Program Requirements
General Program Requirements:
Number of Credits Required Beyond the Baccalaureate: 30
Required Courses:
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Core Courses | ||
| MUST 8701 | Research in Music | 3 |
| MUST 8749 | Current Topics in Musicology and Theory | 3 |
| Focused Electives | 9 | |
| Select courses in Music Composition, Music History, or Music Theory | ||
| Free Electives 1 | 15 | |
| Total Credit Hours | 30 | |
- 1
Students work with an advisor to select courses that align with their interests in music composition, music theory, musicology, or a cognate area such as performance.
Language Examination: To complete the degree, students must fulfill a foreign language requirement in French, German, Italian, Spanish, or another language with approval of the chair. This requirement may be fulfilled in any one of three ways:
- The student successfully completed four semesters of a foreign language as an undergraduate.
- The student passes a foreign language examination with the requisite language department.
- The student takes four terms of a foreign language. Since language credits are at the undergraduate level, they do not count toward the MA degree, but they do fulfill the language requirement.
Additional Requirements:
Diagnostic Examinations:
Diagnostic examinations in Aural Theory, Written Theory, and Music History are required for all entering master's students. The exceptions are students in Jazz Studies and Music Therapy who have their examinations arranged within their respective departments. In addition, Keyboard students take an additional two-hour examination in Keyboard Literature. As stated in the Boyer College Graduate Handbook, master’s "students may not take final qualifying examinations nor perform graduation recitals until all diagnostic examinations have been successfully completed."
The exams may be taken in one day or split over three days, or the exams can be taken online for a fee. Preparations are provided upon registration. Visit the Boyer College of Music and Dance website for the graduate music examination schedule and registration form.
Please note that registration for a student's first term of study is completed in consultation with the Associate Dean for Student Affairs. Please re-read the admission letter, especially the "Special Notes" section on page 2, regarding any entrance deficiencies. If any remedial coursework is required, it must be completed by the end of the first year of study. It is also best for students to complete MUST 8701 Research in Music, which is required of all students except those in Jazz Studies, Music Education, and Music Therapy in the first year of study.
A. Graduate Diagnostic Examination in Aural Theory
The examination lasts approximately 40 minutes and consists of a written portion in which students are asked to:
- Dictate a chord progression that modulates and contains chromatic harmony by writing out the bass line and identifying chords by Roman numerals and inversions.
- Complete a two-part melodic dictation that modulates and contains chromatic pitches.
B. Graduate Diagnostic Examination in Written Theory
The examination lasts one and one-half hours and is in two parts:
- Harmonic analysis of two chorales: one that uses diatonic harmony, and one that uses chromatic harmony.
- Analysis of the form, motives and phrase structures of the first movement of a Classical-era piano sonata.
C. Graduate Diagnostic Examination in Music History
The examination lasts one hour and contains objective questions in a multiple choice and/or true/false format. It covers composers, forms, instruments, musical works, styles and terms from 1450 to the present. Sample questions are:
- The basso continuo came into use in about which year?
(a) 1500 (b) 1600 (c) 1650 (d) 1700 - Who composed Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth)?
(a) Mahler (b) Bruckner (c) Brahms (d) Schumann - Which of the following instruments would not be found in the score of a symphony by Haydn?
(a) horn (b) oboe (c) timpani (d) trombone (e) trumpet
D. Conditions for Exemption from Diagnostic Examinations
The requirement to take the Diagnostic Examination in any area is waived only for graduates of the Boyer College of Music and Dance who:
- matriculate and enroll in the term immediately following completion of all undergraduate degree requirements; and
- received grades of "B-" or better in every undergraduate course taken in each individual examination area to be waived.
Piano Proficiency Examination:
Before the end of their course of study, students in the Music MA program must take a piano proficiency exam, consisting of the following elements:
- A Bach chorale (prepared).
- The exposition of a symphony from the 18th or 19th centuries (prepared).
- The accompaniment of a song (German Lied or French Chanson; prepared).
Culminating Events:
Comprehensive Examination:
In their final term of study, students in the Music MA program take a three-hour comprehensive exam. Members of the department, appointed by the chair, devise the exam based on the coursework the student has taken for the degree.
Final Project:
The final project is an expanded version of a paper or music composition completed in a seminar. The result is intended to be suitable for use when applying to doctoral programs or to show an ability to teach in a particular area. Students submit a written paper in music theory or musicology OR one composition project to their advisor.