Oct 05, 2024  
2022-2023 Undergraduate Bulletin 
    
2022-2023 Undergraduate Bulletin [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Music, Performance Option, B.A.


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All majors must complete a series of basic requirements as well as additional requirements based on their chosen option. An audition is required for admission to the Music Performance Option (see details below).

Audition Requirements: The BA in Music with the Option in Music Performance is intended for students who wish to pursue instrumental or vocal performance studies within the context of a liberal arts degree. Students may major in Piano, Voice, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Saxophone, Bassoon, Trumpet, Horn, Trombone, Euphonium, Tuba, Violin, Viola, Cello, Double bass, Classical Guitar, or Percussion. Entrance to the Music Performance Option is by audition as follows:

Performance Option-Voice: three contrasting, memorized art songs, including one in a foreign language, that demonstrate classical singing technique at NYSSMA Level VI; applicants also may be requested to sight read; résumé. (Geneseo will provide an accompanist.)

Performance Option-Piano: three contrasting, memorized selections from different time periods, equivalent in difficulty to NYSSMA Level V or VI or Federation Level Very Difficult I; applicants also may be requested to play scales and arpeggios, and sight read; résumé.

Performance Option-Brass, Strings, or Winds: three contrasting selections equivalent in difficulty to NYSSMA Level VI; applicants also may be requested to play scales and arpeggios, and sight read; résumé.

Performance Option-Percussion: three selections equivalent in difficulty to NYSSMA Level VI, one on snare, one on timpani, one on a melodic instrument; applicants also may be requested to tune timpani, play scales and arpeggios on a melodic instrument, and sight read; résumé.

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

Option Requirements: (19 Credits)


Ensemble Participation


Piano, Voice, Woodwinds, Brass, Strings, or Percussion


(two semesters; *Prerequisite: proficiency at the level of two semesters of MUSC 250 , MUSC 251 , MUSC 252 , MUSC 253 , MUSC 254 , or MUSC 255 )

Junior Recital


Senior Recital


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:

First Year


Fall (14 Credit Hours)


Spring (14 Credit Hours)


Second Year


Fall (16 Credit Hours)


Spring (15 Credit Hours)


MUSC 160 Credit(s):or
MUSC 165 Credit(s): 1​

MUSC 250-255 Credit(s): 2 or
MUSC 350-355 Credit(s): 2

MUSC 326 Credit(s): 3
M/ Credit(s): 3
R/ Credit(s): 3
Foreign Language Credit(s): 3

Third Year


Fall (16 Credit Hours)



MUSC 160 Choral Organizations   Credit(s):or
MUSC 165 Instrumental Organizations   Credit(s): 1

MUSC 350-355 Credit(s):or
MUSC 450-455 Credit(s): 2

F/ Credit(s): 3

HUMN 217 or
HUMN 220 - W/H/Western Humanities I  Credit(s): 4 or
HUMN 222 - W/H/Black Humanities  Credit(s): 4

S/ or S/U Credit(s): 3
Foreign Language Credit(s): 3

Spring (16 Credit Hours)


Fourth Year


Fall (15 Credit Hours)


MUSC 160 - Choral Organizations   Credit(s): or
MUSC 165 - Instrumental Organizations     Credit(s): 1

MUSC 450-455 Credit(s): 2 (strongly recommended)

U/ or Elective Credit(s): 3
Electives Credit(s): 9

Spring (14 Credit Hours)


Total Credit Hours: 120


* Prospective majors are strongly encouraged to take MUSC 139  and MUSC 140  in their first year of study and in conjunction with MUSC 189 .

*MUSC 250 -MUSC 255  have prerequisite requirements of proficiency at the level of two semesters of the corresponding MUSC 150 -MUSC 155  course.

Where no prerequisites apply, some variation in the order or semester in which courses are taken is possible. Students should consult their academic advisors for additional information

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