Music Major
Major Description
The Major in Music program is built around the individual interests and needs of the student while providing a solid foundation in the study of music history and culture, music analysis, theory, composition, and performance. Wesleyan’s Music department enjoys an international reputation for innovation in the study of World Music, and majors will study at least one musical tradition outside their prime concentration. The Music Major at Wesleyan emphasizes how the combined experience of music with the study of music reinforces and inspires each other. Students may focus on areas such as Western classical music; new and experimental music; African American, Indonesian, Indian, and African musics; and European and American music outside the art tradition.
Students committed to pursuing their musical aspirations at a collegiate level possess a unique passion for music combined with broad intellectual curiosity, a strong appreciation of artistic expression, dedication to their craft, a collaborative spirit, open-minded creativity, and a strong work ethic.
Careers in music may include performance, music instruction, music therapy, arts journalism or criticism, arts administration, music production or direction, event coordination, entrepreneurship, and more.
Admission to the Major
Individual programs of study in the Music Major are developed by students with academic advisors. A student must have already taken at least one course in each capability area: theory/composition, history/culture, and performance, before applying for the major. The Music Theory Gateway course (MUSC103) is a requirement of all majors which may be waived based on a placement test.
Major Requirements
Music majors take three courses in each capability area: theory/composition, history/culture, and performance. Two additional courses from the MUSC300-level Seminars for Music Majors bring the number of music credits to 11.
The required senior project or senior honors thesis brings the total number of music credits to 12 or 13, respectively.
Diversity of musical experience is a core value of the Music Department and is expected of all music majors. Towards that goal, each major’s program of study must include at least two Music credits out of the major’s main area of interest.
Many Music majors, particularly those taking private lessons, end up taking more than 16 credits in music. However, since no more than 16 credits in music may be counted toward the 32 credits required for graduation, students must always complete at least 16 credits outside of music.
Courses For Non-Majors
With the exception of Music Major Seminars, all classes offered by the Music Department are open to non-majors.
General Education
Music majors are advised to complete their General Education expectations (three each of Arts and Humanities, Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and Social Sciences courses). Prospective majors who have not taken enough courses outside the Music department may be refused entry into the major. Students who fail to fulfill the General Education expectations are not considered for department prizes and honors.
Student Learning Goals
At graduation, music majors will be able to:
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Think analytically and critically about musical languages, histories, and cultures
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Write effectively about music
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Perform and/or create music with proficiency and creativity
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Engage unfamiliar traditions and paradigms of humanly organized sound with sensitivity and insight
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Apply their musical knowledge and skills within broader investigations of the human experience
Advanced Placement
AP theory credit is considered as follows:
AP Theory Credit on the student’s Wesleyan transcript
- A score of 4 or 5 will provide one Wesleyan credit towards graduation
- Student will still need to complete 3 additional theory/composition credits for the major
Students with questions regarding AP Theory
- Should meet with the theory faculty of the Music Department teaching MUSC103 to discuss options
Prizes
Merit-based awards that may be awarded annually
Elizabeth Verveer Tishler Prize
Established in 1981 by a gift from Mrs. Tishler. Expanded in 1989 for excellence in piano performance.
Gwen Livingston Pokora Prize
Established in 1993, awarded annually to the outstanding undergraduate student in music composition.
Leavell Memorial Prize
Awarded annually to a senior who has done outstanding work in music and whose work manifests the ideals of the World Music Program in the Music Department.
Lipsky Prize
The gift of the Reverend and Mrs. Bailey G. Lipsky in memory of their son, Francis Jules Lipsky, Class of 1931, to the member of the choir possessing in the highest degree unfailing kindliness, quiet dignity, and brilliant scholarship.
Samuel C. Silipo Prize
Awarded annually for the most valuable player(s) of the Wesleyan orchestra.
Additional Information
Special Activities
The department supports a number of unusual activities, many of which are available to the student body in general as well as to music majors. Among them are ensembles in various Asian, African, American, and European traditions, as well as a variety of chamber ensembles.
Private Lessons Program
Private lessons are available for many instruments and voice in Western art music, African American music, and a variety of other musics from around the world. Lessons are considered one-credit-per-semester courses. An additional fee, $780 per semester, is charged for these private lessons (financial aid may be available to students eligible for university financial aid). Approved music majors in their junior and senior years are eligible for partial subsidy when taking one (1) private lesson, per semester, for academic credit with a private lessons teacher.
Departmental Colloquium
An ongoing departmental colloquium is intended for the entire music community. It includes presentations by Wesleyan faculty, students, and outside speakers and encourages general discussion of broad issues in the world of music.
Facilities
The study facilities include a working collection of musical instruments from many different cultures; a music-instrument manufacturing workshop; a 45-piece Javanese Gamelan Orchestra; a large formal concert hall and a small multipurpose concert hall; an electronic music studio coupled to a professional recording studio; a computer-arts studio capable of producing electronic music, video art, and environmental simulations; a music and record library; an electronic keyboard lab; and an archive of world music.
Courses
The following is a listing according to categories of courses offered by the department:
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| FYS Courses | ||
| MUSC116F | Visual Sounds: Exploring the Landscape and Architecture of Musical Notation (FYS) | 1 |
| MUSC117F | Musicking Body (FYS) | 1 |
| MUSC118F | Bob Dylan and His World: Sources and Legacies (FYS) | 1 |
| MUSC119F | Jazz in the 1960s (FYS) | 1 |
| MUSC120F | Music, Place, and Culture: An Exploration of African American Soundscapes and Traditions (FYS) | 1 |
| MUSC124F | Mapping Culture (FYS) | 1 |
| MUSC125F | Music and Downtown New York, 1950-1970 (FYS) | 1 |
| MUSC126F | Poetry and Song (FYS) | 1 |
| MUSC128F | Music and the Moving Image: From Music Video to Film to Digital Media (FYS) | 1 |
| MUSC130F | Wagner and Wagnerism: Richard Wagner's Music and Influence from the 1840s to the Present (FYS) | 1 |
| MUSC131F | Gender and Sexuality in Hip Hop (FYS) | 1 |
| MUSC133F | Caribbean Connection: Music and Culture of Trinidad and Tobago Music (FYS) | 1 |
| Music Theory and Composition | ||
| MUSC103 | Materials and Design | 1 |
| MUSC104 | Rhythms of the World: An Introduction to Rhythm, Meter, and (Musical) Time | 1 |
| MUSC105 | MF DOOM and Pierre Henry | 1 |
| MUSC201 | Tonal Harmony | 1 |
| MUSC202 | Theory and Analysis | 1 |
| MUSC203 | Chromatic Harmony | 1 |
| MUSC204 | 20th Century Compositional Techniques | 1 |
| MUSC205 | Song: Music and Text | 1 |
| MUSC206 | 18th-Century Counterpoint | 1 |
| MUSC207 | Orchestration | 1 |
| MUSC208 | Post-Tonal Music Theory | 1 |
| MUSC210 | Theory of Jazz Improvisation | 1 |
| MUSC212 | South Indian Music: Solkattu | 1 |
| MUSC220 | Composing, Performing, and Listening to Experimental Music | 1 |
| MUSC221 | Live-Electronics for Composition, Improvisation, and Sound Art | 1 |
| MUSC222 | Sound Art, Music, and Interactive Media | 1 |
| MUSC223 | Music, Recording, and Sound Design | 1 |
| MUSC225 | Sound Systems and Chamber Electronics | 1 |
| MUSC230 | Music Theater Workshop (cross list) | 1 |
| MUSC240 | Visual Sounds: Exploring the Landscape and Architecture of Musical Notation | 1 |
| MUSC308 | Composition in the Arts | 1 |
| Music History and Culture | ||
| MUSC102 | World Music | 1 |
| MUSC106 | A Thousand Years of Music History | 1 |
| MUSC108 | History of Rock and R&B | 1 |
| MUSC109 | Introduction to Experimental Music | 1 |
| MUSC110 | Introduction to South Indian Music | 1 |
| MUSC111 | Music and Theater of Indonesia | 1 |
| MUSC115 | Introduction to North Indian Music | 1 |
| MUSC116 | Visual Sounds: Exploring the Landscape and Architecture of Musical Notation | 1 |
| MUSC117 | Musicking Body | 1 |
| MUSC121 | Queering Russian Music | 1 |
| MUSC125 | Music and Downtown New York, 1950-1970 | 1 |
| MUSC127 | C-Pop in the Shadow of a Rising China | 1 |
| MUSC129 | The Art of Listening | 1 |
| MUSC241 | Mystical Visions, Medieval Women, and the Performance of Early Music (cross list) | 1 |
| MUSC242 | Baroque and Classical Music | 1 |
| MUSC243 | Music of the 19th Century | 1 |
| MUSC244 | Music of the 20th Century | 1 |
| MUSC245 | Music in the United States in the Nineteenth Century | 1 |
| MUSC246 | The Symphony: Evolution of Genre | 1 |
| MUSC248 | Music in Outer Space | 1 |
| MUSC249 | Calderwood Seminar in Public Writing: Music Journalism and Public Musicology | 1 |
| MUSC250 | Film and Folk Music of India | 1 |
| MUSC261 | Music and Modernity in China, Japan, and Korea | 1 |
| MUSC265 | African Presences I: Music in Africa | 1 |
| MUSC269 | Sacred and Secular African American Musics | 1 |
| MUSC272 | History of Jazz in American Culture | 1 |
| MUSC273 | BlaQueer Sounds: Queer Negotiations in African American Music | 1 |
| MUSC274 | Hymnody in the United States Before the Civil War | 1 |
| MUSC275 | Music and Downtown New York | 1 |
| MUSC277 | Jazz Avant-Gardes | 1 |
| MUSC278 | Survey of Jazz Styles | 1 |
| MUSC285 | Global Hip Hop of the Non-Anglophone World (CLAC .50) | 0.5 |
| MUSC290 | Research Skills in Ethnomusicology--IRL & Digital | 1 |
| MUSC291 | The Gendering of Music in Cross-Cultural Perspective | 1 |
| MUSC293 | Mapping Culture | 1 |
| MUSC294 | Queer Opera | 1 |
| MUSC295 | Global Hip-Hop | 1 |
| MUSC296 | Soundscapes of Islam | 1 |
| MUSC297 | Music of Central Asia: From Throat-singing to Heavy Metal | 1 |
| Music Major Seminars | ||
| MUSC300 | Seminar for Music Majors | 1 |
| MUSC304 | Arranging and Composing for Jazz Orchestra | 1 |
| MUSC308 | Composition in the Arts | 1 |
| Music Performance | ||
| MUSC405 | Private Music Lessons for Nonmusic Majors | 1 |
| MUSC406 | Private Music Lessons for Declared Music Majors | 1 |
| MUSC413 | Korean Drumming and Creative Music Ensemble | 1 |
| MUSC414 | Korean Drumming and Creative Music Ensemble Advanced | 1 |
| MUSC416 | Beginning Taiko--Japanese Drumming Ensemble | 1 |
| MUSC418 | Taiko II: Japanese Drumming Ensemble | 1 |
| MUSC428 | Chinese Music Ensemble | 1 |
| MUSC429 | Voice Technique & Improvisation | 1 |
| MUSC430 | South Indian Voice--Beginning | 1 |
| MUSC431 | South Indian Voice--Intermediate | 1 |
| MUSC432 | South Indian Voice--Advanced | 1 |
| MUSC433 | South Indian Music--Percussion | 1 |
| MUSC434 | Improvisational Techniques in South Indian Music | 1 |
| MUSC435 | Keyboard Techniques for Composers and Conductors | 1 |
| MUSC436 | Wesleyan Concert Choir | 1 |
| MUSC437 | Singing to Your Instruments | 1 |
| MUSC438 | Wesleyan University Collegium Musicum (cross list) | 1 |
| MUSC439 | Wesleyan University Orchestra | 1 |
| MUSC440 | Instrumental Conducting | 1 |
| MUSC441 | Piping Performance: An Exploration of Artistic Expression through the Pipe Organ | 1 |
| MUSC442 | Chamber Music Ensemble | 1 |
| MUSC443 | Wesleyan Wind Ensemble (WesWinds) | 1 |
| MUSC444 | African Popular Music Performance | 1 |
| MUSC445 | West African Music and Culture: Beginners | 1 |
| MUSC446 | West African Music and Culture--Intermediate | 1 |
| MUSC447 | West African Music and Culture--Advanced | 1 |
| MUSC448 | Ebony Singers: Gospel Music | 0.5 |
| MUSC450 | Steelband | 1 |
| MUSC451 | Javanese Gamelan--Beginners | 1 |
| MUSC452 | Javanese Gamelan--Advanced | 1 |
| MUSC453 | Keyboard Techniques II: Conducting and Score Reading | 1 |
| MUSC455 | Jazz Ensemble | 1 |
| MUSC456 | Jazz Improvisation Performance | 1 |
| MUSC457 | Jazz Orchestra I | 1 |
| MUSC458 | Jazz Orchestra II | 1 |
| MUSC459 | Methods of Improvisation Ensemble | 1 |
| MUSC461 | Sound Systems: The How of Hearing | 1 |
| MUSC463 | Teaching Music Lessons to Children in Local Schools | 1 |
| MUSC464 | Laptop Ensemble | 1 |
| Graduate Courses | ||
| MUSC500 | Graduate Pedagogy | 0.5 |
| MUSC505 | Topics in Applied Ethnomusicology/Public Musicology | 1 |
| MUSC506 | Reading Ethnomusicology | 1 |
| MUSC507 | Practicing Ethnomusicology | 1 |
| MUSC508 | Graduate Seminar in Composition | 1 |
| MUSC509 | Special Topics in Contemporary Music | 1 |
| MUSC510 | Graduate Proseminar in World Music Studies | 1 |
| MUSC513 | Improvisation in Cross-Cultural Perspective | 1 |
| MUSC515 | Mapping Music as/in Motion: The Cartographies and Circulation of Aural Culture | 1 |
| MUSC517 | Sex/Gender/Queerness in Music and Music Scholarship | 1 |
| MUSC518 | Music and Embodiment | 1 |
| MUSC519 | Current Issues in Ethnomusicology | 1 |
| MUSC520 | Explorations in Musicology | 1 |
| MUSC521 | Seminar in Interdisciplinary Studies | 1 |
| MUSC522 | Seminar in Comparative Music Theory | 1 |
| MUSC530 | Department of Music Colloquium | 0.25 |
Honors
The senior project requirement may be satisfied by the completion of an honors project, a project that may encompass a composition, a concert, etc., but the honors project always contains a substantial written component; for this reason it is called the honors thesis. An honors thesis satisfies the departmental requirement for a senior project, even if it is not awarded honors. The honors thesis tutorial is always a two-semester undertaking.
Capstone Experience
All music majors are required to complete a senior project by the end of their final year. The purpose of the project is to give focus to the major by means of independent, creative work and to encourage independent study with the close advice and support of a faculty member. Students who choose to undertake an honors thesis may count this as their senior project.