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ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

Birmingham-Southern College Catalog 2016-2017

85

Music

Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Musical Arts

Leon W. Couch III, Jeremy N. Grall, Jeff Kensmoe, Jacqueline Leary-Warsaw,

Lester Charles Seigel

The Department of Music provides music education and training of distinctive quality

within a liberal arts context. Students study music for a variety of reasons: as an

enhancement to their liberal arts experience; as preparation for a career in performance;

or as preparation for graduate school. For all students, the department offers private

lessons and music ensembles as well as courses in music appreciation and music theory.

All lessons and courses offered by the department are designed to help students increase

their enjoyment of and ability to create music. In the tradition of the professional music

school, the department provides a collegial environment among all students with the

intention of cultivating talent and challenging students musically and intellectually.

The department offers two distinctive degrees, both of which provide music majors with

a program of strength and rigor: the Bachelor of Arts and the Bachelor of Musical Arts, a

music-intensive degree that integrates individualized study in another academic area.

Students who anticipate majoring in music must audition in their principal instrument no

later than the end of their first term at the College and demonstrate sufficient competency

to undertake college-level work. Following two years of study, a committee of music

faculty will interview and audition students and advise them concerning their degree

plans and expectations. Prior to graduation, students must achieve a minimum

proficiency level in the principal instrument and in piano appropriate for their degree (see

the

Music Student’s Handbook

for an explanation of specific proficiency levels) and must

advance toward that degree at a rate acceptable to the music faculty.

Upon completion of the music major, students will be able to

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hear, identify, and work with musical elements including rhythm, pitch,

harmony, structure, timbre, and texture

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demonstrate the ability to apply musical notation through performance

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recognize and articulate an understanding of compositional process and musical

style with reference to artists, technologies, events, and cultural forces through

the major periods of history

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use research tools and analysis to develop and defend judgments and write about

music

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Major in Music

The Bachelor of Arts with a major in music is designed for students who wish to study

music in a broad liberal arts context. The major is balanced among four types of music

study: theory, literature and history, applied study in performance, and ensemble

participation. In the senior year, students present a solo recital or the results of an

independent research topic (a correlative paper is required).