Music, Performance Option, B.A.

Program Learning Outcomes

Students will demonstrate:

I. Formal Understanding: Students will hear, identify, and symbolically analyze the formal rudiments of music, including rhythm, melody, harmony, texture, and form.

II. Historical Understanding: Students will identify and describe the characteristic features of various musical styles and practices and the ways these shaped and were shaped by broader historical and social contexts.

III. Communication: Students will critically evaluate, develop (including research), and defend arguments about music in both formal and informal settings.

IV. Difference and Power: Students will critically identify and articulate the ways that difference and power shape musical practice and values in specific socio-historical contexts.

V. Performance: Students will demonstrate technical, interpretive, and collaborative aspects of music performance on their primary instrument or voice.

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

Basic Requirements for all Music Options (18 Credits)

• Foundations in Music and Musicianship:

• MUSC 189 - Elements of Music Theory Credit(s): 3
• MUSC 256 - Elements of Diatonic Harmony and Polyphony Credit(s): 3
• MUSC 315 - Music Analysis Credit(s): 3
• MUSC 327 - Thinking Through Music Credit(s): 3

•  

  Select one from Elements of Musicology:

• MUSC 217 - Jazz in America Credit(s): 3
• MUSC 226 - History of Western Music I from 1500-1800 Credit(s): 3
• MUSC 227 - History of Western Music II from 1800-2000 Credit(s): 3
• MUSC 231 - Introduction to Ethnomusicology Credit(s): 3
• MUSC 232 - Folk Music in America Credit(s): 3

•  

  Select one seminar in Musicology or Ethnomusicology from:

• 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: (18 Credits)

Additional Requirements

Ensemble Participation Requirement: Participation in the following specified performance organizations each semester in the Music Performance Option 

• 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 Wind Ensemble or Symphony Orchestra and participation in weekly Instrumental Seminar;
• Music Performance Option-String: MUSC 165 Symphony Orchestra and participation in weekly Instrumental Seminar.

(note: A maximum of eight credits of MUSC 160 or 165 may be applied to the 120 credit total for a BA 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.

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

Program Writing Requirement: As part of their degree requirements, Music BA students must complete a writing portfolio consisting of two short writing samples and a reflective statement. Writing samples should represent two different genres of musicological writing (history, ethnography, score analysis, criticism) and should illustrate an understanding of the generic conventions of musicological writing, including an understanding of the sorts of claims appropriate to each genre and the types of evidence necessary to support those claims. At least one writing sample should include a significant analytical example.

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  

• First Year
  • Fall - 16 Credits
    • MUSC 160/165
    • MUSC 189
    • MUSC 250-255
    • MUSC 217, 226, or 231
    • Math/Quantitative
    • World Language 101
  • Spring - 14 Credits
    • MUSC 160/165
    • MUSC 250-255
    • MUSC 256
    • MUSC 227 or 232; or elective
    • INTD 105
    • World Language 102
• Second Year
  • Fall - 15 Credits
    • MUSC 160/165
    • MUSC 315 (even year) or Elective (odd)
    • MUSC 327
    • MUSC 350-355
    • Global Soc: CAI
    • Global Soc: DPP
  • Spring - 16 Credits
    • MUSC 160/165
    • MUSC 331-339
    • MUSC 350-355
    • Global Soc: CGC
    • Global Soc: SST
    • Natural Science
• Third Year
  • Fall - 15 Credits
    • MUSC 160/165
    • MUSC 315 (even year) or Elective (odd)
    • MUSC 450-455
    • Global Soc: WCV
    • Elective
    • Elective
  • Spring - 15 Credits
    • MUSC 160/165
    • MUSC 450-455 or MUSC 459
    • Elective
    • Elective
    • Elective
    • Elective
• Fourth Year
  • Fall - 15 Credits
    • Electives
  • Spring - 15 Credits
    • Electives

KEY - Participation in a Global Society (PGS)

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