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Music

Dr. Jonathan M. Gary, Chairperson

Purpose

UMHB Department of Music 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:

  1. 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.
  2. Repeated opportunities for enacting, in a variety of ways, the roles of listener (analysis), performer (interpretation), composer (creation), and scholar (research).
  3. A repertory for study that embraces all cultures and historical periods.

The UMHB Department of Music is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music and 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.
  • All Music majors and minors should acquire a copy of the Department of Music Handbook, which contains specific degree and other special requirements.

Admission to the Program

Auditions are required for acceptance into the Music Department. Admission to UMHB does not constitute automatic acceptance into the Department of Music. All music majors and minors must meet the following requirements:

* Admission to UMHB

* Completed music application

* Formal audition (including sight-reading) for the music faculty

Following each audition, the music faculty will determine if the candidate meets UMHB Department of Music 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.

Tests and Assessment Barriers

Each music degree has several assessment barriers imbedded throughout the curriculum.  Each must be “passed” before a student may enroll or continue in more advanced music courses:

1) Theory Placement Exam 

2) Applied Juries

3) Applied Music Proficiency    

4) Performance major Proficiency Exam (see Department of Music Handbook)

5) Piano Proficiency

6) Solo Recital Hearings

7) TExES Review (MUSI 4006): Music Education majors must take the TExES Review course prior to student teaching and must earn a minimum of 80 on the final exam in order to proceed with student teaching.

For more specific information regarding the expectations of successfully completing juries, proficiencies, Credit by Examination, TExES Review, and the Departmental Barrier, see the Department of Music Handbook and respective syllabi.

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:

  • A live or taped audition before the music faculty; and
  • If deficiencies are revealed, the student will be required to take courses at their demonstrated academic or performance level including the Piano Proficiency (MUSI 2005) and Applied Principal Proficiency (MUSI 200X).
  • 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

During the formal audition for acceptance, students are considered for music scholarship. Music 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 and/or an overall 3.0 in music courses are ineligible for music scholarship renewal. Scholarships are available for a maximum of 8 semesters (10 semesters for music education majors.)  

              

ALL SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS must sign an “Acceptance Agreement” and return it to the music office.   Students who do not comply with UMHB’s policies and rules of student conduct will forfeit their scholarship.   Ensemble participation is required every semester the scholarship is received.  This includes rehearsals, all performances, and concert tours.  (Music Education majors are exempt from ensemble enrollment the semester of student teaching.)   Students who do not fulfill all ensemble requirements will lose their scholarship.

Ensembles

Music majors and minors are required to  enroll for credit in music ensembles.  Ensemble placement is determined by ensemble auditions. Vocal Performance majors must register for six hours of MUEN 1197/3197 – Opera/Musical Theatre Workshop in addition to a major choral ensemble. 

Recitals and Concerts (MUSI 1023/1031 – Performance Lab)

All music majors and minors must attend at least 15 concerts/recitals per semester. Students must register for MUSI 1023/1031 Performance Lab to receive credit for attendance. See the Department of Music Handbook 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, BA in Music Business, Music Education, Church Music and Performance majors. Performance Majors must also present a forty-five minute Level II Recital (MUSI 4000). 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 audition for the Chair of the Department of Music. 

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, or percussion for an applied principal. Performance majors may only select piano and 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.   Because of the accelerated nature of summer school, however, only one semester hour of credit can be earned per performing medium during a single session. (The maximum applied music credit total allowed per summer session is two hours.) Detailed technique and repertoire requirements for the various grade and credit levels are available in the CVPA Office.