Master of Music in Music Education

Masters in Music education is a two years graduate level training for the professional music leader and teacher; this program has three areas of emphasis: academic rigor with a research-based capstone project, hands-on mentored music teaching, and a graduate-level performance recital in your instrument of emphasis.

Music and the Mind (2)

An examination of how the brain functions in the production, practice, learning, and performance of music. Among mental processes studied are how we perceive, learn, remember, create and perform music. In the process we will study the beneficial psychological, neurological, biochemical, social, and therapeutic aspects of the study of music, and how music study affects the growth, development, and protection of various brain functions and capacities.

MUED 521 & 621 Music Teaching Methods: (1 & 1)
An introduction to various methods of teaching music (especially to children) through movement, composition, listening, play, and performance. Methods included are Kodaly, Yamaha, Orff, Dalcroze, and Alexander methods.

MC 542 Choral Conducting( 2)

The purpose of this class is to train the teacher/conductor in the arts of training and conducting a choir, and in writing about great choral works. The class culminates in a minimum 30-minute program in which the conducting student directs an ensemble he or she has rehearsed in great choral works of appropriate level of difficulty.

MC 642 Instrumental Conducting (2)

The purpose of this class is to train the teacher/conductor in the arts of training and conducting an instrumental ensemble, and writing about great instrumental works. The class culminates in a minimum 30-minute program in which the conducting student directs an ensemble he or she has rehearsed in great instrumental works of appropriate level of difficulty.

Teaching Indian Music( 1)

Creating a Creative Community(3)

The purpose of this course is to equip students with practices that are associated with more creative and innovative approaches to forming a creative musical community. We begin by exploring the origin of creative ideas and the mindsets and practices exhibited by successful innovators, and then examine each area in more depth along with related strategies. Students will have opportunities for practice, experimentation, and feedback. After developing a theoretical understanding of key concepts, the thrust of the course is on trying behaviors and strategies in order to generate more innovative ideas about music educational problems a teacher/leader encounters. The main assignment–an Innovation Challenge–will ask students to use strategies from the course to analyze a problem in music education and/or performance and document the process and the results.

MUED 631 Educational Psychology Applied to Music Teaching(3)

This class is an overview of research concerning learning and motivation, and how that research can be applied in music educational environments. We study the role of the teacher, strategies for effective instruction, creating an environment for learning, and various difficulties students face in learning.

National Standards and the Indian Music Classroom(2)

Students investigate the national standards of music from a variety of nations including Ireland, England, the Netherlands, and the US, with an eye toward understanding expectations of how to design a lesson system at a school training students from pre-K through 12^th in the musical arts.

Applied Music Performance ( 1-2)

Students participate, rehearse, and perform in a major work such as a Broadway musical, oratorio, or opera.

MUPS 514-615 Individual Lessons – Continuous through 2 years of study(4)

The purpose of this course is to promote the study and performance of vocal literature representative of all periods of music. Repertoire will include standard classical art songs, folk songs, spirituals, sacred song, musical theater, and contemporary Christian music. Applied music courses are one-unit successive levels of private music instruction. Each level is prerequisite to all higher levels. All students enrolled in applied music are required to participate in regularly scheduled departmental recitals and perform for faculty jury for their final examination. A minimum of five hours practice between lessons is required.

Graduate Recital in Students’ Instrument(1)

The Graduate Recital is a performance of representative Western Classical music works from at least two periods, at an appropriate level for a graduate performer. The classical portion of the recital must be a total of 38-42 minutes of music (breaks between pieces not included). Additional music may be added at the discretion of the student’s individual instructor. All music to be performed must be performed and approved in advance by the individual instructor and the Performance Faculty. The recital also includes a writing component, in which the student describes composers and compositions. The Recital is available to students only at the discretion of the Performance Department Faculty and the student’s individual instructor.

Performance Ensemble (or 2 Ensembles & 1 major stage performance)    4 (1, 1, 1 & 1 or 1, 1 & 2)

A performance ensemble made up of instruments or voices performing specialized arrangements of classical and various genres. The student must participate in an ensemble every semester of the degree program.

Piano Skills for Music Teachers* 2 (1 & 1)

Students are trained in the basics of accompanying for private instruction and public performance, and in the playing of vocal exercises and musical warm-ups. Classes are to be taken in two successive semesters.

Research & Writing Skills for Musicians( 3)

Students learn to study, evaluate, critique, and write about current research in music education.

Thesis ( 2)

The thesis is the culminating writing assignment of the Master of Music in Music Education program. In this the student will demonstrate the ability to investigate and evaluate current research on a subject, and how to apply that research to a novel situation or in a novel way.

Total: 34