This degree is designed to prepare the graduate for college-level teaching or doctoral study.

The program includes in-class teaching experience, study and survey of a wide variety of theory texts, and collaboration with a faculty advisor/mentor. Applicants are encouraged to consider studying music theory pedagogy paired with another area (i.e. performance, musicology, conducting, composition, or piano pedagogy).

Active listening, a skill necessary for understanding music and cultivating musical thought, requires musical proficiency: playing an instrument at a moderately accomplished level, score reading, and fluency in keyboard harmony. A theorist must hear what one sees in a score and see in a score what one hears.

Prerequisites

• Bachelors degree in music (or demonstrated equivalent)
• GPA of 3.0 in the last 60 hours
• 3 credits of 18th- or 16th-century counterpoint
• 2 credits of orchestration
• 2 credits of a theory elective
• 4 credits of music history (equivalent study to Music 2307-2308)
• 16 credits of applied instruction (or equivalent)

If an applicant does not meet the required prerequisites, then appropriate course(s) may be added to the degree requirements.

Required Courses

Additional Requirements

• Comprehensive Exam General Info
• See degree specific guidelines on this page to the right
• The student must assemble a faculty thesis committee and pass an oral examination regarding the thesis.
• No more than one course with a grade lower than B- may count toward completion of the degree.