PEAK Minors

Music Minor

PEAKS | HFA

Music plays an integral part in the human experience, and the Music Minor encourages students to think deeply about music and to improve their musical abilities. The minor is designed to be flexible and to accommodate a wide range of students with varying musical backgrounds (including the classically trained musician, the garage-band performer, and the non-performing music lover). This minor develops active listening skills and introduces students to a variety of music literature and academic discourse about music. The minor fosters critical and analytical thinking about the ways music is constructed and the way it functions in society, while also encouraging students to solve compositional, historical-cultural, and performance problems. Communication is at the core of music, and students in the Music Studies Minor develop the ability to communicate musically and verbally in writing.

Students should first complete the literature and theory foundations core and then select courses that fit their personal interests.

Minor Requirements (18-19 credits):

Literature and Theory Foundations

Electives

Required

Student with music scholarships may be required to take additional semesters of applied lessons and ensembles to maintain their scholarships. These additional credits do not count toward the minor.

*The requirement to take MUS-111 Intro to Music Literature can be fulfilled by taking MUS-311.1 Music History I and MUS-312.1 Music History II. In this case, the total number of credits for the minor remain the same.

Student Learning Outcomes

  • Critical Thinking
  • Analytical Reasoning
  • Problem Solving
  • Communication through writing and music
  • Identify, through listening and in writing, the six major period-styles in Western music history.
  • Identify, through listening and in writing, prominent pieces of music literature and central composers in Western music.
  • Demonstrate fluency in reading music and in basic music theory.