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MusicMajor


Degree AwardedBA
Hours To Complete45
Courses Required14-18
Department Contact

Requirements

General Requirements

BA in Music: Composition Track

BA in Music: Performance Track

BA in Music: History, Culture and Theory Track

History and Culture Courses (all Tracks)


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.

Notes:

  • MUS 121 Theory and Analysis I is the foundation course for all music major tracks. Students with a strong background in music theory may request to take the MUS 121 Exemption Test.
  • No more than three 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.
  • All courses must be taken for a letter grade.
  • 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 45 credit hours to fulfill requirements in each track.


Requirements for the BA in Music: Composition Track

Theory/Analysis (18 hrs)

  • MUS 121
  • MUS 122
  • MUS 221 OR MUS 245
  • MUS 222

Composition (14 hrs)

  • MUS 349R (4 semesters)
  • MUS 445 Orchestration
  • MUS 347 Electronic Music

History/Culture (6 hrs)

  • MUS 200 Music, Culture, and Society
  • History and Culture Category A or B: choose one course

Performance (4 hrs)

  • Choose a combination of MUS 300 Ensembles and/or MUS 320R and/or MUS 301R

Electives (3 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 and/or MUS 301R (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 (15 hrs)

  • MUS 121
  • MUS 122
  • MUS 221 OR MUS 245

History/Culture (9 hrs)

  • MUS 200 Music, Culture, and Society
  • History and Culture Category A: choose one course
  • History and Culture Category A or B: choose one course

Electives (9 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
  • One course from History and 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: History, Culture and Theory Track

Theory/Analysis (15 hrs)

  • MUS 121
  • MUS 122
  • MUS 221* OR MUS 245

*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 (20 hrs)

  • MUS 200 Music, Culture, and Society
  • History and Culture Category A: Choose two courses
  • History and Culture Category B: Choose one course
  • History and Culture Category C: Choose two courses

Performance (4 hrs)

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

Electives (6 hrs)

  • Choose two courses from the following list:
  • Courses from History and Culture Categories A, B, or C
  • MUS 222
  • Three credit hours MUS 497 Supervised Reading approved by the advisor
  • A cognate course 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 knowledge of musics outside of the Western classical tradition

Mus 215

Jazz: Its Evolution and 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 and 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 372

MUS 375

Chinese Music and Culture

Soundscapes of the Silk Road

MUS 380

Myth, Narrative, and Multimedia

MUS 455

MUS 460

Music in Emory's Special Collection

Studies in Musicology

MUS 461

Discipline of Ethnomusicology

MUS 462

The Sound of Society

MUS 463

Seminar in Ethnomusicology

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Notes

Students may count no more than three 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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Prerequisites

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