Oct 10, 2024  
2024-2025 Undergraduate Bulletin 
    
2024-2025 Undergraduate Bulletin

Music, Performance Option, B.A.


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Audition Requirement. Entrance to the Music Performance Option is by audition as follows:

Performance-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-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-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-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:    

Musicianship and Creativity

     1. An understanding of and the ability to read and realize musical notation.

     2. The ability to hear, identify, work conceptually, and implement the elements of music such as rhythm, melody, harmony, structure, timbre, and texture.

Critical Thinking, Speaking, and Writing

     3. The ability to identify, analyze, and evaluate arguments about music.

     4. The ability to develop and defend arguments about music.

Disciplinary Knowledge

     5. An acquaintance with a wide selection of musical literature, genres, and cultural sources, as well as with current issues in music scholarship.

     6. An understanding of compositional processes, aesthetic properties of musical style, and the ways these shape and are shaped by artistic forces and historical and social contexts.

Music Performance

     7. A level of mastery in an instrument or voice commensurate with their level of study and specific to their area of focus, as defined by department standards and recommended by the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) or National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS).

 

General Education Requirements (30-40 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. A maximum of eight credits may be applied to the degree.

Juries and Recitals 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 additionally required for performance option coursework, including all performance organization requirements, juries, and the recitals.

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 study of a language other than English.

Sample Course Map


For students who matriculated prior to Fall 2022: please select the bulletin year in which you entered the college (matriculated) at the top right of this page.

Curriculum Map  

 

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.

Note: Variation in the order of courses is possible, depending upon prerequisites. Consult course information in the bulletin or your academic advisor to customize your eight semester plan.  

KEY - Participation in a Global Society (PGS)


Attributes:

Sub Areas

Abbreviation Definition
DPP Diversity, Pluralism, Power
WCV World Cultures & Values
CGC Contemporary Global Challenges
CAI Creativity & Innovation
SST Sustainability

Learning Areas

Abbreviation Definition
ARTS Arts
HUMA Humanities
SOSC Social Science

 

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