Pathways through the Music Major

Here are a few examples of the myriad ways students, in consultation with their faculty advisors, can put together a music major that develops their strengths and expands their experience with less familiar musical traditions.

Students should consult with their faculty advisors to build an appropriate program of coursework over a span of three or four years. It is highly recommended that students take 1101 and 1105 in their first or second year, and 2201 in their second year after completing 1101 and before taking any courses at the 3000 level or higher.

1. Popular Music Studies: Rock and Hip Hop

  • Requirements: MUSIC 1101 + 1105 + 2201
  • Performance: MUSIC 3660 Improvisation Ensemble, MUSIC 3616 Hip Hop Collective
  • 6 electives:
    • M&T elective: MUSIC 2111 Songwriting
    • H&C elective: MUSIC 1312 History of Rock
    • H&C elective: MUSIC 2260 Music of the 1960s
    • H&C elective: MUSIC 2006 Punk Culture
    • H&C elective: MUSIC 3490 Hip Hop in Global Perspective
    • H&C elective: MUSIC 4331 Velvet Underground Archive

2. Popular Music Studies: Jazz Performance and Global Perspectives

  • Requirements: MUSIC 1101 + 1105 + 2201
  • Performance: MUSIC 3615 Jazz Repertory Ensemble, MUSIC 4615 Jazz Ensemble
  • 6 electives:
    • M&T elective: MUSIC 3111 Jazz Improvisation and Theory I
    • M&T elective: MUSIC 3112 Jazz Improvisation and Theory II
    • H&C elective: MUSIC 1313 A Survey of Jazz
    • H&C elective: MUSIC 2350 Music of the African Diaspora
    • H&C elective: MUSIC 3490 Hip Hop in Global Perspective
    • H&C elective: MUSIC 3480 Brazilian Culture through Its Music

3. Western Art Music and Popular Music Studies

  • Requirements: MUSIC 1101 + 1105 + 2201
  • Performance: MUSIC 3621 Symphony Orchestra, MUSIC 3511 Individual Instruction
  • 6 electives:
    • M&T elective: MUSIC 2101 Theory, Materials & Techniques I
    • H&C elective: MUSIC 1312 History of Rock
    • H&C elective: MUSIC 2208 History of Western Music II
    • H&C elective: MUSIC 2209 History of Western Music III
    • H&C elective: MUSIC 3490 Hip Hop in Global Perspective
    • H&C elective: MUSIC 4222 Music and Monstrous Imaginings

4. Composition, Theory, and Sound Studies

  • Requirements: MUSIC 1101 + 1105 + 2201
  • Performance: MUSIC 3660 Improvisation Ensemble, MUSIC 3610 Gamelan Ensemble
  • 6 electives:
    • M&T elective: MUSIC 2101 Theory, Materials & Techniques I
    • M&T elective: MUSIC 2102 Theory, Materials & Techniques II
    • M&T elective: MUSIC 2440 Shaping Sound I
    • M&T elective: MUSIC 3431 Sound Design
    • M&T elective: MUSIC 4112 Composition
    • H&C elective: MUSIC 2280 Experimental Music
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