Music Minor
Music plays an integral part in the human experience, and the Music Minor encourages students to think deeply about music and to improve their musical abilities. The minor is designed to be flexible and to accommodate a wide range of students with varying musical backgrounds (including the classically trained musician, the garage-band performer, and the non-performing music lover). This minor develops active listening skills and introduces students to a variety of music literature and academic discourse about music. The minor fosters critical and analytical thinking about the ways music is constructed and the way it functions in society, while also encouraging students to solve compositional, historical-cultural, and performance problems. Communication is at the core of music, and students in the Music Studies Minor develop the ability to communicate musically and verbally in writing.
Students should first complete the literature and theory foundations core and then select courses that fit their personal interests.
Minor Requirements (18-19 credits):
- Literature and Theory Foundations
- MUS-111 Introduction to Music Literature (3 cr)
- MUS-100 Music Fundamentals (2 cr) (recommend for those with little or no music reading skills)
or
MUS-103.1 Music Theory I (3 cr) (recommended for fluent readers of music). Students who take this course are strongly encouraged to concurrently take MUS-101 Aural Skills I (1 cr)
- Electives
- Nine credits from the following, of which at least one course must be an upper-division course.
- MUS-101 Aural Skills I (1 cr)
- MUS-102.1 Aural Skills II (1 cr)
- MUS-103.1 Music Theory I (3 cr)
- MUS-104.1 Music Theory II (3 cr)
- MUS-202.1 Music Theory III (3 cr)
- MUS-203.1 Music Theory IV (3 cr)
- MUS-301 Counterpoint (2 cr)
- MUS-112 Introduction to World Music (3 cr)
- MUS-119 The Creative World of Mozart (2 cr)
- MUS-205 Survey of Opera History (2 cr)
- MUS-308 Performing Britannia and Celtica: The Music of Britain (3 cr)*
- MUS-311.1 Music History I (3 cr)
- MUS 312.1 Music History II (3 cr)
- MUS-315 Beethoven (3 cr)
- MUS-341 Beginning Conducting (2 cr)
- MUS-400 Musicology Seminar (3 cr)
- Applied or Group lessons (MUS-130, MUSAP-133, MUSAP-230, MUSAP-330, MUSAP-430) (0.5-1 cr)
- Ensembles (0.5-3 cr)
- Nine credits from the following, of which at least one course must be an upper-division course.
- Required
- MUS-001 Concert/Recital Attendance (four semesters) (0 cr)
- MUS-491 Music Capstone (1 cr)
- Three credits in a Humanities course (English, Modern Foreign Languages [at 200-level or above], Philosophy, or Religion).
Student with music scholarships may be required to take additional semesters of applied lessons and ensembles to maintain their scholarships. These additional credits do not count toward the minor. It is expected that students with performance abilities will concentrate some of their time taking applied lessons and participating in ensembles (up to 3 credits for each will count toward this minor).
Student Learning Outcomes
- Critical Thinking
- Analytical Reasoning
- Problem Solving
- Communication through writing and music
- Identify, through listening and in writing, the six major period-styles in Western music history.
- Identify, through listening and in writing, prominent pieces of music literature and central composers in Western music.
- Demonstrate fluency in reading music and in basic music theory.