Wind

Student Resources

Handbooks

All music students

Advising and degree planning

Every music major is assigned to Dr. Thiebaut or Dr. James. Students pursuing the Music Education credential are also advised by Dr. Eros. Log in to to see who is on your success team, and read the Student Quick Guide if you are new to it. Meet with your advisor before you register each semester. Graduate students are advised by the Graduate Coordinator.

Course requirements for every program are stated in the . You graduate under the catalog year you entered, and archived catalogs are linked from the top right of the Catalog page.

Take charge of your own record:

  1. Run your Degree Audit Report in . The How to Access Your DAR handout explains how to read it. The DAR tracks general education requirements well and your music requirements imperfectly, so bring it to your advisor for an accurate major check.
  2. Meet with a general education advisor for your non-major requirements. Undergraduates can book one through Bay Advisor, where GE advisors appear in the success team list. First-year students, international students, and some transfer students are assigned different GE advisors. The full breadth requirements are on the GE requirements page.
  3. Confirm that your transfer credit has posted and that your major, option, and any minor are listed correctly in your Student Center in MyCSUEB. If transfer units are missing, write to degreeaudit@csueastbay.edu.

Applied area placement

Every music major passes an applied area placement before starting lessons in a principal area. A placement can be completed at any point up to the end of the first week of the fall or spring semester. A scholarship audition counts as your placement, so completing one covers both.

Repertoire and materials differ by area, and the submission instructions for performers, composers, and producers are on the scholarship auditions and applied area placements page, along with the sign-up form.

First-year students often build musicianship for a semester or two before starting lessons. Transfer students aiming to graduate in two years should place and begin lessons in their first semester.

Applied study and juries

Each semester of applied study ends with a jury before the area faculty, and the outcome determines your advancement to the next level. Composition and music production students meet with the composition faculty for a portfolio review instead, where the semester's work and the portfolio as a whole determine retention and advancement.

Lesson policies, absence and leave, secondary applied areas, change of instructor, and practice expectations are in the of the Undergraduate Handbook and the of the Graduate Handbook. Level and area requirements are in the undergraduate and graduate sections below.

Facilities and access

Practice rooms are for music majors and minors and for approved non-majors enrolled in select Music Department courses. Access hours and after-hours requests are described on the facilities page.

The computer music studios support synthesis, electronic composition, and digital recording, editing, processing, and mixing.

The Music Resource Center holds scores, parts, and recordings, schedules rooms and recitals, and produces printed concert programs. Recital scheduling and program forms are there.

Room assignments, equipment checkout, and what each space holds are in the of the Undergraduate Handbook.

Health and safety

Hearing conservation, vocal and musculoskeletal health, and studio safety are covered on the health and safety page and in the of the Undergraduate Handbook.

Questions

For administrative questions, registration mechanics, forms, and room or key access, write to the music office. For questions about your degree, meet with your advisor.

Undergraduate students

Degree requirements and roadmaps

The B.A. in Music is 54 music units. Every required course is listed in , and the tracks them from your placement through filing for graduation.

The roadmaps lay the degree out semester by semester, with course, title, and units. Choose the one that matches your entry point, and bring it to advising.

  • : first-year entry, 120 units.
  • : entry with the Music Associate Degree for Transfer, 60 units in residence.
  • : both degrees in five years, 120 undergraduate and 32 graduate units.
  • : the 31-unit certificate on its two-year course rotation.

Keyboard musicianship

All music students complete three semesters of group keyboard study to graduate, either at CSUEB or at a prior institution. The most direct path is the CSUEB sequence: MUS 118, MUS 119, and MUS 218. The alternative is to pass all three levels by credit-by-exam, which you may challenge only during the first two weeks of a semester in which you are registered for that course. Contact your music advisor as early as possible to schedule one. The full requirement is in the of the Undergraduate Handbook.

Each level guide lists the scales, harmonization and transposition, sight-reading, and repertoire the exam covers. All three draw on Alfred's Group Piano for Adults, Book 1, second edition (Lancaster and Renfrow).

Concert attendance

Music majors attend ten (10) concerts each semester they are enrolled in applied lessons. Attending any official Music Department event earns one credit. Performing in one, or otherwise taking part creatively, earns half a credit. Up to two (2) of the ten each semester may come from concerts outside the Department, approved in advance by your advisor. The rules for making up a shortfall are in the of the Undergraduate Handbook.

You record your own attendance with OneTap, on your own device. Download the for iOS or Android before your first event.

  1. Scan the OneTap QR code posted around the recital hall, which opens a page asking for a check-in code.
  2. Enter your check-in code, the four digits of your NetID. A NetID of ab1234 gives a code of 1234.
  3. Share your location and take a photograph of yourself when prompted.

The walks through the app.

Juries and levels

Undergraduate applied study runs through Levels 1a to 4b. Progress juries are performed during finals week, advancement juries at the end of Levels 1b and 2b, and the junior and senior recital juries about four weeks before the recital date. Assessment, outcomes, and the scale, repertoire, and time requirements for each area are in the of the Undergraduate Handbook, with the area lists at .

Recitals

The recital required at each applied level, the junior and senior recital expectations, scheduling, accompanists and collaborators, and performance attire are in the of the Undergraduate Handbook. Contact the Music Resource Center to schedule a degree or ad-hoc recital, or to perform on a University Hour recital.

Ensembles

Stay enrolled in a major performing ensemble while you are registered for applied lessons. The major and chamber ensembles are listed in the of the Undergraduate Handbook.

Music education, FAST 4+1, and the minor

The covers how to obtain the 31-unit certificate and its unit outline. The covers eligibility, the application process, and the courses that count toward both degrees. The covers declaring the minor and its 21 units.

Graduate students

Advising

M.A. students are advised by the Graduate Coordinator, Dr. Thiebaut, who is the first point of contact for program planning, course sequencing, advancement to candidacy, the capstone, and the comprehensive examination. Meet with her before registering each semester. University-level processes outside the Department run through the Office of Graduate Studies, whose University Graduate Student Handbook governs graduate policy across campus.

Coursework and the roadmap

The M.A. is 32 units. The areas of emphasis, the full course list, and the semester-by-semester roadmap are in the of the Graduate Handbook, and the seminars and applied study are in the . Students entering through the blended program follow the .

Advancement to candidacy

Advancement clears you to complete the culminating requirements. A classified graduate student becomes eligible after completing, with a grade point average of at least 3.0, two units from MUS 601 or MUS 602, two units from MUS 604, MUS 605, or MUS 631, four units of applied music, and two units of ensemble. On the standard sequence that falls at the end of the first year. The Graduate Coordinator prepares the advancement with you and files it with the Office of Graduate Studies, and it must be on record before your final semester. The full conditions are in the .

Applied study and juries

Graduate applied study runs through Levels 6a to 6d. Levels 6a, 6b, and 6c end in progress juries held in the last week of classes. Level 6d is the capstone jury, held roughly four weeks before the capstone event and clearing that event to go ahead. Requirements by area are in the of the Graduate Handbook.

The capstone

The capstone has two parts, both required for graduation. The public event is a recital for performers, a conducting performance for choral conducting students, and a public lecture for composers. A performed capstone runs about an hour, with at least fifty minutes of music, and is scheduled through the Music Resource Center once the program is approved at the 6c jury. Alongside the event you submit a written paper of eight to twelve pages at the 6d jury, making the case for the program as a designed whole, or for composers giving a statement of process, with program notes and full citations. The event and the paper are set out in the .

The comprehensive examination

The comprehensive examination is oral, taken in the final semester, and administered by the area faculty with the Graduate Coordinator. It is scored in three categories: your area of emphasis, analysis and musical styles, and the profession and its contexts. Passing means passing all three. A student who does not pass may retake the categories not passed once, which moves graduation to the summer term. The scoring and retake conditions are in the .