academic catalogue

2023-2024 Catalogue

Music (MUS) Course Descriptions

MUS 100: Introduction to Piano and Musicianship.
Goal: To introduce students to basic musical concepts and develop basic piano-playing skills.
Content: Students will learn basic musical concepts, including reading musical notation and recognizing scales, intervals, and basic harmony through the piano. Students will also learn to use the piano as a means for musical expression and performance.
Prerequisite: None.
Gen Ed Category: Exploring; Thinking and Expressing Creatively; (FA).
Credit: 3 hours.
 
MUS 101: Introduction to Choral Singing and Musicianship.
Goal: To introduce students to foundational musical concepts and develop basic techniques and skills to sing well and express creatively within the context of a choral ensemble.
Content: Students will learn basic musical concepts, including reading musical notation and recognizing scales, intervals, and basic harmony. Students will also learn to use their voice as a means for collaborative musical expression and performance.
Prerequsite: None.
Gen. Ed. Category: Exploring; Thinking and Expressing Creatively; (FA).
Credit: 3 hours.
 

MUS 150: From Bach to Rock.
Goal: To provide students with an historical overview of the way in which music has developed in our culture, from the earliest examples until today.
Content: Students will learn about the elements and principles common to all types of music. Stylistic periods, genres, composers, and specific pieces will be studied throughout the course. The music will also be examined as a product of the particular cultural and political climate in which it was conceived.
Prerequisite: None.
Gen. Ed. Category: Exploring; Historical Events & Phenomena; (FA).
Credit: 3 hours.

MUS 182: Harmony and Tonality.
Goal: This course will focus on understanding the compositional process in common practice Western music as well as developing the skills of sight singing and ear training.
Content: This course deals with harmony, the sound that results from the combination of two or more pitches, and how it was handled by the great composers of Western music. Understanding will be gained by analyzing music as well as the writing of short musical examples.
Prerequisite: MUS 100.
Credit: 3 hours. (the class will meet 5 days a week).

MUS 215: Women, Music, and Culture.
Goal: To challenge students to engage actively and to think critically about women's roles and the power of perspective in historical narrative. Students will learn how to listen and analyze a number of musical styles and genres, as well as consider issues such as gender and control in music and how women are perceived cross-culturally.
Content: This course will examine the contributions of women involved in the world of music, including composers, producers, consumers, performers, and educators. The course will cover the major historical music periods as well as a number of popular and world music styles. 
Gen Ed. Category: Synthesizing Perspectives; Women's Experiences; (FA).
Credit: 3 hours; cross-listed as WST 215.

MUS 278: Integrating Music into Elementary Content Areas.
Goal: To equip classroom teachers with the ability to integrate music into lessons and use it to teach the required content in more engaging ways in grades P-5.
Content: Basic music concepts, lesson planning and integration strategies, and materials appropriate for elementary school children in the classroom.
Credit: 3 hours.

MUS 280: Advanced Harmony and Tonality.
Goal: This course will focus on a more advanced understanding of the compositional process in common practice Western music as well as further developing the skills of sight-singing and ear training.
Content: The goal of this course is to expose students to more advanced harmonic procedures, such as secondary dominants, modulations, and borrowed chords, as well as techniques used in modern music. These goals will be accomplished by analyzing music as well as the writing of short musical examples and more extended compositions.
Prerequisite: MUS 182.
Credit: 3 hours.

MUS 282: Form and Analysis.
Goal: An exploration of the principles governing large-scale musical organization from Renaissance polyphony to the Innovative approaches to musical form in the 20th century.
Content: The course develops understanding of contrapuntal forms In the Renaissance and Baroque (including fugue), Classical forms such as sonata and rondo and their expansion In the Romantic era, as well as formal procedures In modern music. Aural and visual recognition of composers, compositional processes, and genres will be emphasized.
Prerequisite: MUS 280.
Credit: 3 hours.

MUS 286: Diction for Singers.
Goal: To learn correct pronunciation and articulation for singing in English, Italian, Latin, French, German, and Spanish. The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) will be an integral tool in this process.
Content: The literature covered will include pieces from choral and solo vocal literature in various languages.
Prerequisite: Two semesters of Applied Voice.
Credit: 3 hours.

MUS 287: Music Literature Seminar.
Goal: To provide students with a historical overview of music repertoire. To trace the development of repertoire in a specific instrument or genre through different periods. To develop understanding and knowledge of repertoire for teaching purposes. Each student will embark on an in-depth study of one significant work in the repertoire and complete a research project/oral presentation as the culmination of her study.
Content: Examining and contextualizing the canon of a given instrument while also exploring works that are innovative and/or outside the standard canon.
Prerequisite: Two semesters of applied study on any instrument or the permission of the instructor.
Credit: 3 hours.

MUS 310: Practical Skills for the Working Pianist.
Goal: To introduce students to a variety of commonly needed practical skills typically encountered by a working pianist and teacher. Topics addressed will include Sightreading Solo Piano Literature, Piano Ensemble Literature, Vocal and Instrumental Accompaniment, Figured Bass, Hymn Playing, Reading Choral Scores, Improvisation in Classical and Jazz/Pop contexts, etc. Extant sightreading skills will be improved through systematic analysis and methodical practice of short excerpts. Students will collaborate and perform together in repertoire for 4-8 hands. Upon completing the course, students will have gained substantial experience and flexibility in their ability to function in various situations as pianist. 
Content: Various examples from musical literature, from Baroque figured bass to Contemporary Jazz and Pop charts.
Prerequisite: At least 3 years experience playing piano or Permission of Instructor.
Credit: 3 hours.

MUS 333: Philosophy of Music.
Goal: To explore several key existential questions related to Music: What is it? Why does it exist? Why does it matter? Students will study and discuss musical aesthetics, how humans function and interact with music, and the value of music.
Content: Studying music as an expression of the human experience, the student will encounter writings and music from antiquity to the present representing diverse styles and cultures.
Prerequisite: None.
Gen. Ed. Category: Synthesizing; Diverse World; (FA).
Credit: 3 hours.

MUS 396: Special Topics in Music.
Goal: To offer the student opportunities to pursue fields of study outside of traditionally offered courses.
Content: An in-depth examination of a special area of music. Topics offered vary from time to time. Representative topics include music composition, conducting, choral repertoire, women in music, workshop in opera/musical theatre, etc. 
Credit: 3 hours. A student may take a maximum of six to eight semester hours (two courses) of special topics in any one field. 

MUS 451: Directed Independent Study.
Goal: To permit the student to explore a topic of study not covered in the regular course structure. To encourage a concentrated course of study for the serious and independent student.
Content: Varies according to interest of student; to be agreed upon by student and professor, with the approval of the program director.
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor and program director.
Credit: 1-6 hours.

MUS 452: Field Study.
Goal: To offer the student the opportunity for workplace experience related to music.
Content: Practical work in the area of music.
Prerequisite: Permission of the faculty advisor and the faculty sponsor.
Credit: 1-12 hours.

MUS 470: Senior Seminar.
Goal: To provide a capstone course for majors in which students complete a significant research project and explore options for potential career paths or possible educational endeavors.
Content: Study and discussion of music research methods, and of career possibilities and professional work environments/expectations. Students will give an oral presentation of their projects at the end of the semester. 
Prerequisite: Senior status.
Credit: 3 hours.

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