Music (B.A.)

Student must attend 12 approved recitals, concerts, or performances during the semester. Pass/Fail only.

Large mixed-voice premiere choral ensemble. Performs concerts at home and on annual tours. No P/F.
Prerequisite(s): Admission by audition. 
(Offered each semester with full-year enrollment expectation.)

Large orchestral ensemble made up of strings, winds, and percussion. No P/F.

(Offered each semester with full-year enrollment expectation.)

Large symphonic ensemble made up of winds and percussion. Performs concerts at home and on annual tours.  No P/F.
(Offered each semester with full-year enrollment expectation.)

A review of the fundamentals of music (scales, key signatures, intervals) and the presentation of triads and their harmonic and melodic implications.  Students at the appropriate skill level may attempt to test out of this course.  Please see the instructor or Department Chair for more information.
Corequisite(s): MUSIC 1620 Aural and Keyboard Skills 1.

This course introduces first-year music majors and minors to foundational musicianship skills through the coordinated study of aural skills, sight singing, rhythmic literacy, and functional keyboard use. The course emphasizes the development of audiation, pattern recognition, solfège-based pitch relationships, rhythmic organization, and basic harmonic understanding through integrated vocal, aural, visual, and keyboard-based activities. This course serves as the first level in a three-course sequence designed to progressively increase in musical complexity and technical difficulty. No P/F.

Corequisite: MUSIC 1610 Music Theory I.
 

A continuation of MUSIC 1610 including inversions of triads, non-harmonic tones, dominant seventh chords, and their resolutions. Emphasis is on four-part writing and analysis of music from the Common Practice Period.
Prerequisite(s): MUSIC 1610 Music Theory I or permission of the instructor.

Aural & Keyboard Skills 2 is the second course in a three-semester integrated musicianship sequence for music majors. The course expands students' audiation, sight singing, rhythmic fluency, harmonic perception, and functional keyboard skills within diatonic tonal contexts. Emphasis is placed on compound intervals, seventh chords, cadential function, melodic elaboration of harmonic progressions, and functional prolongation using chord inversions. Students engage in coordinated singing, dictation, analysis, and keyboard realization activities designed to strengthen the relationship between hearing, notation, and physical performance. The course prioritizes functional understanding and musical fluency rather than instrumental virtuosity.

Prerequisite(s): MUSIC 1610 Music Theory I and MUSIC 1620 Aural and Keyboard Skills 1.

Corequisite(s): MUSIC 1630 Music Theory II.

An introduction to technique and conducting style with emphasis given to developing a non baton competency. Attention also will be given to vocal interpretation and choral score reading.
Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing or permission of the instructor.
(Normally offered each fall semester.)

Seventh chords, including the diminished seventh chord; various types of modulation; introduction of secondary dominants; analysis and writing of the period, binary, and ternary song forms; choral harmonization; and modal scales.
Prerequisite(s): MUSIC 1630 Music Theory II or permission of the instructor.

This is the final course in a three-semester integrated musicianship sequence for music majors. The course develops advanced aural, analytical, and realization skills through the coordinated study of audiation, sight singing, rhythmic organization, harmonic perception, and functional keyboard use. Emphasis is placed on hierarchical pitch awareness, chromatic harmony, harmonic substitution, and modulation within tonal contexts. Students engage in singing, dictation, transcription, and keyboard-based realization activities that reinforce the relationship between hearing, analysis, and physical performance. The course prioritizes functional understanding and internalization of musical structures rather than instrumental virtuosity. No Pass/Fail. 

Prerequisite(s): MUSIC 1630 Music Theory II and MUSIC 1640 Aural & Keyboard Skills 2 or permission of the instructor.

Corequisite(s): MUSIC 2610 Music Theory III.

Key cultural concepts are used to explore music from selected global case studies. Social, cultural, and historical contexts are examined in relation to musical materials and their application in various traditions and repertoires. The fieldwork project (and experiential learning component) for this class requires some off-campus activities to be arranged by the student.

This course examines the development of ideas and styles in the Western European musical tradition during the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical Periods. The course is designed to develop your knowledge of Western musical repertoire from these time periods and your understanding of the cultural, aesthetic, and stylistic aspects of that music. We explore the relationships between the music and the history and cultures of Western Europe. In addition, we focus on the roles of women in music.

This course examines the development of ideas and styles in the Western European musical tradition during the nineteenth, twentieth, and early twenty-first centuries. The course is designed to develop your knowledge of Western musical repertoire from these time periods and your understanding of the cultural, aesthetic, and stylistic aspects of that music. We explore the relationships between the music and the history and cultures of Western Europe and the United States. In addition, we address the roles of black musicians, particularly in the United States.

Private Instruction in the student's major instrument, culminating in a final degree-recital solo performance (Junior or Senior Recital). This course may be taken twice for credit; example: a student performs a Junior Recital in their third year and a Senior Recital in their fourth year.

Advanced research methods, analytical writing, and professional presentation skills compromise the primary components of this rigorous culminating course, which focuses on the integration and application of knowledge and prepares students for the transition from their undergraduate education into their future profession. The Senior Capstone Seminar should be taken during the student's last year in residence at Nebraska Wesleyan University.
Prerequisite(s): Music major with senior standing or permission of the instructor. 
(Normally offered each fall semester.)