MUS 50). This year's offerings - which may be taken for credit or not for credit, include performance laboratories in chamber music, contemporary music, jazz improvisation, and Indonesian gamelan. First-year students are encouraged to enroll in performance laboratories.
  • MUS 5: Harmony and Theory 1 (or its equivalent) is a prerequisite for most theory and composition courses, as well as for the music major, and for the Foreign Study Program. It is offered in fall 2007, and winter 2008.  
  • MUS 2: Beginning Music Theory (offered fall 2007) is an appropriate predecessor to MUS 5 for students who have little or no background in musical studies.
  • If a first-year student comes to Dartmouth with considerable prior experience in Music Theory, s/he should contact the department to discuss and obtain permission to enroll in upper-level theory courses. There will be a take-home placement exam for MUS 5 which will be available on Tuesday, September 25th at 10 AM in 219 Wilson Hall.
  • The Music department sponsors a Foreign Study Program to London in the spring. Prerequisites include MUS 5, with MUS 20 recommended, plus one Music History course, plus two terms of a Music department performance lab (MUS 50), OR one contract (three terms) of private instruction in MUS 11-16.
  • Students may obtain course credit for individual instruction on an instrument or in voice. Students who wish to do so should contact the department to set up an audition during the first week of the term. Slots are limited.

Note: MUS 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 50 (individual instruction courses) are offered fall, winter and spring terms, by arrangement.

Please note that the Music Performance Laboratory (Mus 50) has four sections:

  • Section 1: Chamber Music
  • Section 2: Jazz Improvisation
  • Section 3: Contemporary Music
  • Section 4: Indonesian Gamelan

Fall courses for the interested first-year student

  • MUS 2: Beginning Music Theory
  • MUS 3: Music and Technology
  • MUS 5: Harmony and Theory I (Ability to read music in two or more clefs, and permission of the instructor is required)
  • MUS 9: History of Jazz (=AAAS 39)
  • MUS 10: Basic Keyboard Skills (no prerequisite, two sections: MUS 10, section 1, for those with no piano experience; MUS 10, section 2, for those with some training on piano)
  • MUS 24: Introduction to the Composition of Electro-Acoustic Music and the Electronic Music Studio (MUS 5 and permission of the instructor are prerequisites)
  • MUS 38: American Musical Theater
  • MUS 51: Oral Tradition Musicianship

Winter courses for the interested first-year student

  • MUS 6: History of Western Art Music
  • MUS 10: Basic Keyboard Skills (no prerequisite, two sections: MUS 10, section 1, for those with no piano experience; MUS 10, section 2, for those with some training on piano)
  • MUS 20: Harmony and Theory II (MUS 5 or permission of the instructor is prerequisite. Course is designed as a continuation of MUS 5)
  • MUS 36: Verdi
  • MUS 40: Ethnomusicology (=JWST 57)
  • MUS 51: Oral Tradition Musicianship

Spring courses for the interested first-year student

  • MUS 1: American Music
  • MUS 4: Global Sounds
  • MUS 5: Harmony and Theory
  • MUS 8: Music of Today (some form of musical performance experience, or permission of the instructor, is prerequisite)
  • MUS 10: Basic Keyboard Skills (no prerequisite, two sections: MUS 10, section 1, for those with no piano experience; MUS 10, section 2, for those with some training on piano)
  • MUS 19: Composition (MUS 5 or permission of the instructor is prerequisite)
  • MUS 21: Counterpoint (MUS 5 or permission of the instructor is prerequisite)
  • MUS 24: Introduction to the Composition of Electro-Acoustic Music (MUS 5 or permission of the instructor is prerequisite)
  • MUS 35: Beethoven in Context
  • MUS 51: Oral Tradition Musicianship

Current Enrollments, Class Size, and Distributives

The ORC

The Music Homepage

Last Updated: 9/21/07