The Master of Music, Music Education – Conducting Specialization is a CSU-exclusive online degree program. The program features an annual Summer Conducting Seminar, the residency portion of the degree, with additional courses offered online during the school year. Classes are designed for current middle school and high school choir, band, and orchestra directors who seek to further their knowledge and conducting skills while earning a master’s degree, completing most of their coursework in three summers.
Students enrolled in the program will receive well-rounded experience in conducting and further specialized training for the twenty-first-century music educator.
The two-week conducting seminar (four credits each summer) includes daily conducting opportunities in all three disciplines, with a workshop orchestra, band, and choir providing further hands-on training. All participants learn to conduct in all three disciplines.
In addition, each student takes three, 3-credit academic classes (music history, analytical techniques, and music research), one 3-credit music education course (Foundations of Music Education), and three 1-credit seminars on various topics of interest to music educators. These courses are either offered on campus during the summer or online during the school year.
The complete program consists of 30 credits. A maximum of six credits of academic courses can be transferred to the student's graduate program from NASM-accredited universities, pending approval by their advisor and the Graduate School.
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.
- Develop a method of score study to help in all educational and professional settings.
- Develop the skills necessary to lead ensembles in all three disciplines (band, orchestra, and choir) of all levels with best-practice rehearsal strategies and methodology.
- Conduct repertoire in all three disciplines (band, orchestra, and choir) of varying difficulty levels, spanning many genres and time periods.
- Integrate best-practice rehearsal strategies with sound conducting technique into the secondary school music classroom and/or community/professional ensemble, to inform instruction with conducting gestures.
- 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.
Admission
For information about the admissions processes to the Graduate School and School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, as well as information about the summer seminar, visit CSU Online.
Students interested in graduate work should refer to the Graduate and Professional Bulletin.
Effective Summer 2011
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| MU 510 | Foundations of Music Education | 3 |
| MU 518 | Post-Tonal Analytic Techniques | 3 |
| MU 527A | Conducting Seminar: Level I | 4 |
| MU 527B | Conducting Seminar: Level 2 | 4 |
| MU 527C | Conducting Seminar: Level 3 | 4 |
| MU 534 | Music of the Romantic Era | 3 |
| MU 630 | Methods of Music Research | 3 |
| MU 695B | Independent Study: Conducting | 2 |
| Electives | 3 | |
| MU 671 | Graduate Recital | 1 |
| Program Total Credits: | 30 | |
A minimum of 30 credits are required to complete this program.
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 |