Music, Performance Option, B.A.

Program Learning Outcomes

Students will demonstrate:    

1. a familiarity with the styles, genres, and forms of Western art music, and the most influential composers and compositions therein.
2. the ability to accomplish a stylistic analysis of music from different eras in music history.
3. an awareness of and skill in researching current issues in music history.
4. the ability to describe musical styles, structures, and techniques precisely and articulately in writing and in speaking (oral discourse).
5. aural comprehension-through dictation-of melody, harmony, rhythm, and form in various musical styles.
6. skills in sight-singing of music from the Baroque through 21st-Century.
7. skills in playing functional keyboard harmony.
8. knowledge of the most pertinent concepts of tonal music: proper voice leading, harmonic motion within the circle of fifths, tonicization and modulation, sequences, chromaticism, and aspects of traditional small and large scale forms.
9. knowledge of the most pertinent concepts of post-tonal music: modal scales and harmonies, twelve-tone serialism, quartal/quintal harmonies, polyrhythm, metric modulation, minimalist techniques, chance music, graphic music, and non-traditional forms.
10. Every year, students in the Performance Option will demonstrate a level of mastery in an instrument  or voice as defined by the departmental standards (and recommended by the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) for the instrumental areas or National Association of Teachers of singing-NATS-for vocal studies).  
11. At the end of their required piano studies, students in the History/Ethnomusicology Option,  Theory/Composition Option, and Piano Pedagogy Minor Option will be able to demonstrate proficiency in piano skills, as recommended by NASM.
12. At the completion of their studies, students in the Music Minor will demonstrate a  proficiency, as defined by departmental standards and NASM or NATS, in the performance of either an instrument or in voice.

General Education Requirements (30-46 Credits)

Prerequisite coursework may be required to satisfy certain General Education courses and will count as elective credit.

Total Credits Required to Complete Major: 45-47

• Performance, Musicology/HiTEC, and Jazz and American Music Studies options: 45 credits
• Music Business, Recording and Production option: 45-47 credits

Basic Requirements for all Music Options (26 Credits)

• Musicianship Requirement (8 Credits)

• MUSC 139 - Piano I Credit(s): 1
• MUSC 140 - Piano II Credit(s): 1
• MUSC 189 - Elements of Music Theory Credit(s): 3

• Select one:

• MUSC 256 - Elements of Diatonic Harmony and Polyphony Credit(s): 3 or
• MUSC 258 - Elements of Jazz Harmony Credit(s): 3

• Critical Histories and Methods (18 Credits)

• MUSC 226 - F/Music History I: Music and the European City, 1685-1803 Credit(s): 3
• MUSC 227 - F/Music History II: Key Figures in Music History, Beethoven to Beyoncé Credit(s): 3
• MUSC 236 - Thinking Through Music I Credit(s): 3
• MUSC 315 - Analytical Methods Credit(s): 3
• MUSC 327 - Thinking Through Music II Credit(s): 3

• Select one:

• MUSC 331 - Studies in Keyboard Literature: (subtitle) Credit(s): 3 or
• MUSC 333 - Studies in Vocal Literature: (subtitle) Credit(s): 3 or
• MUSC 334 - Music and Film: (subtitle) Credit(s): 3 or
• MUSC 335 - Studies in Instrumental Literature: (subtitle) Credit(s): 3 or
• MUSC 336 - Music, Gender, and Sexuality: (subtitle) Credit(s): 3 or
• MUSC 337 - Music, Race, and Ethnicity: (subtitle) Credit(s): 3 or
• MUSC 338 - Folk Music in New York State Credit(s): 3 or
• MUSC 339 - Folk and Popular Music Studies: (subtitle) Credit(s): 3

Option Requirements: (19 Credits)

Additional Requirements

Ensemble Participation Requirement: Participation in the following specified performance organizations each semester in the Music Performance Option (NOTE: a maximum of eight credits may be applied to the degree)

• Music Performance Option-Piano: a MUSC 160  or MUSC 165  organization, or an equivalent activity approved by the Piano Coordinator and participation in weekly Piano Seminar;
• Music Performance Option-Voice: a MUSC 160  organization (placement by audition and participation in weekly Voice Seminar;
• Music Performance Option-Woodwind, Brass, or Percussion: MUSC 165  Chamber Symphony, Wind Ensemble, or Jazz Ensemble (placement by audition) and participation in weekly Instrumental Seminar;
• Music Performance Option-String: MUSC 165  Symphony Orchestra and participation in weekly Instrumental Seminar. maximum of eight credits may be applied to the degree.

Juries and Recital Requirement

• Jury examination each semester in the Music Performance Option;
• Performance in a Friday afternoon recital each semester in the Music Performance Option or in some other public, faculty-sponsored event approved by the principal instructor;
• Solo performance of approximately one-half hour in a shared Junior Recital.

Minimum Competency Requirement

A grade of C- or better is required for all major requirements, including all required coursework and electives. For the Music Performance Option, a grade of C- or better is required for all major requirements, including all general and performance option coursework; all performance organization requirements; all juries and the junior recital.

Departmental Writing Requirement

Each of the following courses includes a writing assignment in formal prose of about ten pages in length, following one of three approaches - analytical, historical, or a combination of these: MUSC 311 , MUSC 315 , MUSC 331 , MUSC 333 , MUSC 334 , MUSC 335 , MUSC 336 , MUSC 337 , MUSC 338 , and MUSC 339 . The organization of each paper should be clear, the writing appropriately literary, and grammatically and syntactically correct. The ideas should present a logical argument, as suggested by an earlier outline. The paper should be typed and doubled-spaced, with page numbers and one-inch margins. All sources consulted should be cited in a consistent manner in footnotes and a complete bibliography, following the standard format described in The Chicago Manual of Style or Kate Turabian’s Manual for Writers. It is the music historian’s responsibility to oversee the implementation of the writing requirement and to enforce a fair and equal standard for all papers submitted.

Students who plan to attend graduate school are strongly advised to complete two years of foreign language study.

Outline/Advising Guide

For Students who Matriculated prior to Fall 2022: