The Bachelor of Music (B.Mus.); Major in Music Studies focuses on interdisciplinary aspects of music, including the core music areas such as: music theory, music history, musicianship, and professional development.
Use our sample 4-year program plan to determine when to take each course.
Music Studies Major (B.Mus.) (123 credits)
Offered by: Music Research (Schulich School of Music)
Degree: Bachelor of Music
Program credit weight: 123
Program Description
The Bachelor of Music (B.Mus.); Major in Music Studies focuses on interdisciplinary aspects of music. The program offers two streams, Classical and Jazz, each combining core topics in music theory, music history, musicianship, and professional development with a choice of music specializations in practical studies, music entrepreneurship, music education, music technology, applied performance sciences, composition, music theory, and music history.
Program Prerequisites - Foundation Program (21 credits)
Prerequisite Courses
Note: Students who can demonstrate through placement tests or equivalencies that they have mastered the material in any of the courses below will be exempt from them and may proceed to more advanced courses.
Professional Development
2 credits from:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| MUPD 145 | Exploring Interdisciplinary Music Studies 1 | 2 |
Exploring Interdisciplinary Music Studies 1 Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction of interdisciplinary perspectives on the musician’s role in society and the ways in which musicianship may be partnered with social responsibility in the development of professional music careers. Exploration of the many ways in which musical skills and artistry are used to serve the needs of a diverse range of communities, and the interdisciplinary skillsets that may be relevant to different musical pathways. | ||
Ensembles
4 credits from courses with a MUEN prefix.
15 credits from one of the following two streams:
Classical Stream
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| MUHL 186 | Western Musical Traditions. | 3 |
Western Musical Traditions. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A survey of Western music from the Middle Ages to the present. Emphasis on key musical concepts and genres in their historical context and aural recognition of style. | ||
| MUSP 140 | Musicianship Training 1. | 2 |
Musicianship Training 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Rhythm and metre basic subdivisions and conducting patterns; intervals, chords, and scale patterns; non-modulating tonal melodies with treble and bass clefs; harmonic progressions emphasizing two-part outer voice structures. | ||
| MUSP 141 | Musicianship Training 2. | 2 |
Musicianship Training 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Rhythm and metre mixed divisions and syncopations; triadic and seventh chord voicings and disjunct pitch collections; chromatically embellished melodies adding alto clef; simple modulating harmonic progressions emphasizing two-part outer voice structures. | ||
| MUSP 170 | Musicianship (Keyboard) 1. | 1 |
Musicianship (Keyboard) 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Harmonic, melodic and rhythmic analysis at the keyboard through the study of rudiments, repertoire, chorale/score reading, transposition and harmonization. | ||
| MUSP 171 | Musicianship (Keyboard) 2. | 1 |
Musicianship (Keyboard) 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Building chordal fluency. Harmonic vocabulary including sequences, chromaticism and modulation. Chorale and score reading with transposing instruments and alto/tenor clefs. | ||
| MUTH 150 | Theory and Analysis 1. | 3 |
Theory and Analysis 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Diatonic chords and harmonic progressions, focus on outer-voice framework, cadences, embellishments, building chordal fluency in common-practice tonality, applied chords. | ||
| MUTH 151 | Theory and Analysis 2. | 3 |
Theory and Analysis 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Sequences and modulation, chromatic vocabulary, analysis of simple theme types (sentence, period, hybrids) and fugal techniques. | ||
Jazz Stream
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| MUJZ 160 | Jazz Materials 1. | 3 |
Jazz Materials 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Fundamental aural and theoretical skills associated with the jazz idiom. Nomenclature, chord construction, chord/scale relationships, harmonic progression, circle of 5ths, simple turnarounds, simple substitution, symmetrical scales and chord relationships, voice leading. | ||
| MUJZ 161 | Jazz Materials 2. | 3 |
Jazz Materials 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Simple and advanced substitution, borrowed chords, reharmonisation, modes of harmonic minor and melodic minor diatonic systems, unresolved tensions, odd and infrequent modulations, mixed two-five-ones, introduction to polychords, slashchords and non-functional harmony. | ||
| MUJZ 170 | Jazz Keyboard Proficiency 1. | 1 |
Jazz Keyboard Proficiency 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Basic piano skills, basic comping techniques, standard 3 note rootless voicings in 7, 3 and 3, 7 position with one extension, two-five-ones in major and minor - limited keys. Simple substitution and reharmonisation. | ||
| MUJZ 171 | Jazz Keyboard Proficiency 2. | 1 |
Jazz Keyboard Proficiency 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Continuation of previous semester. Two-five-ones and mixed two-five-ones using 4 note close position voicings and 4 and 5 note spreads, in all keys, diminished passing chords, half step shifts, voice leading extensions, quartal and modal voicing, sight reading of standard jazz repertoire. | ||
| MUJZ 187 | Jazz History Survey. | 3 |
Jazz History Survey. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An introductory study of the principal recordings, artists and musical trends in jazz from its origins to the present day. | ||
| MUSP 123 | Jazz Ear Training 1. | 2 |
Jazz Ear Training 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Rhythmic, melodic and harmonic materials from the jazz idiom. Sight-singing, dictation and transcription with some classical materials. | ||
| MUSP 124 | Jazz Ear Training 2. | 2 |
Jazz Ear Training 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced jazz idioms. | ||
Required Courses (8 credits)
Music History
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| MUHL 286 | Critical Thinking About Music. | 3 |
Critical Thinking About Music. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Examination of various periods and styles: e.g., central works from different traditions, the interaction of music and society, performance practice, and music's relation to other arts. | ||
Professional Development
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| MUPD 245 | Exploring Interdisciplinary Music Studies 2 | 2 |
Exploring Interdisciplinary Music Studies 2 Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Investigation of the concept of artistic citizenship.Inquiry into the ways in which musical skills and artistry serve the needs of diverse communities and career pathways. | ||
| MUPD 350 | Applied Projects for Musicians. | 3 |
Applied Projects for Musicians. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Skills needed in the evolving music business. An interdisciplinary music project that focuses on synthesizing, and putting into practice creative, business, and entrepreneurial skills. | ||
Complementary Courses (46 credits)
10 credits from one of the following two streams:
Classical Stream
Theory
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| MUTH 250 | Theory and Analysis 3. | 3 |
Theory and Analysis 3. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Compositional resources of late 18th and early 19th century music. Analysis of forms common to the period c. 1770 - 1840, including Classical sonata forms in several media. | ||
| MUTH 251 | Theory and Analysis 4. | 3 |
Theory and Analysis 4. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Expanded harmonic resources of the 19th century (e.g., advanced chromaticism including enharmonic reinterpretation and symmetrical division). Analysis of characteristic small and large forms. Writing and analytical skills with a goal toward perceiving how levels of musical structure interact. | ||
Musicianship
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| MUSP 240 | Musicianship Training 3. | 2 |
Musicianship Training 3. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Rhythm and metre mixed divisions and two-part work; additional chordal voicings and pitch collections; melodies modulating to closely-related keys adding tenor clef; harmonic progression including applied chords; two-part keyboard-style passages. | ||
| MUSP 241 | Musicianship Training 4. | 2 |
Musicianship Training 4. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Changing metres; chord voicings and atonal pitch collections; modulating tonal melodies and score reading of transposing instruments; harmonic progression including chromatic chords; two-part passages. | ||
Jazz Stream
Theory
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| MUJZ 260 | Jazz Arranging 1. | 3 |
Jazz Arranging 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction to concepts and techniques commonly used in jazz arranging. Notation, calligraphy and score preparation are discussed; including study of classical and contemporary scores by prominent jazz arrangers. | ||
| MUJZ 261 | Jazz Arranging 2. | 3 |
Jazz Arranging 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Consolidation of knowledge of basic concepts and techniques used in jazz arranging. | ||
Musicianship
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| MUJZ 213 | Fundamentals of Jazz Improvisation 1. | 2 |
Fundamentals of Jazz Improvisation 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction to basic improvisation concepts of phrasing, articulation, melodic development, harmonic control, musical vocabulary and style. Pedagogical techniques will be discussed. | ||
| MUJZ 214 | Fundamentals of Jazz Improvisation 2. | 2 |
Fundamentals of Jazz Improvisation 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A continuation of development of basic improvisation concepts of phrasing, articulation, melodic development, harmonic control, musical vocabulary and style. Pedagogical techniques will be discussed. | ||
36 credits selected from any combination of the following lists of courses:
Practical Studies (entry by audition)
12 credits:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| MUIN 180 | BMus Practical Lessons 1. | 3 |
BMus Practical Lessons 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Practical instruction on an instrument or voice. | ||
| MUIN 181 | BMus Practical Lessons 2. | 3 |
BMus Practical Lessons 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Practical examination in clarinet techniques. | ||
| MUIN 280 | BMus Practical Lessons 3. | 2.5 |
BMus Practical Lessons 3. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Practical instruction on an instrument or voice. | ||
| MUIN 281 | BMus Practical Lessons 4. | 2.5 |
BMus Practical Lessons 4. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Practical instruction on an instrument or voice. | ||
| MUIN 283 | BMus Concentration Final Examination. | 1 |
BMus Concentration Final Examination. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Assessment of student's progress in the practical area. | ||
Ensembles
No more than 6 credits from courses with a MUEN prefix.
Music History
3-9 credits from courses with a MUHL or MUPP prefix at the 300 level or higher.
Music Education
3-9 credits from courses with a MUGT, MUCT, MUIT prefix at the 200 level or higher.
Music Technology
3-9 credits from courses with a MUMT or MUSR prefix at the 200 level or higher.
Music Entrepreneurship
3-9 credits from courses with a MUPD prefix at the 200 level or higher.
Composition
3-9 credits from the following, of which at least 3 credits must be from a course with a MUCO prefix:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| MUCO 230 | The Art of Composition. | 3 |
The Art of Composition. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An introduction to compositional techniques and notational practices of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, including the analysis of selected works. | ||
| MUCO 260 | Instruments of the Orchestra. | 3 |
Instruments of the Orchestra. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An introductory study of the instruments of string, woodwind and brass families, elementary acoustics of the instruments. Techniques of playing including embouchure, fingering, bowing, hand-stopping, transposing instruments. Evolution of the instruments, their technique and their music from the 18th century to the present. | ||
| MUHL 375 | Introduction to Ethnomusicology. | 3 |
Introduction to Ethnomusicology. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Central themes and methods in contemporary ethnomusicology. Music and its meanings in several contrasting cultural regions and groups. Topics include: colonialism, politics, globalization, and the impact of technology. Techniques of transcription, ethnography, and fieldwork. | ||
| MUHL 385 | Early Twentieth-Century Music. | 3 |
Early Twentieth-Century Music. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Development of European, Russian, and American music from the 1890s until the early 1940s, tracing its roots in late 19th-century Romanticism and following its evolution in central Europe, France, and the United States. The music of major innovators such as Debussy, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Ives, and Varèse will be discussed. | ||
| MUHL 388 | Opera After 1900. | 3 |
Opera After 1900. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Major early twentieth-century works by Debussy, Strauss, Schreker, Bartók, Stravinsky and Schoenberg. Opera in Europe between the Wars including operas of Berg, Milhaud, Krenek, Hindemith and Weill. Politics, sociology, and literature in relationship to musical style. Approaches since 1945 in selected works by Britten, Henze, Zimmermann, Ligeti, Somers and Glass. | ||
| MUHL 391 | Canadian Music. | 3 |
Canadian Music. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Survey of music in Canada from the 16th Century to the present. Current musical organizations and institutions, and contemporary Canadian music will be stressed. Time permitting, brief reference will be made to the folk music of indigenous and immigrant groups. | ||
| MUHL 392 | Music since 1945. | 3 |
Music since 1945. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Appearance and evolution of such post-war phenomena as total serialism, "chance" music of various kinds, and electronic music as seen in major figures such as Boulez, Stockhausen, Cage and others in Europe and the United States. Important developments during the 1960s. Rise of "minimalism" and "neo-Romanticism" during the 1970s and 80s. | ||
| MUHL 393 | History of Jazz. | 3 |
History of Jazz. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A study of the history and development of jazz through listening, reading, video viewing, lectures and discussion. The central goals will be to learn how to hear jazz critically and to understand the values, meanings, and sensibilities of jazz as a social practice. | ||
| MUHL 396 | Era of the Modern Piano. | 3 |
Era of the Modern Piano. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Survey of keyboard repertoire from 1850 to the present: instruments, the crisis at mid-century, character pieces, Brahms, late Liszt, national schools, commercialization - the concert hall, music for the bourgeois - salon music, Scriabin, the Second Viennese School, Impressionism, Neo-Classicism, Neo-Romanticism, serialism, the sonata in the 20th-century, North American composers. | ||
| MUTH 322 | Topics in Post-Tonal Analysis. | 3 |
Topics in Post-Tonal Analysis. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Topics in advanced analysis of post-tonal music. | ||
| MUTH 526 | Methods in Tonal Theory and Analysis. | 3 |
Methods in Tonal Theory and Analysis. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Theoretical topics and analytical applications in tonal music. Topics include some of the following: reduction, prolongation, voice-leading/linear models,motive/Grundgestalt, schema, partimento, and phrase rhythm/hypermeter. | ||
| MUTH 528 | Schenkerian Theory and Analysis. | 3 |
Schenkerian Theory and Analysis. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction to the principles and graphing techniques of Schenkerian theory, analysis of tonal works from 1700-1900, and study of prolongational techniques in relation to formal types. | ||
| MUTH 538 | Mathematical Models for Musical Analysis. | 3 |
Mathematical Models for Musical Analysis. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Theoretical topics and analytical applications selected from the following: serial theory, atonal set theory, contour theory, similarity metrics, transformational networks, elementary group theory and generalized interval systems, neo-Riemannian theory, atonal voice-leading and geometry, scale theory, models of tuning and temperament and information theory. | ||
| MUTH 539 | Topics in Advanced Writing Techniques. | 3 |
Topics in Advanced Writing Techniques. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced writing skills, including intensive four-part harmonization, advanced harmonic vocabulary and syntax, post-tonal counterpoint. | ||
Applied Performance Sciences
3-9 credits from the following:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| MUGT 205 | Psychology of Music. | 3 |
Psychology of Music. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction to the discipline of psychology ofmusic. Topics include: musical development across the life course; the development of musical expertise; emotional responses to music; musical identity; music perception and cognition; and the link between music, healthand wellbeing. | ||
| MUGT 350 | Introduction to Applied Research in Music. | 3 |
Introduction to Applied Research in Music. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction to applied research in music performance sciences. Topics include: approaches to research in music performance sciences (participatory, communityfocused, pragmatic, quantitative and qualitative), types of research and the research design process in relation to relevant topics in music performance sciences (e.g., optimal performance, performer wellness, careers in music). Foundational research skills will be covered, including identifying problems and formulating relevant questions, decoding scientific language, engaging with ethics, examining research applications to performing practice. | ||
| MUGT 405 | The Musician's Performing Body. | 3 |
The Musician's Performing Body. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The role of the main anatomical bodily systems (e.g., nervous, musculoskeletal, cardiorespiratory, endocrine, nutrition, stress, energy expenditure, and hearing) and associated physiological concepts, including scholarly understanding and application of scientific evidence in music learning, performing, and teaching. | ||
| MUPG 300 | Music Performance Strategies. | 3 |
Music Performance Strategies. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Exploration of topics and strategies to optimizepractice and performance. Topics include:individual characteristics and habits inperformance and practice, stress and anxietymodels theories, physiological response,coping strategies and skills (e.g., mental imagery,time management, goal setting,attention/concentration, relaxation andmeditation). | ||
Elective Courses (48 credits)
6 credits of Non-Music Electives.
42 credits of Free Electives.
