Additional Requirements
- 4 credits from contextual studies courses
- 8 credits in music electives
- 8 credits in private instruction or class piano (eight 1-credit courses)
- 0 credits in ensemble (eight semesters). Participation in an appropriate ensemble as designated by the music faculty and as related to the major area of study is required each semester of enrollment.
It is suggested that students concentrate the elective courses within a single area – music theory and composition, music history and literature, conducting or pedagogy. Credits in private lesson instruction may not be used to fulfill the 8-credit requirement in music electives.
Private Instruction in the Bachelor of Music Program
All students majoring in programs leading to the Bachelor of Music are required to take private instruction in a major instrument, voice or composition, and a minor instrument or voice. Students majoring in instrumental music should have adequate foundation in preliminary study of their major instrument.
Students take the 200-level courses in private instruction for 1 or 2 credits, according to the following guidelines:
- Major instrument or voice: 2 credits are given for each course to all first-year and sophomore majors in the Bachelor of Music programs, and to juniors and seniors majoring in music education or composition, for private instruction in the student’s major instrument or voice. Students receive two half-hour lessons per week in their major instrument or voice and are expected to practice three hours daily.
- Minor instrument or voice: 1 credit is given to all majors for each course of private instruction in a student’s minor instrument or voice. One hour of daily practice and one half-hour lesson are required per week.
- Composition: MUS 264 – Composition may be taken as 1 credit starting in the freshman year, or 2 credits beginning in the sophomore year, such that 4 credits have been completed by the end of the sophomore year. At 1 credit, students receive one half-hour lesson per week and are expected to compose 60 minutes daily. At 2 credits, students receive one, one-hour lesson per week and are expected to compose 120 minutes daily.
Juniors and seniors majoring in voice performance, instrumental music, or composition take the 400-level courses of private instruction in their respective area of focus. Students receive a weekly, one-hour lesson in their area of focus and are expected to practice or compose three hours daily. 4 credits are granted.
Registration for private music lessons is on a semester basis. At the end of each semester, each student registered for private instruction must perform for a panel of music faculty members. Note carefully these regulations regarding private instruction:
- Students entering not later than two weeks after the beginning of the semester must pay in full for private instruction.
- If lessons are discontinued during the semester, no refund is made after the eighth week of the semester.
- Only in the case of illness of more than two weeks’ duration are fees refunded for absences from lessons.
- Students are charged for lessons missed unless they notify the instructor a reasonable time in advance of an absence. Lessons missed on legal and special holidays and during organization tours are not made up.
- Students are permitted to change instructors with the consent of the department chair.
- Students registered in the department of music are not permitted to take private lessons for credit from instructors who are not faculty members of Concordia College.
Because participation in many ensembles is open to students who are not majors or minors in music, detailed descriptions of these organizations are included under Expanded Academic Opportunities on Page 27.