Music
Purpose
UMHB Music Department educates and prepares student-musicians for lives of Christian service and contribution to the art as music educators, performers, church musicians, composers, and scholars; provides and nurtures a core of musical life for society at large; and educates the overall university (faculty, staff, and students) regarding music’s intrinsic value as a part of the human experience and the enrichment of the human spirit.
All musicians, whether performers, composers, scholars, or teachers, share common professional needs. Every musician, to some extent, must be a performer, a listener, a historian, a composer, a theorist, and a teacher. For this reason, certain subject matter and learning processes are common to all baccalaureate degrees in Music. UMHB’s undergraduate music curriculum provides the following:
- A conceptual understanding of such musical properties as sound, rhythm, melody, harmony, texture, and form and opportunities for developing a comprehensive grasp of their interrelationships as they form the cognitive-affective basis for listening, composing, and performing.
- Repeated opportunities for enacting, in a variety of ways, the roles of listener (analysis), performer (interpretation), composer (creation), and scholar (research).
- A diverse repertory for study that embraces a variety of cultures and historical periods.
UMHB is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music and is a member of the Texas Association of Music Schools.
General Information
- No music course in which a grade lower than “C” was obtained will count toward fulfillment of a major or minor in Music.
- Performance majors must earn a "B" or above in their applied area.
Admission to the Program
Auditions are required for acceptance into the Music Department. Admission to UMHB does not constitute automatic acceptance into the Music Department. All music majors and minors must meet the following requirements:
* Admission to UMHB
* Completed music application
* Formal audition for the music faculty
Following each audition, the music faculty will determine if the candidate meets UMHB Music Department standards for acceptance. Transfer students must be accepted into the music program, regardless of transfer credits or classification.
The University establishes requirements for admission to its music programs in conformity with the published regulations and standards of the National Association of Schools of Music.
Transfer Credit
Credit Requirements for Transfer Students (For general institutional information regarding transfer of courses, see the Registration Policy and Procedures section of this catalog.) Transfer music majors or minors must meet all Admission to the Program requirements (see above). Placement in UMHB music courses is determined by:
- An audition before the music faculty; and
- Placement Exams; and
- If deficiencies are revealed, the student will be required to take courses at their demonstrated academic or performance level including the Piano Proficiency (MUAP 2005) and Applied Principal Proficiency (MUAP 20XX).
- Credit for music courses from other institutions may be accepted with a minimum grade of “C”.
- In no instance may lower level (1000-2000) courses equate to or substitute for UMHB upper level (3000-4000) courses.
Music Scholarships
Music applicants must audition/interview for the Music Department faculty in the area in which they wish to concentrate. This audition/interview will be the basis for admittance to the Music Department and scholarship consideration. On-campus auditions and interviews are strongly preferred. If you cannot attend one of the audition and interview weekends, contact the Music Department (music@umhb.edu) to make alternate arrangements. Music applicants should submit the online Music Application for the appropriate academic year and complete an audition/interview by the last audition date in the appropriate academic year in order to receive priority consideration for music major scholarships. Students completing auditions/interviews after that date will still be eligible to receive consideration for admission to the Music Department, but priority for scholarship awards will be given to students who have completed the audition/interview process by the last audition date in the appropriate academic year.
Scholarship renewal for returning students is contingent upon grades, applied performance, and recommendation of the music faculty. Students who have not maintained an overall 3.0 grade point average will be given a semester to demonstrate progress toward improving their grade point average. Students who fail to demonstrate progress toward improving their grade point average during this semester may forfeit their music scholarship. Students who earn less than a B in their principal applied study may lose their music scholarship. Students who do not comply with UMHB’s policies and rules of student conduct may forfeit their scholarship.
Scholarships are available for up to eight semesters. Requests for continuation of scholarship past eight semesters will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the music faculty.
All scholarship recipients must sign a Scholarship Acceptance Agreement and return it to the Music Department (music@umhb.edu).
Ensembles
Music majors and minors are required to enroll for credit in music ensembles. Ensemble placement is determined by ensemble auditions.
Recitals and Concerts (MUAP 1000 – Performance Lab)
All music majors and minors must attend at least 20 concerts/recitals per semester. Students must register for
MUAP 1000 Performance Lab to receive credit for attendance. See respective syllabi for further information.
Failure to complete all Performance Lab requirements may delay graduation.
Level I and Level II Recitals
A thirty-minute Level I Solo Recital (MUSI 3000) is required of all BA in Music, BM in Music Education, BM in Church Music and BM in Performance majors. BM in Performance Majors must also present a forty-five minute Level II Recital (MUSI 4000). BM in Music Education majors must present a Level I Recital before the semester of Student Teaching.
Applied Music (Individual Instruction)
Applied music instruction is intended for music majors and minors. Non-majors wishing to enroll in applied lessons must seek approval from the Music Department Chair.
Applied music tuition and fees are found in the Financial Information section of this catalog.
UMHB offers applied study in voice, piano, guitar, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. Performance majors may only select voice as a principal.
One 30-minute lesson per week is taught for each semester-hour credit. Thus, two hours of semester credit equals one hour of private instruction per week and three hours of semester credit equates to 90 minutes of instruction each week.