Music Curriculum

Major

All majors will take a six-course core curriculum including 101, 102, 125, 126, 245, 246, plus one course from 351, 352, 353, 354. Participation for two complete semesters in one or more department ensembles to fulfill the ensemble participation requirement. Non-majors may also receive notation on the transcript for ensemble participation. To complete the major a student may choose from four options:

Music Composition emphasis: 255, 256, 491, 492. The 300-level seminar must be 354 or another seminar by permission of department chair.

Music History emphasis: Two additional courses from 351, 352, 353, 354, and either 495 or 496 (senior seminar) by advisement, culminating in a research paper.

Music Theory emphasis: 255, one additional course from 351, 352, 353, 354 and 493 or 494.

Music Performance emphasis: one additional course from 351, 352, 353, 354 and 423, 424 (repertory and performance), culminating in a senior recital. Majors with this emphasis who wish to apply for study abroad in the junior year must have their adviser's permission to pursue the Performance Studies emphasis before the end of fall semester, sophomore year.

Note: Permission may be granted by the chairperson to count a course from Music 103 to 111.

Minor

All minors will take the following four core courses: 101, 102, 125, 126; after which they select two additional courses according to the minor emphasis: minors in theory/composition and music history choose two additional courses in music History or theory above 102. Minors with emphasis in performance take MUPS 413 and 414. Participation for two complete semesters in one or more department ensembles to fulfill the ensemble participation requirement. Non-majors may also receive notation on the transcript for ensemble participation (large ensemble or chamber music).

Music Department Ensembles

Admission to all department ensembles is by audition at the beginning of the academic year or by permission of the director. Instrumental ensembles meet once a week for 2 to 2 1/2 hours each. Choral ensembles meet twice a week for 1 to 1 1/4 hours each. Credit for participation in department ensembles is noted on participants' transcripts.

MUEN 009-01, Collegium The Dickinson Collegium consists of a small choir of 24 voices, and small instrumental ensembles that occasionally perform in conjunction with the choir. The groups specialize in, but are not limited to, music of the medieval, Renaissance and Baroque eras. The Collegium performs in a variety of settings, including an annual Christmas concert in Memorial Hall.

MUEN 009-02, College Choir This mixed choir performs several major choral works each year at Dickinson with the Orchestra.

MUEN 009-03, DICE (Dickinson Improvisation and Collaboration Ensemble), a flexible, open-instrumentation ensemble (woodwinds, brass, percussion, strings and voice). Repertoire is diverse but focuses mostly on masterworks and lesser-known pieces of the 20th and 21st centuries.

MUEN 009-04, Jazz Band This ensemble performs classic big band arrangements and also features small combos from the larger group. Concerts regularly feature nationally-known guest soloists.

MUEN 009-05, College-Community Orchestra Open to students and faculty at the college and to instrumentalists from the surrounding area interested in the performance and study of the best in orchestral literature.

MUEN 009-06, Chamber Music Ensembles The department coordinates, coaches and supports performances of student chamber music ensembles according to student demand and availability. These ensembles are featured at the end of the academic year in a student chamber music concert.

Suggested Four Year Program

First Year: 125 (fall only), 126 (spring only); 101 and/or 102 (these may be taken out of sequence)
Second Year: 245 (fall only), 246 (spring only), 101 and/or 102, possibly 255 for composition or theory emphasis if simultaneous with 245
Third Year: remaining 200-level courses; 351-354 seminars
Fourth Year: all 400-level courses

Courses

• MUAC 101 History of Music
  An introductory course for students with some previous music experience providing training in intelligent listening through chronological discussion and analysis of selected representative works from the Middle Ages to 1750.
  

• MUAC 102 History of Music
  Why do we consider Mozart and Beethoven geniuses? What distinguishes music from sound and noise? How do opera and song encode cultural mores? How have social and political issues influenced supposed "abstract" music? Is music a more definite language than words? These are some of the aesthetic and philosophical issues that students will consider in this course, which explores musical composition from the death of Bach (1750) to avant-garde and minimalist composers. Students will develop skills associated with intelligent listening while also consulting primary sources in order to understand the contexts of musical production over the past 250 years. The ability to read music is not required for this course and non-musicians are welcome and encouraged.
  

• MUAC 107 Biographical Studies
  A study of the life and works of a major composer, e.g., Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, or Bartok. The content of the course will be altered from year to year in order to provide a diversity of subject matter.
  Prerequisite: 100, 101 or 102 or permission of the instructor.

• MUPS 111-01 Performance Studies: Piano
  Introduction to piano technique and keyboard fundamentals in a group setting. Recommended for all students with no keyboard experience regardless of major. Course content includes both group and solo playing, individual practice sessions, basic music theory, and expository writing. Learning objectives include being able to read and play basic piano music with two hands and pedal.
  Will meet prerequisite for continued study in piano (114). Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.

• MUPS 111-02 Performance Studies: Vocal Technique
  An introduction to vocal technique in a group setting. Course content includes physiology, both group and solo singing, independent practice sessions, IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet), written listening assignments and required concert attendance.
  Will meet prerequisite for continued study in voice (114). Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.

• MUPS 111-03 Performance Studies: Guitar
  Introduction to plectrum and finger style guitar technique in a group setting. Recommended for all students wanting to learn guitar at Dickinson with little or no prior experience and for those music majors or future music majors with no guitar experience. Course content includes both group and solo playing, individual practice sessions, music notation, listening assignments, fretboard theory, basic musicianship and required concert attendance. While the emphasis in reading will be on standard notation, tablature and chord chart diagrams will be explored.
  Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.

• MUPS 113, 114 Performance Studies I
  Private study open to all students who demonstrate some acquaintance with musical notation, and who should continue to study voice or an instrument at the basic level.
  One-half or one course each semester. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.

• MUAC 115 Fundamentals of Music
  A hands-on introduction to the fundamentals of music through reading, writing, listening, singing, and basic keyboard skills. Emphasis is upon the acquisition of musical literacy grounded in a thorough knowledge of music notation.
  The course is intended for non-majors with little or no theory background, and for minors and majors as a preparation for Music 125.

• MUAC 125, 126 Theory of Music I
  An introduction to the basic materials of music by means of discussion, analysis, and written exercises, complemented by intensive drill in sight singing, ear training, and keyboard harmony.
  Prerequisite: 115 or permission of the instructor for MUSC 125. For 126, must complete 125, or permission of the instructor. This course fulfills the DIV I.c. distribution requirement and QR graduation requirement.

• MUAC 205 Vocal Music Arranging
  This course gives students practical training in the dictation and arrangement of music for vocal ensemble performance.
  Prerequisite: 125.

• MUAC 206 Music in the United States
  This course explores the wide variety of music that composers and musicians created to reflect their own experience of and attitude toward American culture. The course explores not only the diverse means by which identity is encoded in musical language, including race, class, gender, ethnicity, and local practices, but also the ways in which music is employed within American culture, including religious life, social movements, wartime conflicts and protest movements, labor, and geo-political commentary. Unlike other courses at Dickinson, Music in the United States draws examples from a lengthy time-span (1600s to the present day), fosters critical listening skills (i.e., how do I listen to jazz?), and interrogates the dialogues between musical genres that are often viewed as being on opposite sides of the "high/lo" art divide (classical, religious, folk, blues, jazz, pop, rock, hip hop).
  Offered every two years.

• MUAC 209 World Music
  This course explores the musical cultures of six regions (Africa, India, Southeast Asia, Middle East, North American, and Europe) from the disciplinary perspective of ethnomusicology, a field that emphasizes the direct connections between social structures and musical sound/aesthetics. Students are exposed to the disciplinary methods of ethnomusicology, including its basic terminology and classification systems, and then apply these tools to the study of non-Western musics in a series of analytical assignments and presentations. Some of the questions posed in the class include: What differentiates music from sound, speech, and dance? How does music reflect cultural values and social structures? How does one learn to listen to non-western music? How has globalism affected local musical cultures? How does western musical terminology limit our understanding of another's music? What are the ideological and physical boundaries that hinder the experience of another culture's music?
  This course fulfills the DIV I.c. distribution requirement and Comparative Civilizations graduation requirement. Offered every two years.

• MUPS 213, 214 Performance Studies II
  Private study open to students who demonstrate a basic technique, and who should continue to study voice or an instrument at the intermediate level.
  One-half or one course each semester. Prerequisite: 114 and permission of the instructor.

• MUAC 221 Music in Film
  An introduction to the role and subject of music in film. This course will focus upon films made between ca. 1933 and the present, chosen for the variety and significance of their musical scores. Through critical reading, listening, and viewing, students will be taught to analyze the various functions of music in film, and to appreciate music as an essential and distinctive component of film narrative. No prior background in music is required for this course.
  

• MUAC 245, 246 Theory of Music II
  Introduction to the basic materials of music continued. Evolution of chromatic harmony in the 19th century and selected techniques in 20th century music. Increased emphasis is placed upon stylistic and critical analysis.
  Prerequisite: 126. This course fulfills the DIV I.c. distribution requirementand QR graduation requirement.

• MUAC 251 Score Study and Conducting
  An intermediate course in conducting vocal and instrumental ensembles following fundamentals of conducting taught in Music Theory 125-246. Principals of score study and analysis, score preparation, baton technique, expressivity, recitative and concerto-accompanying will be addressed. Texts include tradition choral and instrumental repertoire, examining the variety of problems and technical challenges of leading an ensemble and in developing an interpretation.
  Prerequisite: 245.

• MUAC 253 Orchestration
  A course in orchestrating music for a complete range of traditional Western orchestral, chamber and solo instruments. Issues of balance, transposition, score format, instrument ranges, characteristics and technical limitations will be studied. Students will practice arranging for a thorough array of instruments and will have their final orchestrations read by an ensemble.
  Prerequisite: 126.

• MUAC 255 Techniques of Composition
  An introduction to various compositional trends which emerged during the twentieth century. Techniques such as extended chromaticism, modal composition, free atonal counterpoint and serialism, are explored as well as the resources of MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface). Current notational procedures are examined and practiced. The course concludes with a final composition project for solo or chamber instrumental or vocal forces. The music department is equipped with a computer music lab for student use on assignments and projects.
  Prerequisite: 125 and 126 and permission of the instructor.

• MUAC 256 Composition Seminar
  This course explores in depth composition for instruments or voices, and emphasizes scoring for large ensembles, including orchestra, symphonic band, and chorus. Extended instrumental techniques are discussed as well as advanced notational procedures. The course concludes with a final composition project appropriate to one of the college co-curricular ensembles.
  Prerequisite: 255 or permission of the instructor.

• MUAC 257 Form Analysis
  This course introduces students to the major formal models of Western music from the Common Practice era (c. 1600-1900) as well as several variations of those models. Musical works from this era serve as the basis of study. Drawing on analytical skills and experience gained in Music Theory, students develop more complex, sophisticated analyses and interpretations of larger works.
  Prerequisite: 245.

• MUPS 313, 314 Performance Studies III
  Private study open to non-majors and majors with a performance emphasis, who demonstrate a fully developed technical skill and who should continue study on the advanced level. May be repeated for credit with the permission of the instructor.
  One-half or one course each semester. Prerequisite: 214 and permission of the instructor.

• MUPS 323, 324 Repertory and Performance (Junior Year)
  Private study for music majors with a performance emphasis. An upper divisional hearing is required at the end of 323 to determine if the student is prepared for the junior recital required as part of 324.
  Prerequisite: 214 and permission of the instructor.

• MUAC 351 Seminar in Medieval and Renaissance Music
  Studies in selected topics of the history of music from chant to ca. 1600.
  Prerequisite: 101 and 126 or permission of the instructor. Offered alternate years.

• MUAC 352 Seminar in Baroque Music
  Studies in selected topics of the history of music ca. 1600-1750.
  Prerequisite: 101 and 126 or permission of the instructor. Offered alternate years.

• MUAC 353 Seminar in Classic and Romantic Music
  Studies in selected topics of the history of music from ca. 1750 to 1900.
  Prerequisite: 102 and 126 or permission of the instructor. Offered alternate years.

• MUAC 354 Seminar in Contemporary Music
  Studies in selected topics of the history of music ca. 1900 to the present.
  Prerequisite: 102 and 126 or permission of the instructor. Offered alternate years.

• MUPS 413, 414 Performance Studies IV
  Private study for non-majors or majors without a performance emphasis who will continue study at an advanced level.
  Prerequisite: 314 and permission of the instructor.

• MUPS 423, 424 Repertory and Performance (Senior Year)
  A two-semester sequence of private study culminating in a public senior recital that includes a variety of musical styles and, for vocalists, languages. The culmination of 423 is a research paper on a composer, poet or genre relevant to the recital program. Must be taken in sequence within the same academic year.
  Prerequisite: core curriculum, 324, and permission of the instructor and chair.

• MUAC 491, 492 Senior Seminar in Composition
  Advanced independent study culminating in the creation of a substantial composition. The course must be taken as a fall-spring pair of half-credit courses. Open to seniors majoring in music.
  Prerequisite: 245, 246, 255 and permission of the department chair.

• MUAC 493, 494 Senior Seminar in Analytical Theory
  Advanced independent study in musical analysis culminating in the creation of a major analytical essay. Open to seniors majoring in music.
  Prerequisite: 245, 246, the relevant 300-level seminar, and permission of the department chair.

• MUAC 495, 496 Senior Seminar
  Advanced independent study in music history culminating in a major research paper. Open to seniors majoring in music.
  Prerequisite: two courses from 351-354 and permission of the department chair.

NOTE: Students may withdraw from performance studies courses with a full refund (minus charges for lessons taken) up to the end of the add/drop period. After the add/drop period, no refund is made.