����TV

Why take courses in this discipline?

Music is an essential part of human life. It has been used for millennia to bring people to laughter, to tears, and to inspire a sense of solidarity. The ����TV Music Department is committed to helping students become more skilled, creative, critically reflective, and socially aware members of a community by integrating music-making with theory, context, and critical engagement. We offer a range of courses on diverse practices from multiple disciplinary perspectives that are anti-racist, inclusive, and equitable so that all students feel a sense of belonging and can expand the possibilities of what music can be for them. Whether they are majors or taking a single course, students will learn to integrate music into their lifelong quest for meaning.

How does this discipline contribute to the liberal arts?

Courses in music involve creative expression and the study of human behavior and society.

How does a student get started?

Prospective majors should take the required gateway course Introduction to Music Studies and Lab (MUS 100/100L) in the fall and Music Theory I and Lab (MUS 112/111) in the spring of their first year. Prospective majors are encouraged to take MUS 261 or 262, and either MUS 202, 203, 204, or 205 as early as possible, preferably in the second year. Joining a musical ensemble is a great way to find a music community at ����TV.

Non-majors are welcome in all classroom-based courses. Numerous courses require no previous background in music and have no prerequisites. These include Introduction to Music Studies (MUS 100), Music, Culture, Context (MUS 116) (designed explicitly for non-majors), and several 200-level courses open to all students, often including first-years (MUS 201, MUS 202, MUS 203, MUS 204, MUS 205, MUS 208, MUS 214 and MUS 219).

AP/IB Credit

A 4 or 5 on the AP music theory exam counts for four credits in the humanities division.

Courses in Music

All courses in Music

Regularly Offered 100-Level Courses

• Introduction to Music Studies
• Music Theory I
• Music, Culture, Context

Recently Offered 200-Level Courses

• Music, Mind, and Brain
• Intermediate Music Studies
  • Gender and Sexuality in Music
  • Animal Music
  • Listening to Music
• Electronic Music-Making
• Topics in American Music
  • Hip-Hop Culture
  • Popular Music
  • Country Music
  • Sonic Activism
  • Broadway Theatre
• Topics in Ethnomusicology
  • Theory & Method in Ethnomusicology
  • Performing Difference
  • Global Heavy Metal
• Jazz Traditions
• Music in Africa
• Music Theory II
• Topics in Sonic Creativity
  • Rhythmic Exploration
  • Co-Motion
• Introduction to Composition
• Jazz Improvisation
• Conducting
• Music in Europe to 1750
• Music in Europe and the Americas from 1720 to the Present

Recently Offered 300-Level Courses

• Advanced Studies in Music
  • Cognitive Theories of Music
  • Music and Capitalism
  • Advanced Tonal Theories
  • Musical Meaning & Social Value
  • Race & Musical Taste
  • Instrument Making
  • Performing the Sacred
  • Baroque Improvisation
• Composition Seminar
• Tonal Counterpoint
• Orchestration

Recent Special Topics

• Ngoma Dance, Drumming, and Singing from Zimbabwe
• Tap Is Music

Contributions to Other Majors/Concentrations

Courses in music contribute to concentrations in:

• Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies
• American studies
• Studies in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia
• European studies
• Neuroscience

Department Events and Opportunities

Private Lessons

Half-hour private lessons (MUS 120 or MUS 220) on one instrument or voice are included in the comprehensive fee.

Declared music majors may take an unlimited number of lessons at any level without additional charge (majors must declare before the end of the Add/Drop period to receive free lessons for that semester). 

Non-majors may take one course of 30-minute private lessons (MUS 120 or MUS 220) every semester without additional charge. For a small fee, non-majors can upgrade to 60-minute lessons (MUS 221, MUS 320, and MUS 420) or take 30-minute lessons in a second area. A limited number of competitive awards are available to cover these fees; see the music department website for details.

Entering students generally register for 100-level lessons; registration for 200-level lessons requires the permission of the instructor.

Please note: registration for music lessons is subject to enrollment caps, like other courses. Credits earned in music lessons or ensembles are not counted in the number of credits that determine whether a student is liable for an “overload” fee (over 18 credits).

To enroll in music lessons:

First year students need to get approval from their adviser in Colleague Self-Service and click the blue “register” button during round 2 registration on Tuesday, August 25. Instructor assignments are subject to change during Add/Drop, pending enrollment numbers. Students should expect to hear about scheduling directly from their instructor by email by Friday, September 11. If students have any questions about appropriate enrollment level, scheduling, permission to enroll in 200 level, etc., they should contact the teacher directly, but the department recommends that students register initially for MUS 120, then later upgrade to MUS 220/221 if the instructor deems it advisable.

Ensembles

Six musical ensembles (MUS 101) are open to all students without audition, regardless of previous musical experience (Oratorio Society, Collegium Musicum, YGB Gospel Choir, Symphonic Band, Zimbabwean Mbira Ensemble, and Balinese Sound Ensemble). The remaining ensembles require auditions for placement purposes. These take place just before or during the first week of classes in the fall; individual ensemble directors can provide detailed information on auditions for their ensembles.

Winners of the Hill Ensemble Scholarships (selected during ensemble auditions) will receive free music lesson upgrades in exchange for participating in a music department ensemble.