Music Minor

To earn a music minor, students will need to complete five foundational music courses, two additional courses from tailored lists, three semesters of performances, and four credits worth of private lessons and ensembles.

• Music Fundamentals: A course laying the foundation for musicianship and further study in music through the study of music fundamentals, i.e., rudimentary skills in notation, analysis, and composition as well as exposure to basic music literature.
• Ear Training I: The development of basic skills in the reading and notation of rhythm and of diatonic melodies in major and minor, in hearing and playing primary triads, and in identifying major and minor scales and simple intervals.
• Diatonic Harmony: Continuation of Music 103 through all aspects of diatonic harmony.
• Ear Training II: Continuation of Music 103L. The further development of skills in the reading and notation of more complex rhythms and of diatonic melodies, in singing in alto clef, in hearing and singing all simple diatonic intervals, in hearing and singing all diatonic triads, and in identifying major, minor, and some modal scales.
• Introduction to Music Literature: A survey of the basic repertoire and of masterpieces in several genres (art songs, symphonies, concerti, major choral works, etc.), involving extensive and intensive listening, and study of style and form.
• Music History and Literature I: Study of the literatures, cultural contexts, and intertextual relationships of Western music, from Antiquity through the 15th century.
• Music History and Literature II: Study of the literatures, cultural contexts, and intertextual relationships of Western music, from the 15th through the 18th century.
• Music History and Literature III: Study of the literatures, cultural contexts, and intertextual relationships of Western music, from the 18th through the 19th century.
• Worship and Liturgy: A study of the various liturgical worship practices of Christian denominations, with primary focus on music in the Reformed denomination. Experiences such as field trips and participation in various Christian worship practices will deepen the student’s familiarity with liturgy and practical (musical) skills needed in a worship context. Students will receive instruction on planning music for worship, gain exposure to a variety of materials and methods, and cultivate their own musical skills by designing liturgies, culminating in the development of a Reformed philosophy of church music. The course will help to prepare students to serve aptly in a church setting.
• Basic Conducting: An introduction to conducting technique.
• World Music: Examination of music heard in various contemporary world cultures, its aesthetic and stylistic aspects as well as its functions and underpinning ideas and values.
• Orchestration: A study of transposition, instrumental ranges, and balance by arranging keyboard and choral works for instrumental ensembles.
  
• Performance Class: Concert and recital attendance; presentations of special topics related to music.
• At least four credits of private lessons and ensembles

See the course catalog for more information.