Major Requirements – 64 Total Credits

The Music Major introduces students to the primary subfields of music, developing the skills of research, analysis, performance, and the creation of original work. Broadly diverse in its coverage of styles, cultures, and fields, the Music Department provides students foundational knowledge in multiple modes of music study, but also offers students substantial freedom in crafting focus of courses relevant to individual interests. The skills in critical thinking, research, writing, and performance gained in the major have proven pertinent and applicable to alumni in a broad variety of fields. Students planning a professional career in music should consult with faculty members in their area for advice and assistance.

Musical Foundations and Theory – Required 16 credits*

200 or 300-level Course in Western Art Music – Required 6 credits

  • MUSC 211: Music History before 1800 (not offered 2025-26)
  • MUSC 215: Music History After 1800
  • MUSC 217: Opera: Stage, Screen, Recording (not offered 2025-26)
  • MUSC 308: Seminar in Music Analysis

200 or 300-level Course in Ethnomusicology or Popular Music – Required 6 cr

  • AFST 225: Black Music, Resistance, and Liberation
  • ARBC 222: Music in the Middle East (not offered 2025-26)
  • MUSC 145: Music of Latin America (not offered 2025-26)
  • MUSC 205: Disability in Popular Music: Representations, Roles, and Receptions (not offered 2025-26)
  • MUSC 213: J-Pop: Listening to Music in Modern Japan
  • MUSC 214: Beats, Rhymes & Life: Hip Hop History and Analysis (not offered 2025-26)
  • MUSC 231: Researching Popular Music (not offered 2025-26)
  • MUSC 232: Golden Age of R & B (not offered 2025-26)
  • MUSC 242: Tango: More Than a Dance (not offered 2025-26)
  • MUSC 244: Music Studies at the Border (not offered 2025-26)
  • MUSC 247: 1950s/60s American Folk Music Revival (not offered 2025-26)
  • MUSC 248: Music and Sports: Sounds That Move Us (not offered 2025-26)
  • MUSC 313: Video Game Music: History, Interpretation, Practice (not offered 2025-26)
  • MUSC 331: Researching Popular Music (not offered 2025-26)
  • MUSC 332: Golden Age of R & B (not offered 2025-26)
  • MUSC 338: Music as Heritage: Festivals, Museums, and Tourism
  • MUSC 341.01: Rock Lab and Lab (26/WI)
  • MUSC 341.52: Rock Lab and Lab (26/WI)
  • MUSC 341.53: Rock Lab and Lab (26/WI)

Composition – Required 6 credits

  • MUSC 153: Private Lessons in Composition
  • MUSC 208: Computer Music and Sound (not offered 2025-26)
  • MUSC 221: The Principles of Music Creation
  • MUSC 253: Private Lessons in Composition

Ensemble Participation – Required 2 credits

Juried Applied Lessons (MUSL 200-level) – Required 4 credits

Any combination of MUSL 2XX applied lessons and recital (MUSL 350 – MUSL 399) may fill this requirement. Composition MUSC 153: Private Lessons in Composition and MUSC 253: Private Lessons in Composition do not satisfy this requirement.

300-level Seminar – Required 6 credits

Any music course numbered between MUSC 303 to MUSC 339. 

Inclusive note: a course which fulfills the seminar requirement may not be “double counted” toward other requirements, e.g., Western Art Music, Ethnomusicology, or Popular Music.

Music Elective – Required 12 credits

Any music credits, including music classes and

  • AFST 225: Black Music, Resistance, and Liberation
  • CGSC 130 ONLY Justin London’s section of this course, ‘The Musical Mind‘
  • GERM 150: Culture & Counter Culture: Music, Text, Resistance
  • Ensembles (MUSE, starting 2025-26 academic year)
  • Chamber Music (MUSL, starting 2025-26 academic year)
  • Applied Lessons (MUSL, starting 2025-26 academic year)
  • Recital (MUSL 350 – MUSL 399, starting 2025-2026 academic year; previously MUSC 299)

Senior Integrative Exercise – Required 6 credits

Additional Departmental Notes

*Students who score a 4 or 5 on the AP Music Theory exam are granted 6 general education credits. This does not grant students automatic exemption from MUSC 103: Musicianship I and/or MUSC 110: Theory I: The Principles of Harmony; exemption in these courses is determined by the music department placement exams. Credits earned via the AP exam do not count for elective credit in the major or minor. Students who are exempted from 103 need only 61 credits to complete the major. Students who are exempted from 110 will need to take another 6-credit classroom course in Music (MUSC 100 does not qualify).