Major Code: MUSIC
BA degree awarded

44 hours to complete

For the Declaration of Major Form, contact the department(s):

Requirements

Admissions / Prerequisites

Students are required to audition before declaring a major in music.

Overview

Requirements for students declaring a major from Fall 2011

BA in Music: Composition Track

BA in Music: Performance Track

BA in Music: Research Track

History and Culture Courses (all Tracks)

Requirements for students declaring a major prior to Fall 2011

Requirements for students declaring a major from Fall 2011

The Music Department at Emory offers three tracks for fulfilling a major in music: Composition, Performance, Research.  Students must select a track by the end of the sophomore year and fulfill all course requirements in the track in order to earn a major in music.Since significant portions of the music curriculum are based on mastery of sequential study, the department recommends as early a declaration as possible.  Early declaration also allows students maximum benefit from private lesson study, since the department provides a half-subsidy for private lessons for declared music majors.

General Requirements

  • All students must take MUS 121 as a pre-requisite course.  Students with a strong background in music theory may request to take the MUS 121 Exemption Test.

  • No more than four credit hours of Supervised Reading or Study Abroad courses may count toward fulfillment of the music major.

  • An internship may not count toward the music major.

  • No course for the major may be taken S/U.

  • AP Music Theory Exam – A score of 4 will transfer to Emory as MUS 114 and count as a 100-level elective toward the music major.  A score of 5 will transfer to Emory as MUS 121 and the student may move on to MUS 122 in the spring semester.

  • A total of 16 hours of MUS 300, 320, and 310 may be applied toward the 128 academic hours requirements for graduation, although all applied music and ensembles must be taken for credit.

  • Students may not apply MUS 300, 310, or 320 as electives in any of the tracks.

  • Students will complete 44 credit hours to fulfill requirements in each track.


Requirements for the BA in Music: Composition Track

Theory/Analysis (12 hrs)

(Prerequisite: MUS 121 Theory & Analysis I)

  • MUS 122

  • MUS 221

  • MUS 222     

Composition (8 hrs)

  • MUS 348 (1 semester)

  • MUS 349R (3 semesters)

  • MUS 445 Orchestration

  • MUS 347 Electronic Music

History/Culture (8 hrs)

  • MUS 200 Music, Culture, and Society

  • History & Culture Category A or B: choose one course                                                

Performance (2 hrs)

  • Choose a combination of MUS 300 Ensembles and/or MUS 320 Applied

Electives (4 hrs)

Suggested:

  • MUS 444 Counterpoint

  • MUS 350 Music since 1945

  • MUS 367 Computer Music Composition

Optional:  If approved, a student may present a recital of original compositions during the junior or senior year.  Students with a GPA of 3.5 or higher may submit a proposal to present an honors recital in the music composition track. See honors guidelines for detailed information.

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Requirements for the BA in Music: Performance

Performance (12 hrs)

  • MUS 300 Ensemble (4 hrs)*

  • MUS 320 Applied Music (8 hrs)*

Students pursuing the Performance Track are encouraged to enroll in Applied Music and Ensembles every semester until graduation. A total of 16 hours of MUS 300 and MUS 320 will count toward the 128 hours for graduation.

Theory/Analysis (8 hrs)

(Prerequisite: MUS 121 Theory & Analysis I)

  • MUS 122

  • MUS 221*

 *With the recommendation of the World Music Advisor, a student pursuing the Performance Track on a non-western instrument may substitute one elective appropriate to his or her focus for MUS 221.

History/Culture (12 hrs)

  • MUS 200 Music, Culture, and Society

  • History & Culture Category A: choose one course

  • History & Culture Category A or B:  choose one course

Electives (12 hrs)

  • Choose one advanced theory and analysis course or history and culture course from the following list: 

    • MUS 222

    • MUS 245

    • MUS 350

    • MUS 444

    • or any course from History & Culture Category C.

  • Choose two electives from any of the department’s offerings, only one of which can be at the 100-level.          

Optional:  If approved, a student may present a solo recital during the junior or senior year. Students with a GPA of 3.5 or higher may submit a proposal to present an honors recital in the music performance track. See honors guidelines for detailed information.

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Requirements for the BA in Music: Research Track

Theory/Analysis (8 hrs)

(Prerequisite: MUS 121 Theory & Analysis I)

  • MUS 122

  • MUS 221*

*Ethnomusicology: a student pursuing the Research Track and writing a research thesis may substitute one elective appropriate to his or her research focus for MUS 221, if approved by the student’s advisor.

History/Culture (24 hrs)

  • MUS 200 Music, Culture, and Society

  • History & Culture Category A:  Choose two courses

  • History & Culture Category B:  Choose one course

  • History & Culture Category C:  Choose two courses

Performance (4 hrs)

Choose a combination of MUS 300 Ensembles and/or MUS 320 Applied   

Electives (8 hrs)

  • Choose two courses from History & Culture Categories A, B, C, or MUS 222, or a cognate course if arranged with the student’s advisor

Optional:  If approved, a student may write a capstone thesis during the senior year. Students with a GPA of 3.5 or higher may submit a proposal to complete an honors thesis in the research track.  See honors guidelines for detailed information.

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History and Culture Courses
(Students may not count the same course for two categories)

History and Culture Category A

courses designed to build broad-based knowledge of Western classical repertoires
MUS 280 Early Music Explorations
MUS 281 Baroque Music
MUS 282 Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven
MUS 283 19th Century Music
MUS 284 Music and Contemporary Society

History and Culture Category B

courses designed to build broad-based knowledge of musics outside of the Western classical tradition
MUS 115 Jazz: Its Evolution & Essence
MUS 204 Music Cultures of the World
MUS 206
 Musical Transformations of Asia
MUS 211 Tango Music and Dance
MUS 303 Black Music: Culture, Commerce, and the Racial Imagination
MUS 304 Music & Cultural Revolution since the 1960s
MUS 306 Music of the Harlem Renaissance
MUS 307 Bebop and Beyond
MUS 366 Beyond Orientalism
MUS 371 East Asian Musical Cultures
MUS 372 Chinese Music and Culture
MUS 375 Soundscapes of the Silk Road
MUS 433 Music of India

History and Culture Category C

courses designed to teach essential research and writing skills in historical musicology or ethnomusicology
MUS 250 Writing About Music
MUS 306 Music of the Harlem Renaissance
MUS 364
 Romanticism in Music
MUS 365 Wagner and Wagnerism
MUS 366 Beyond Orientalism
MUS 368 Fin de Siecle Vienna
MUS 369 Jewish Modernities
MUS 371 East Asian Musical Cultures
MUS 375 Soundscapes of the Silk Road
MUS 380 Myth, Narrative, and Multimedia
MUS 460 Studies in Musicology
MUS 461 Discipline of Ethnomusicology
MUS 462 The Sound of Society
MUS 463 Seminar in Ethnomusicology

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Requirements for students declaring a major prior to Fall 2011

(1) Theory and Analysis 121, 122, 221, and 222 with required labs. It is recommended that students take Music 121 as soon as possible because it initiates the set of courses that must be taken in sequence, each being a prerequisite to the others.

(2) Music History and Literature Survey 201 and 202

(3) Performance:  Majors are expected to enroll in MUS 320 (Applied Music) and one of the department’s primary ensembles (MUS 300) each semester. An audition is required prior to enrollment. MUS 320 requires that students schedule a private lesson with their instructor once a week and attend Perspectives on Performance class on Thursdays 2:30–4:00 p.m. Students must have a minimum of four semesters of applied music and primary ensemble to satisfy music major requirements. No more than sixteen hours of applied music and ensembles may be counted toward the 128 academic hours required for graduation.

(4) Electives: eight hours chosen from any of the department’s course offerings. Majors may not apply more than one 100-level course to the major requirements without permission from the director of undergraduate studies.

Students expecting to pursue graduate work in music are also urged to acquire competency in a foreign language (the most useful for music are German, French, and Italian)

Additional Information

Students may count no more than four credit hours of Supervised Reading or Study Abroad toward the music major.

Students may not count an Internship toward the music major.

All courses must be taken for a letter grade.

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