Bachelor of Music (B.M.)

Composition

This option is designed for students who wish to concentrate their study on the materials and structure of music, with advanced study in musicianship, aural perception, analysis, and composition. Composition students can specialize in classical and/or studio/jazz styles. The program gives young composers a strong basis in the tradition of Western music while allowing the flexibility to explore other special compositional areas.

B.M./Composition Program Advisor: Adam Hanna

Curriculum

A minimum of 120 credits is required for graduation.

Students selecting the music composition option must complete

  • 8 semesters of applied composition (MUS 210V, 410V: Applied Music – Composition), 2 credits per semester (16 credits total);
  • 8 semesters of MUS 300: Music Convocation;
  • and 4 semesters of secondary applied music areas (MUS 210), one credit per semester (4);

MUS 171 and 172 (Class Piano I and II) are required if students select piano proficiency option II. Students who have not passed the piano proficiency examination by the end of MUS 172 will be expected to take MUS 271 and 272, which can count as secondary applied music areas.

  • MUS 169: Percussion Methods
  • MUS 170: Guitar Methods
  • MUS 173: Voice Methods
  • MUS 175: String Methods
  • MUS 177: Woodwind Methods
    or
  • MUS 179: Brass Methods

Also required are 8 semesters of major ensembles, appropriate to the principle applied music area (8 credits). 

  • MUS 292: Concert Band
  • MUS 293: University Chorus
  • MUS 394: Symphonic Wind Ensemble
  • MUS 395: Concert Choir
    or
  • MUS 397: University Symphony Orchestra

For the studio composition specialization, credits in MUS 396 (Jazz Studio Ensemble) may be included.

Also required are:

  • MUS 115: Musicianship Lab I 
  • MUS 116: Music Theory I 
  • MUS 117: Musicianship II
  • MUS 118: Music Theory II 
  • MUS 119: Introduction to the Music Profession 
  • MUS 215: Musicianship Lab III 
  • MUS 216: Music Theory III 
  • MUS 217: Musicianship Lab IV 
  • MUS 218: Music Theory IV 
  • MUS 220: Music as Global Culture 
  • MUS 222: History of Classical Music 900-1900
  • MUS 235: Introduction to Music Teaching
  • MUS 322: Genre as Identity in 20th & 21st Century Music
  • MUS 311: Choral Conducting Lab 
  • MUS 416: Form and Analysis
  • MUS 417: Orchestration
  • *MUS 420: Eighteenth-Century Counterpoint
  • MUS 421: Aesthetics of Electro-Acoustic Music Composition
  • an upper-division music history course
  • MUS 450: Senior Composition Recital (capstone)
  • MUS 280 and 480 (capstone)
  • and six credits of electives, at least three of which should be in upper-division music courses

*For students specializing in studio composition, three credits of MUS 424 may be substituted for MUS 420