Music Education

The Bachelor of Music Education (K-12 Broadfield) degree leads to certification to teach music at all levels of the public schools. This degree allows a music major to select instrumental or choral music as a major field. The curriculum provides training in the alternate field so graduates are prepared to teach in both disciplines. Emphasis is equally divided among music pedagogy, performance, and historical and theoretical study. All options provide thorough training for graduate school. A selection of courses in music education, music theory, and music history are offered at the graduate level. Graduate students may pursue a supporting area in music as part of a Master of Education degree program in the Department of Education.

All music majors must enroll in Applied Music each semester of residency. All students will be placed, by audition, at the appropriate level of applied study. Advancement to the next level will be by performance jury and with the approval of the applied music instructor. A recital, or an appearance in a recital as soloist, must be completed before advancement to MUS 360. Music majors are expected to attend, as a listener, six recital/concert performances each semester. Music majors must attend twenty-four recital/concert performances prior to advancement to MUS 360, and attend a total of forty-two performances to graduate.

Bachelor of Music Education (BME) degree students are classified as either Instrumental or Choral majors. As a portion of the required ensemble courses, choral majors are required to enroll in MUS 120 (Marching Band) for one semester and chamber music ensemble for one semester. In the Instrumental category, string, piano and guitar majors are required to enroll in MUS 120 (Marching Band) for one semester, and both a choral ensemble and a chamber music ensemble for one semester. Wind-Percussion majors must enroll in MUS 120 (Marching Band) for two semesters, and both a choral ensemble and a chamber music ensemble for one semester.

BME students must successfully complete at least one semester of MUS 360 (Applied Music III) before student teaching. They must also demonstrate guitar proficiency by either passing the guitar proficiency examination or completing MUS 153 with a grade of "C" or better.

Students in the Bachelor of Music Education degree will student teach only upon demonstration of piano and guitar proficiency, and only when they have successfully completed first and second-year music theory, keyboard, and aural skills, music history, conducting classes, technique classes, and methods courses in the teaching major. (A grade of "C-" or lower in these courses or less than a C average in each of the pairs, MUS 103 & 104, MUS 105 & 106, MUS 203 & 204, and MUS 205 & 206 is not acceptable as a prerequisite for student teaching.) Deficiencies in any of these areas will be noted during the sophomore review.

Curricula in Music Education

A minimum of 128 credits is required for graduation; 42 of these credits must be in courses numbered 300 or above.