50 courses with the subject MU, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
An introduction to reading and writing conventional music notation, the fundamentals of music theory, and basic aural skills. Emphasis will be placed on intervals, scales, chords, rhythmic values, sight-singing, melodic dictation, and aural recognition of intervals and chords.
Audition required. Private instruction in an instrument or voice. Thirteen weekly one-hour lessons. May be repeated. Studio fee required. Instruments offered: brass, guitar, piano, percussion, strings, and winds.
Basic piano technique and pedagogy in a group setting of 12 or fewer
An introduction to playing the guitar, including technique, reading tabs and notation, and harmonization of melodies with chords. Solo literature appropriate to the level will be studied. Students are required to provide an instrument.
General survey of masterpieces of major composers of various periods in history of music.
An introductory course in the fundamentals of ear-training and sight-singing. Emphasis will be placed on the development of basic melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic aural skills through listening, dictation, and application of solfege.
Surveys the history of jazz beginning with the earliest roots in the American South to today.
An introduction to music of various cultures and continents including music of Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and India.
Survey of music history and literature in America including gospel spirituals, jazz, popular and classical music.
An introduction to compositional methods and techniques. Students develop personal expression by creating musical works while exploring use of melody, harmony, timbre, rhythm, texture, and tonality within conventional musical forms.
Introductory level course covering topics of special interest to first-year students. Offered only as a First-Year Seminar.
This course deals with topics of special interest, in both seminars and studio environments at an introductory level.
Instruments offered: Piano, voice, oboe, clarinet, flute, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, French horn, violin, viola, cello, bass, percussion, guitar. Instructors for other instruments may be arranged by special request to the Music Department. Private instruction in an instrument or voice, one hour per week. Student fee required. May be repeated. Offered every semester.
Analysis and application of harmonization techniques using diatonic chords. Further emphasis is placed on voice-leading, figured bass, melodic construction, and embellishing tones.
A vocal ensemble that allows students to explore and perform choral repertoire in a variety of styles, including jazz, pop, and musical theater. Through weekly rehearsals, students develop ensemble skills such as harmony, rhythmic accuracy, and dynamic expression while strengthening aural skills, musicianship, individual vocal technique, and music-reading proficiency. The course culminates in a public performance each semester.
The Modern Guitar Workshop is a comprehensive course that integrates theory and practice to prepare students for the diverse demands of today's music industry. Students develop skills necessary for performing across multiple styles and ensemble settings, including accompanying singers and instrumentalists, providing rhythmic support, leading and arranging, improvising, and performing solo repertoire. The course emphasizes sight-reading and standard music notation, technical development, repertoire tailored to each student's musical focus, and collaborative ensemble work, supporting well-rounded professional musicianship.
Mixed Chorus repertoire. May be repeated.
An exploration of African music and drumming techniques from the culture of Ghana. Students will develop performance skills and present a public performance during the course of the semester.
This Level 2 ensemble builds on Level 1 in the following ways: (a) learn new drumming styles; (b) improvise with greater freedom; and (c) learn to play lead drum rhythms, with the possibility of performing them in the final performance.
LASC Categories: CA Study and experience in repertoire and performance. May be repeated. Fall and Spring and every year. 0.5-1 Credits
rs LASC Categories: CA Study and experience in music notation and style of instrumental music. Participation in college band required. Fall and Spring and other or on demand. 3 Credits
A small ensemble for keyboard players who will learn, explore, and perform four- hand piano repertoire.
A survey of the role of women in music, particularly the great composers from Medieval to Contemporary times.
Discover the benefits of using music to enrich general education from preschool through high school. Develop your own musicianship through learning to use your singing voice, learning to play the recorder, learning to read notation and gaining an overview of western music history.
An examination of Nineteenth Century music, beginning with Beethoven. [MU 140] Fall and Spring and every 2-3 years.
A comprehensive study and general listener's approach to contemporary music beginning with Impressionism. Spring only and every 2-3 years.
An introduction to the role, impact, and importance of music in motion pictures from silent movies through contemporary film.
LASC Categories: CA A survey of symphonic music beginning with the Classical Period. Spring only and every 2-3 years. 3 Credits
LASC Categories: CA The concerto from the eighteenth to the twentieth century with emphasis on the development of the piano concerto. Spring only and every 2-3 years.
A survey of scores composed for horror films. Emphasis is placed on the role of music in the genre and the composer's interpretation of various components of screenplays, including narrative, characters, and emotional content. Every 2-3 years.
This course introduces core concepts and tools for creating music with computers and electronic technologies. Students gain foundational knowledge of acoustics, sound perception, and MIDI while developing hands-on skills in audio recording, mixing, digital signal processing, and basic sound synthesis. Emphasis is placed on technical proficiency, critical listening, and the use of digital audio workstations in contemporary music production and composition.
A general survey of western art music covering the historical periods of the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and 20th Century.
A continuation of Composition I. Students will explore methods of tonal composition Emphasis will be placed on melodic writing, harmonization practices, chord substitutions, use of figurations, texture, and timbre in tonal music. Experimentation with rhythmic and metric practices including asymmetry, shifting accents, changing time signatures, and ostinato.
Study and performance of a cappella choral literature from the Middle Ages to contemporary times. May be repeated. Audition required for enrollment.
Instruments offered: Piano, voice, oboe, clarinet, flute, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, French horn, violin, viola, cello, bass, percussion, guitar. Instructors for other instruments may be arranged by special request to the Music Department. Private instruction in an instrument or voice, one hour per week. Student fee required. May be repeated. Offered every semester.
Harmonization of melodies using primary and secondary chords, harmonic analysis of tonal music from the Common Practice Period, including diatonic and chromatic chords, secondary dominants, modulation, and aural skills. An introduction to formal schemes in music including phrase structure, binary and ternary and form, sonata form, and species counterpoint.
Study, rehearsal and performance of a great American musical. Music, acting and dance will all be skills which are developed.
The performance of musical works by a small ensemble. By permission of instructor or audition.
In this class the students will rehearse and perform music from the orchestral repertoire in a variety of styles and genres and from varied periods. All woodwind, string, brass, keyboard and percussion instruments are eligible to participate. 1 credit section for those repeating the class in another semester and those in proposed revised music minor; .5 credit section for VPA music concentrators Pre-requisite: Audition for Instructor
An ensemble where students learn to perform traditional jazz repertoire, as well as original compositions. Through rehearsing, performing, directed listening and ear training, students will learn: (a) conceptual approaches to improvising and composing; (b) harmonic, melodic and rhythmic theory specific to the jazz idiom; and (c) methods for connecting audiation to instrumental playing. Special emphasis will be on jazz standards, especially those with a blues form. 3 credits 1 credit if repeating .5 for Visual and Performing Arts majors with music concentration or focus and those who minor in composition and music technology
This course builds on Digital Music I and provides advanced study in digital music creation using contemporary music production software. Students explore audio processing, synthesis, multitrack editing and mixing, and techniques for shaping timbre, space, and dynamics while developing perceptual listening and artistic decision-making skills. The course culminates in the creation of polished digital music compositions that demonstrate technical fluency and creative growth.
An introduction to and analysis of the formal structures of music. Fall and Spring and every year.
An exploration of compositional practices presented during Composition II. Students will compose absolute music in the style of the Common Practice Period as well as work with superimposed chords, shifting tonality, pandiatonicism, large-scale forms, polyrhythms, and polymeter, This course introduces to composing tonal music for non-musical genres including media, video games, incidental music for theater and film.
An opportunity for further study in a special field of interest under faculty supervision.
Instruments offered: Piano, voice, oboe, clarinet, flute, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, French horn, violin, viola, cello, bass, percussion, guitar. Instructors for other instruments may be arranged by special request to the Music Department. Private instruction in an instrument or voice, one hour per week. Student fee required. May be repeated. Offered every semester.
Directed study offers students, who because of unusual circumstances may be unable to register for a course when offered, the opportunity to complete an existing course with an established syllabus under the direction and with agreement from a faculty member.
This course will allow members of the music faculty to develop courses of special interest. This would include seminars on specific composers or compositions, in both classroom and applied studio enviorments.
Compositional techniques of the 20th-century including modality, parallelism, atonality, serialism, electronic music, aleatory, music concrete, and sound synthesis.
Source: Worcester State University's catalog, linked per course · table learning_unit · CourseShelf publish 61
