2024-25 Catalog

Music

The Lehigh Music Department is devoted to the study, performance and appreciation of music, with a special commitment to collaboration across disciplines in the study of music as art and social practice. We offer a multiplicity of courses to educate our students in choral studies, composition, conducting, history, jazz, performance, recording technology, theory, and other subjects. We encourage majors and non-majors, undergraduates and graduate students alike to participate in our ensembles large and small, including choral groups, jazz orchestras and combos, marching band, philharmonic orchestra, string and wind ensembles, and symphonic band. Our students enjoy many opportunities to collaborate with renowned guest musicians, and we employ a staff of illustrious instructors for students who wish to take private instrumental or vocal lessons.

Our department is located within the Zoellner Arts Center, and features a music library, practice rooms, a composition and digital class piano studio, a comprehensive recording studio, classrooms, rehearsal rooms, and a state-of-the-art concert facility, Baker Hall.

Major program

The Bachelor of Arts in Music program comprises three components: foundation courses, electives, and the capstone project. Foundation courses train students in music history and theory, as well as fundamental musicianship and performance skills. Together with a broad range of electives designed to help students identify individual areas of interest, these courses will give students the necessary skills and knowledge to develop the capstone projects that bring their academic efforts and ambitions to fruition.

The Music Major requires a minimum of 36 credits.

(1) Foundation
MUS 005Keyboard Skills1
MUS 007Aural Skills (or pass the aural proficiency exam)1
MUS 081Foundations of Music3
MUS 082Elementary Harmony3
Two consecutive semesters of ensemble participation0-2
(2) Electives 1
Two 100- or 200-level music courses that address any of the following areas: music genre, composer, conducting, composition, a historical period, or a specific historical-cultural topic.6-8
All other music courses, lessons, and ensembles should be chosen in consultation with, and with the approval of, the undergraduate advisor and the capstone supervisor.7-19
(3) Capstone
MUS 270Capstone Preparation1-4
MUS 370Capstone Project 1-4
Total Credits23-45
1

Additional electives may be needed to achieve a minimum of 36 credits for the major. 

Minor program

The Music Minor enables students to take courses in music history and culture,  participate in music ensembles, choose elective courses from a broad range of topics, and take private music lessons. The Music Minor requires a minimum of 17 credits.

(1) One course from the following: 3-4
Introduction to Western Music
Music Cultures of the World
Foundations of Music
(2) Two consecutive semesters of ensemble participation0-2
(3) One MUS course 3 credits or more3-4
(4) Elective MUS courses, lessons, and ensembles7-11
Elective courses, lessons, and/or ensembles are to be chosen in consultation with, and with the approval of, the undergraduate advisor.

Options FOR MAJORING IN MUSIC

Lehigh attracts many engineering and science students, as well as English, business, and accounting majors, who wish to continue their active involvement in music. Those students who wish to combine their scientific or engineering pursuit with music should take a look at the Arts/Engineering program or at IDEAS. Beyond those curricula, students in engineering, business, or other majors can, with good time management, pursue either a dual degree or a double major. For more information on these two options, please see https://cas.lehigh.edu/content/double-majors-and-dual-degrees.

Private lessons

Lessons in most instruments and voice may be taken for one credit per semester; students may also enroll for no credit to avoid overloading. Lessons must be arranged through the department at set fees that are not included in tuition. Please note that registering for lessons does not guarantee availability, due to occasional difficulties in scheduling.

Performing groups

Admission to performing ensembles is by audition (except for Choral Union, Symphonic Band, and Marching 97, which are open to all students). Students receive one credit per semester by registering for the appropriate course number. Students may also register for zero credit, as indicated in the catalog. Although there is no limit to the number of these courses that may be taken, students should check with their advisor to determine the number of credits that may be applied toward graduation.

Course Offerings

PLEASE NOTE: The course offerings are currently under revision and may not all be available at the time of registration.

Please see the Music Department Webpage for more information regarding  Courses and Programs.

Courses

MUS 005 Keyboard Skills 1 Credit

For intended music majors only. Teaches keyboard competency including scales, prepared pieces, sight reading and other techniques. Leads to the Piano Proficiency exam requirement for all majors. Course may be repeated until Piano Proficiency exam is passed. A maximum of 2 credit hours may be counted toward the music major.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: AL, HU

MUS 007 Aural Skills 1 Credit

Intended for music majors and minors. This course focuses on singing, playing, and writing melodies/rhythms/harmonies in different tonalities and scales. It also explores chromaticism, mixed meters, singing and playing two-part music simultaneously, and singing together in parts. Course may be repeated until the Aural Proficiency exam is passed. A maximum of 2 credit hours may be counted toward the music major.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HU

MUS 010 Introduction to Western Music 3 Credits

Music can express that which cannot be said in words. This is part of the reason that it has been cherished in every culture in the history of humanity. By learning and applying active listening skills through a survey of Western Art Music, students develop an ability to think critically about music and to write intelligently about a wide range of musical experience. Intended for those not planning to major or minor in music.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU

MUS 013 Music Cultures of the World 3 Credits

An introduction to different musical styles, aesthetic, and humanistic approaches in understanding art, folk, traditional, and popular music of the world.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU

MUS 021 Marching Band 0,1 Credits

No audition required for admission.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: AL, HU

MUS 022 Wind Ensemble 0,1 Credits

Admission by audition.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HU

MUS 023 Symphonic Band 0,1 Credits

No audition required for admission.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HU

MUS 024 Jazz Ensemble 0,1 Credits

Up to six credits may be used for graduation credit in CEAS and CBE. Admission by audition.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HU

MUS 027 Jazz Orchestra 0,1 Credits

Student/community/professional musicians performing classic, contemporary and original big band literature.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HU

MUS 031 University Choir 0,1 Credits

Admission by audition.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HU

MUS 032 Choral Union 0,1 Credits

No audition required for admission.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: AL, HU

MUS 033 Glee Club 0,1 Credits

Admission by audition.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Corequisites: MUS 031
Attribute/Distribution: HU

MUS 034 Freshman Lab Choir 0,1 Credits

Admission by audition.
Attribute/Distribution: HU

MUS 035 Dolce Treble Choir 0,1 Credits

Members from university choir sing treble music.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Corequisites: MUS 031
Attribute/Distribution: HU

MUS 048 Chamber Music Collegium 0,1 Credits

Admission by audition.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HU

MUS 049 Small Jazz Ensembles 0,1 Credits

Admission by audition.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HU

MUS 061 Philharmonic Orchestra 0,1 Credits

Admission by audition.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HU

MUS 065 Class Guitar for Beginners 0,1 Credits

Beginning techniques and skills for guitar, either acoustic or electric. For students with less than a year of guitar instruction. Students supply their own instruments. Fees associated with course.
Attribute/Distribution: AL, HU

MUS 067 Class Drum Set for Beginners 0,1 Credits

Rudiments of drum set playing for students with less than a year of drum instruction. Fees associated with course.
Attribute/Distribution: AL, HU

MUS 068 Class Piano for Beginners 0,1 Credits

Instruction for beginning piano students, including rudiments of musical notation in relation to the keyboard; beginning pieces for solo piano and the group. Fees associated with course.
Attribute/Distribution: AL, HU

MUS 070 Private Drum Set Study 0,1 Credits

Private instruction. Fees associated with course.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: AL, HU

MUS 071 Private Piano Study 0,1 Credits

Up to six credits may be used for graduation credit in CEAS and CBE. Fees associated with course.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: AL, HU

MUS 072 Private Vocal Study 0,1 Credits

Private instruction. Fees associated with course.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: AL, HU

MUS 073 Private Classical String Study 0,1 Credits

Private instruction. Fees associated with course.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: AL, HU

MUS 074 Private Woodwind Study 0,1 Credits

Private instruction. Fees associated with course.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: AL, HU

MUS 075 Private Brass Study 0,1 Credits

Private instruction. Fees associated with course.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: AL, HU

MUS 076 Private Percussion Study 0,1 Credits

Private instruction. Fees associated with course.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: AL, HU

MUS 077 Private Organ Study 0,1 Credits

Private instruction. Fees associated with course.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: AL, HU

MUS 078 Private Acoustic Guitar 0,1 Credits

Private instruction. Fees associated with course.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: AL, HU

MUS 079 Private Electric Guitar Study 0,1 Credits

Private instruction. Fees associated with course.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: AL, HU

MUS 080 Private Electric Bass Guitar Study 0,1 Credits

Private instruction. Fees associated with course.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: AL, HU

MUS 081 Foundations of Music 3 Credits

Introduction to the fundamental elements of music: pitch and rhythm recognition, intervals, scales, keys, harmonies, etc. Overview of music histories, forms, and cultures. Close analysis of a piece or tradition of music from multiple perspectives. Students will learn how to attend, report on, and enjoy live concerts. Ability to read music is recommended.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU

MUS 082 Elementary Harmony 3 Credits

Exercises in writing in four-part chorale style. This includes all diatonic chords and non-harmonic tones. Elementary modulation and secondary dominants are introduced. Open to majors or non-majors.
Prerequisites: MUS 081
Attribute/Distribution: HU

MUS 083 Advanced Harmony 3 Credits

Continuation of Elementary Harmony – Includes advanced modulation, chromatic chords and harmony, and introduction to 20th century harmonic idioms. Course will prepare students continuing on to graduate school to take harmony exams for placement.
Prerequisites: MUS 082
Attribute/Distribution: HU

MUS 120 Beethoven: The Composer as Hero 3 Credits

An introduction to Beethoven's life and works in the context of the rapid transformation of European Society and its systems of government and religion, from Enlightenment to Revolution to Early Romanticism.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W

MUS 121 Master Works 1-4 Credits

Works of one or more composers studied in depth. Repeatable as course topic changes.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W

MUS 122 Piano Literature 3 Credits

Survey of keyboard music from 1600 through today. Emphasis on major composers from Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern styles, as well as developments of keyboard instruments and their influence on compositional styles.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W

MUS 123 Symphonic Literature 3 Credits

A study of the history of orchestra literature from Baroque to the 21st Century, the orchestra as an ensemble and the orchestra as social construct.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU, W

MUS 125 Dark Romanticism in Music: The Sublime, the Uncanny, and the Psychological Confession 3 Credits

This course will examine works by Western classical music composers that were engaged with philosophical and emotional concepts of Romanticism in the nineteenth-century. As a response to the rational Enlightenment culture of the 1700s, composers wrote about the power of Nature, emotions, primitive instincts, and a fascination with the grotesque and gothic. In addition to listening to works, students will consider related works of visual art, literature and philosophical essays. They will be required to attend exhibits, lectures, performances.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W

MUS 127 Elements of Jazz and Commercial Music 3 Credits

Introductory course intended for music majors, minors, and non music majors. A synopsis and exploration of the social history and musical foundations of jazz, and how they relate to contemporary popular music today. Knowledge of music is recommended.
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU

MUS 128 (AAS 128) Jazz History I 3 Credits

A study of the roots of jazz. Starting in West Africa, the course traces the synthesis of African and European elements to 1945. Musicians covered are Gottshalk, Bolden, Morton, Armstrong, Hawkins, Basie, Ellington and others.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU

MUS 129 (AAS 129) Jazz History II 3 Credits

A survey of modern jazz from 1945 to the present. Musicians covered include Parker, Gillespie, Monk, Davis, Coltrane, Hancock, and Coleman. Can be taken independently of Jazz History I, but the first course would be helpful.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU

MUS 131 (ART 131) Music and the Creative Arts 3 Credits

This course examines collaborations, convergences and cross-influences between musicians, visual artists and other creatives in late 19th-early 20th century Europe and America. Students explore ways artists responded as individuals and collaborators, gain perspective on aesthetic movements including romanticism, realism, impressionism, symbolism, expressionism, futurism, dada, surrealism, and how these movements shaped the development of modernist culture. Students work with materials in the Music Department and LU Art Galleries teaching collection, studying the connections between music and visual works.
Attribute/Distribution: CC, HE, HU, W

MUS 132 The Soundtrack of Our Lives—History of American Popular Music 3 Credits

Popular music has always been intertwined with social, cultural and historical changes. This course examines pop music from the emergence of record labels in the early twentieth century to the present, which reflects the complicated history of race in the United States, while celebrating our shared triumphs and grieving our national tragedies. Students will read source materials, engage in active listening and discussion, and lead presentations on twenty-first century pop music.
Attribute/Distribution: HE

MUS 139 Jazz Theory I 3 Credits

Study of the Jazz/Commercial Music theory that is the foundation of a good jazz solo, composition or arrangement. A course designed to give instruction in basic chord progressions, functional analysis of jazz tunes, and ear training.
Prerequisites: MUS 081 and MUS 127
Attribute/Distribution: HU

MUS 140 Jazz Theory II 3 Credits

The course is designed as an in-depth exploration of the elements, origins and practical application of Jazz music theory.
Prerequisites: MUS 139
Attribute/Distribution: HU

MUS 141 Music Technology and Sound Recording 3 Credits

This course focuses on the fundamental concepts of sound recording technology and its correlations to the development of music genres and aesthetics in the social history of contemporary music. Students will learn to plan and complete a basic multitrack recording including tracking and mixing, be proficient in the set-up and operation of studio equipment, and develop a knowledge of different microphones, signal processors, and other recording technology in the context of different music genres and diverse socio-musical aesthetics.
Attribute/Distribution: AL, HU

MUS 142 Music Technology and Production 3 Credits

This course examines the process of creating a complete sound recording, including aspects of music business from the historical perspective of diverse contemporary music genres. Students will learn advanced skills for mixing multitrack recordings and the mastering techniques for recordings, advanced operational skills for digital audio workstations, and understand the processes of recording through publishing popular music in different social and musical contexts.
Prerequisites: MUS 141
Attribute/Distribution: AL

MUS 149 The String Quartet 3 Credits

The string quartet has often been the medium for Western composers’ most complex and personal music. The course will examine the literature for the string quartet starting from the works of Haydn and ending with contemporary works by living American composers. In analyzing these works, the student should gain an understanding of the evolution of style in Western music through the lens of the string quartet, as well as understanding how the string quartet reflects the internal evolution of the.
Prerequisites: MUS 081
Attribute/Distribution: HE, HU

MUS 167 Class Drum Set for Intermediate Players 0-1 Credits

For students who have taken MUS 067:Beginner Drum Set Class. Fees associated with the course.
Prerequisites: MUS 067
Attribute/Distribution: HU

MUS 213 (ASIA 213) Drums and Gongs: Asian Musical Cultures 3 Credits

A study of Asian music history, theory, aesthetics, and cultures through hands-on performance workshops, lectures, and seminars.
Attribute/Distribution: HU

MUS 222 Conducting I 3 Credits

Beginning study of conducting techniques, conducting patterns, and gestures, with basic score reading, preparation, and analysis. Ability to read music is necessary; permission by instructor is required.
Attribute/Distribution: HU

MUS 238 History of Western Music before 1800 3 Credits

An exploration of the music and culture of Western civilization from its origins until the early 19th century. Each musical genre will be explored on the basis of its intrinsic characteristics as well as in connection with the aesthetic, social, philosophical, political, and economic environment in which it was created.
Prerequisites: MUS 081
Attribute/Distribution: HU, W

MUS 239 History of Western Music since 1800 3 Credits

An exploration of the music and culture of Western civilization from the early 19th century until the present. Each musical genre will be explored on the basis of its intrinsic characteristics as well as in connection with the aesthetic, social, philosophical, political, and economic environment in which it was created.
Prerequisites: MUS 081 or MUS 238
Attribute/Distribution: HU, W

MUS 240 Choral Writing 3 Credits

Study of choral composition, voicing, harmonization, writing to models, and original composition. Ability to read music is required.
Attribute/Distribution: HU

MUS 243 Compositional Practices from 1600-1900 4 Credits

The analysis and composition of pieces in the standard forms of the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic eras in Western music. Exercises in chromatic harmony. During the course students will write Chorale Variations, a Two-Part Invention, a Fugue, a Song, a Minuet, and an Intermezzo. They will analyze pieces in the following forms: Fugue, Variations, and Sonata Allegro.
Prerequisites: MUS 082
Attribute/Distribution: HU

MUS 251 Special Topics 1-3 Credits

Study of musical topics in history or composition not covered in regular courses. Consent of instructor required.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HU

MUS 253 Twentieth Century Composition and Orchestration 4 Credits

Writing for the standard Western orchestral instruments based on 20th century models. Use of the computer for score preparation and as a tool for music composition. Students will be required to purchase the Sibelius music-writing software.
Prerequisites: MUS 082
Attribute/Distribution: HU

MUS 270 Capstone Preparation 1-4 Credits

Students will work closely with a faculty supervisor toward planning and implementing their final Capstone project in the areas of performance, composition, research thesis or some combination agreed upon. For Music Majors only. May be taken in the Junior year.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HU

MUS 291 Independent Study 1-3 Credits

Individually supervised work in history or composition, or continuation of projects begun in regular courses. Consent of department chair required.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: HU

MUS 300 Apprentice Teaching 1-3 Credits

Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Attribute/Distribution: ND

MUS 322 Conducting II 3 Credits

A continuing study of conducting techniques, conducting patterns, and gestures, as well as score reading, preparation, and analysis. Ability to read music is necessary. Students should have taken MUS222 Conducting I, although commensurate conducting experience may be taken into consideration with the approval of the instructor.
Prerequisites: MUS 222
Attribute/Distribution: HU

MUS 370 Capstone Project 1-4 Credits

The Capstone Project is the final assessment for the music major in the areas of performance, composition, research thesis or a combination thereof as agreed with the faculty supervisor. For Music Majors only.
Repeat Status: Course may be repeated.
Prerequisites: MUS 270
Attribute/Distribution: HU

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