Degree Offered
- Master of Music
Nature of the Program
The program is designed to prepare students for independent jazz teaching, public school teaching, college or university studio or group teaching, ensemble coaching, and the teaching of jazz improvisation and pedagogy at the college or university level.
Admissions
Admission to the program requires a score of level nine in the major performance area, piano proficiency (level three), and one year of jazz pedagogy/group or equivalent teaching experience.
Applicants are required to sight-read both musical notation and chord changes. Applicants should be prepared to play common jazz scale forms and improvise in a number of jazz and contemporary styles. In addition, applicants may choose additional music that best reflects their technical ability, overall musicianship, and musical interests. The applicant should demonstrate their versatility and creativity.
Applicants to the program must present the necessary credentials for evaluation of previous training and experience to the School of Music. These include transcripts from all institutions previously attended showing a grade point average of at least 3.0 in all undergraduate studies submitted through the WVU Office of Admissions.
Admission Requirements 2024-2025
The Admission Requirements above will be the same for the 2024-2025 Academic Year.
Major Code: 2532
Degree Requirements
Code | Title | Hours |
---|---|---|
Overall GPA of 3.0 or higher required. | ||
Performance: (four semesters at two credit hours each) | 8 | |
MUSC 700 | Performance (major performance area) | |
MUSC 771 | Music Research and Bibliography | 3 |
MUSC 689 | Master's Recital | 2 |
Jazz Performance/Pedagogy | 6 | |
Jazz Performance and Pedagogy | ||
Complete one Music Theory course or one Music History course from the following: | 2-3 | |
Music Theory | ||
Upper Division Composition | ||
Counterpoint | ||
Counterpoint | ||
Analysis of Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Music | ||
Analysis of Twentieth Century Art Music | ||
Electronic Music | ||
Electronic Music-Digital Audio | ||
Jazz and Commercial Music Harmony | ||
Theory Topics | ||
Pedagogy of Theory | ||
Analytical Techniques | ||
Compositional Techniques in Contemporary Music | ||
Music History | ||
Topics in Popular Music | ||
Topics in the Study of Western Art Music | ||
Topics in the History of Jazz | ||
Topics in Music of Sub-Saharan Africa | ||
Topics in Musics of the Americas | ||
Topics in Musics of East Asia | ||
Topics in Musics of South Asia | ||
Topics in Gender and Sexuality in Music | ||
Topics in Race and Ethnicity in Music | ||
Topics in Musics of the Arab World | ||
Music of Africa | ||
Special Topics | ||
Perspectives of Musicology and Ethnomusicology | ||
Keyboard Literature * | ||
Special Topics | ||
Independent Study | ||
MUSC 796 | Graduate Seminar | |
Music Electives (must be selected from available offerings above MUSC 400) | 4-5 | |
MUSC 797 | Research | 4 |
Ensemble (two semesters) | 2 | |
Comprehensive Oral Examination | ||
Total Hours | 31-33 |
- *
Open to Keyboard Majors only.
Major Learning Outcomes
Jazz Pedagogy
Students who earn the Master of Music in Jazz Pedagogy will develop:
- Advanced competencies in jazz studies including areas such as jazz performance, improvisation, composition, and arranging.
- Advanced competencies in pedagogy specific to the study of jazz and its repertory.
- Knowledge and skills in one or more fields of music outside the major such as history and literature, theory and analysis, musicology and ethnomusicology, and recording and studio techniques.