The Master of Music in Music Education, Composition Specialization is intended as a professional degree with specialized training toward composing music for educational ensembles and incorporating composition, improvisation, and music theory into K-12 music classrooms. Students enrolled in the program will produce original compositions for educational ensembles and have them performed publicly by student ensembles.
The degree option in music education with a specialization in composition is designed to provide music educators with the ability to apply compositional and arranging skills and the pedagogy of the creative process to the classroom in K-12 settings. This provides an option for a master’s degree in music education for students with an interest in composition, arranging, and the pedagogy of the creative process as opposed to the more traditional CSU graduate music education offerings of conducting, Kodály, instrumental, and choral.
Students take advanced coursework in scoring and arranging for educational ensembles, curriculum development for composition in K-12 classrooms, music theory and history, and applied composition lessons. Students in the program will have multiple opportunities to have their works performed and recorded by local student ensembles.
This hybrid program is open to students with bachelor’s degrees in music education or composition and equips them to pursue a career in educational composition.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
-
Develop the skill, intellect, and musicianship necessary among those who wish to become the next generation of leaders in the field of Music Education.
- Compose original works for educational ensembles at the elementary and secondary school levels. Such ensembles include (but are not limited to) the following: choral ensembles, wind ensemble or concert bands, string orchestra, full orchestra, jazz ensembles, and chamber ensembles.
- Arrange preexisting works from the standard repertoire for educational ensembles at the elementary and secondary school levels.
- Design and develop curricular goals for music composition, improvisation, score analysis, and aural skills.
- Develop and implement pedagogical strategies for incorporating music composition and related creative skills into the elementary and secondary school music classroom.
- Develop the ability to think abstractly, analyze complex ideas or phenomena, synthesize or generalize knowledge across disciplines and sub-disciplines, interpret and apply scholarly findings to specialized topic areas, and communicate ideas effectively in both oral and written forms;
- Develop an awareness of substantive publications in the field of music education and the field of education as a whole;
- Define national trends in music education that impact K-12 educational settings;
- Describe the contemporary role that curriculum and assessment design plays in the teaching-learning process;
- Create music curriculum assessment tools designed to measure both simple and complex learning in both classroom and studio/applied settings;
- Engage in informed critical discussion regarding current standards-based frameworks in music and in contemporary K-12 American education contexts.
Admission
This hybrid program is open to students with bachelor’s degrees in either music education or composition. It equips students to pursue a career in the field of educational composition.
In addition to the admissions processes for the Graduate School and the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, applicants will submit a portfolio of three original compositions with recordings, at least one of which is composed for an educational ensemble (choral, orchestral, or wind band work at an appropriate difficulty for secondary schools). Select applicants will complete an on-campus or video interview with the composition and music education faculty. Please visit the Music website for additional details.
Students interested in graduate work should refer to the Graduate and Professional Bulletin.
Music Program Fee
A music program fee is assessed with Undergraduate and graduate music and musical theatre majors and music minors, per semester. Does not apply to the following students: online degree students and summers-only master's degree students. . Please visit the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for special course fees.
Effective Fall 2022
| First Year | Credits | |
|---|---|---|
| MU 510 | Foundations of Music Education | 3 |
| MU 511 | Advanced Arranging for Educational Ensembles | 3 |
| MU 517 or 518 | Tonal Analytic Techniques Post-Tonal Analytic Techniques | 3 |
| MU 630 | Methods of Music Research | 3 |
| MU 6731 | Composition Instruction | 4 |
| Total Credits | 16 | |
| Second Year | ||
| MU 512 | Pedagogy of Musical Creativity | 3 |
| MU 673 | Composition Instruction | 2 |
| MU 699 | Thesis | 2 |
| Select one course from the following: | 3 | |
| Elementary School Music | ||
| Junior and Senior High School Music | ||
| Select one course from the following: | 3 | |
| Music of the Renaissance | ||
| Music of the Baroque | ||
| Music of the Classical Era | ||
| Music of the Romantic Era | ||
| Music of the Twentieth Century | ||
| Select one course from the following: | 3 | |
| Choral Techniques, Style, and Interpretation | ||
| Advanced Instrumental Conducting and Techniques | ||
| Total Credits | 16 | |
| Program Total Credits: | 32 | |
A minimum of 32 credits are required to complete this program.
- 1
Select 2 credits each semester during the first year.
For more information, please visit Requirements for All Graduate Degrees in the Graduate and Professional Bulletin.
Summary of Procedures for the Master's and Doctoral Degrees
NOTE: Each semester the Graduate School publishes a schedule of deadlines. Deadlines are available on the Graduate School website. Students should consult this schedule whenever they approach important steps in their careers.
Forms are available online.
| Step | Due Date |
|---|---|
| 1. Application for admission (online) | Six months before first registration |
| 2. Diagnostic examination when required | Before first registration |
| 3. Appointment of advisor | Before first registration |
| 4. Selection of graduate committee | Before the time of fourth regular semester registration |
| 5. Filing of program of study (GS Form 6) | Before the time of fourth regular semester registration |
| 6. Preliminary examination (Ph.D. and PD) | Two terms prior to final examination |
| 7. Report of preliminary examination (GS Form 16) - (Ph.D. and PD) | Within two working days after results are known |
| 8. Changes in committee (GS Form 9A) | When change is made |
| 9. Application for Graduation (GS Form 25) | Refer to published deadlines from the Graduate School Website |
| 9a. Reapplication for Graduation (online) | Failure to graduate requires Reapplication for Graduation (online) for the next time term for which you are applying |
| 10. Submit thesis or dissertation to committee | At least two weeks prior to the examination or at the discretion of the graduate committee |
| 11. Final examination | Refer to published deadlines from the Graduate School Website |
| 12. Report of final examination (GS Form 24) | Within two working days after results are known; refer to published deadlines from the Graduate School website |
| 13. Submit a signed Thesis/Dissertation Submission Form (GS Form 30) to the Graduate School and Submit the Survey of Earned Doctorates (Ph.D. only) prior to submitting the electronic thesis/dissertation | Refer to published deadlines from the Graduate School website. |
| 14. Submit the thesis/dissertation electronically | Refer to published deadlines from the Graduate School website |
| 15. Graduation | Ceremony information is available from the Graduate School website |