Music, Master of Music

In addition to University Requirements:

• Complete individual plan requirements.

Minimum Units for Completion	36
Additional Admission Requirements	Individual program admission requirements over and above admission to NAU are required.
Emphasis Required	An emphasis is required for this degree.
Thesis	Thesis may be required by chosen emphasis or offered as an option.
Comprehensive Exam	Comprehensive Exam is required.
Foreign Language	A foreign language may be required by chosen emphasis or offered as an option.
Research	Individualized research may be required by chosen emphasis or offered as an option.
Progression Plan Link	View Program of Study

Purpose Statement

The purpose of the Master of Music (MM) degree is to engage students in a program of study that prepares them for an array of careers and professional paths in music. MM candidates develop artistic and intellectual skills, leading to advanced teaching careers in public schools, arts academies, and community colleges; to professional performing careers in symphonies, wind groups, choruses, and opera companies; and to a continuation of academic trajectory into doctoral programs. Students in the MM program will receive advanced-level training, coupled with relevant leadership experiences, facilitated through personalized mentorship with their major professor and affiliated faculty.

MM-Choral Conducting emphasis is for students with a Bachelor’s degree in music, who have achieved a proficient level of vocal performance, and who have training or experience conducting choral ensembles. The MM-Choral Conducting emphasis provides experiential training leading choral ensembles, combined with graduate-level coursework in research, theoretical analysis, and choral repertoire.

MM-Collaborative Piano emphasis is for students with a Bachelor’s degree in music, who have achieved an advanced level of performance on the piano, and who have training or experience collaborating with voice or instruments. The MM-Collaborative Piano emphasis provides experiential training in working with voice in genres such as opera and art song, and with instrumentalists in wind, brass and string studio or recital settings. Additional coursework includes research, repertoire study, and theoretical analysis.

MM-Composition is designed for students with a Bachelor’s degree in music, and who demonstrate a strong interest and potential in music composition. The program gives students one-on-one mentorship in composing original music for instruments, voice, and electronics. Students take courses on a range of topics, including post-tonal theory, Schenkerian analysis, and music theory pedagogy. The program culminates in a thesis focusing on an original composition of significant scope. Students may take additional coursework in performance and music history and have numerous opportunities for one-on-one study with faculty members.

MM-Instrumental Conducting is for students with a Bachelor’s degree in music, who have achieved a proficient level of instrumental performance, and who have training or experience conducting band or orchestra. The MM-Instrumental Conducting emphasis provides experiential training leading band or orchestra, combined with graduate-level coursework in research, theoretical analysis, and instrumental repertoire.

MM-Instrumental Performance is for students who completed a Bachelor’s degree in music, and who have achieved high technical and artistic levels on a single instrument. The MM-Performance emphasis focuses on performance skills in solo and ensemble settings and mastery of advanced repertoire, combined with graduate-level coursework in pedagogy, solo literature, research, and theoretical analysis.

MM-Musicology is for students with a Bachelor’s degree in music who have demonstrated strong academic skills. The MM-Musicology emphasis emphasizes historical, cultural, aesthetic, and theoretical inquiry through graduate-level courses and thesis-related work, with research, writing, and analytical skills developed across the four-semester program.  

MM-Theory is for students with a Bachelor’s degree in music, and who demonstrate a strong interest and potential in music theory and analysis. The program gives students a solid grounding in these areas, preparing them for future study at the doctoral level. Students take courses on a range of topics, including post-tonal theory, Schenkerian analysis, and music theory pedagogy. The program culminates in a thesis focusing on a particular subject in theory or analysis. Students may take additional coursework in composition and/or performance and have numerous opportunities for one-on-one study with faculty members.

MM-Vocal Performance is for students who completed a Bachelor’s degree in music, and who have achieved a high technical and artistic level as a vocalist. The MM-Vocal Performance emphasis focuses on performance skills in solo, operatic, and choral settings and mastery of advanced repertoire, combined with graduate-level coursework in pedagogy, solo literature, research, and theoretical analysis.

Student Learning Outcomes

Core Outcomes

• Advanced professionalism and independence in the area of specialization:
  • Music performance, which includes instrumental performance, vocalperformance, choral conducting, and/or orchestral conducting; or
  •  Scholarly research in music utilizing historical and theoretical methods.
• Continued growth in musical understanding through analytic, historic, pedagogical, and performance skills, which include:
  • The ability to identify appropriate literature in support of their individual career path.
  • Understanding stylistic differences among various types of music and applying that understanding in performance.
  • The ability to apply pedagogical concepts within an educational environment.
• Graduate and professional level research skills, which include:
  • The use of advanced historical and critical methodologies across a wide variety of musical styles, genres, and time-periods.
  • Advanced interpretative, analytical, and synthesis skills within the area of music theory.
  • Clear, cogent writing skills.
  • The ability to systematically support an argument in writing.
  • The ability to identify appropriate primary and secondary sources and effectively cite the sources in a research document. 
• Acknowledgement, awareness, and exploration of connections across music subdisciplines and human experiences by integrating knowledge learned within the contexts of:
  • History;
  • Theory;
  • Performance; and
  • Culture. 
• Integration of knowledge and skills gained in performance and scholarship into a meaningful and intellectual life in a global society by:
  • Identifying human experiences expressed in a variety of musics.
  • Communicating those human experiences through scholarship and performance. 

Subplan Learning Outcomes 
In addition to Degree Learning Outcomes, students will possess skills and knowledge specific to their chosen sub-plan.

Choral Conducting

• Students develop advanced skills in choral conducting that will prepare them for careers as choral conductors in a variety of educational and professional settings or for further training at the doctoral level.
• Conduct with clarity, coordination, and expression.
• Apply appropriate analytic, historic, and performance techniques to thorough score preparation. 
• Understand conducting gesture and its relationship to vocal efficiency in order to elicit appropriate phrasing and style from choral ensembles.
• Cultivate a broad knowledge of choral composers and repertoire from the twelfth to the twenty-first century.
• Develop rehearsal techniques that will promote efficiency in learning repertoire in the choral music classroom.
• Synthesize musical, theoretical, and historical knowledge in preparation for auditions into competitive doctoral programs.

Collaborative Piano 

• Students develop collaborative piano skills that prepare them for professional careers as collaborative pianists or for further study at the doctoral level.
• Demonstrate performance proficiency in all areas of collaborative piano work, including: vocal, instrumental, chamber music, opera, choral, and large ensemble.
• Apply knowledge of historical performance practices within vocal, chamber music, and piano repertoires.
• Develop the advanced technical, musical, and artistic skills necessary for professional success as a pianist in ensemble contexts.
• Display communication and rehearsal techniques in collaborative settings in order effectively and efficiently bring ensembles to a professional level of cohesion and artistry.
• Apply professional standards in oral and written communication such as utilizing proper etiquette for phone interviews or video consultation and composing well-designed letters of inquiry regarding job opportunities. Investigate the world of the performance industry in order to discover suitable venues to perform
• Actively participate and network in a community of musicians and cultivate a professional identity through performing with others frequently in recitals and master classes.

Composition

• Students develop composition skills preparing them for careers as composers or for further study at the doctoral level.
• Refine music research and writing skills, including the ability to locate, assess, and synthesize a wide range of research materials related to music; create a bibliography; and write effective expository prose on music and related topics.
• Acquire advanced skills for analyzing traditional tonal music, including the ability to create Schenkerian graphs of musical excerpts and pieces.
• Learn advanced methodologies for analyzing post-tonal music, including pitch-class set theory and twelve-tone theory.
• Acquire detailed knowledge of post-World War II music. 
  Increase compositional skills, leading to the production of a large-scale musical work as well as a full-length master’s recital featuring the live performances of several original compositions
• Acquire knowledge of music theory pedagogy, including diverse techniques and strategies for teaching musical fundamentals, tonal harmony, and ear training at the high school and college levels.

Instrumental Conducting

• Students develop advanced skills in instrumental conducting that will prepare them for careers as instrumental conductors in a variety of educational and professional settings or for further training at the doctoral level.
• Acquire knowledge of the history and heritage of orchestral and/or wind conducting. Examine the operations and vision of a comprehensive instrumental music program at the high school, middle school, and collegiate levels in order to appropriately fill the role of instrumental conductor at one or more of these levels, according to the student’s career plan.
• Identify appropriate repertoire for public performance and skill development for use with ensembles with varying technical, rhythmic, harmonic skills levels. 
• Develop an ensemble philosophy consisting of balanced, varied, and functional programming appropriate to ensembles and audiences of diverse backgrounds and musical experiences.
•  Practice the fundamentals and advanced technical, musical, and artistic skills necessary to conduct large instrumental ensembles.
• Interpret, distinguish, and employ historical performance practices within orchestral and wind ensemble repertoires.

Instrumental Performance

• Students develop skills in instrumental performance that prepare them for a career as a performer in a variety of contexts or for further study at the doctoral level.
• Develop the advanced technical, musical, and artistic skills necessary for professional success on the primary instrument in solo and ensemble contexts.
• Apply knowledge of historical performance practices within specific instrumental repertoire.
• Apply professional standards in oral and written communication such as utilizing proper etiquette for phone interviews or video consultation and composing well-designed letters of inquiry regarding job opportunities.
• Listen to and respond thoughtfully and thoroughly to work by other MM instrumental performance students in order to hone the critical, intellectual and analytical skills, and practice providing and receiving critique.
• Use critiques and insights from others to hone one’s performance craft. Investigate the world of the performance industry in order to discover suitable venues to perform.
• Actively participate and network in a community of musicians and cultivate a professional identity through performing one’s work frequently in recitals and master classes.

Musicology

• Students develop skills in the area of musicology and/or ethnomusicology that prepare them for further study at the doctoral level.
• Demonstrate advanced historical knowledge of music from the Western tradition as well as music from around the world.
• Demonstrate advanced analytical skills in interpreting music within historical and cultural contexts.
• Participate in the intellectual discourse on music, drawing from their historical, practical, and theoretical knowledge.
• Develop appropriate research questions and arguments and integrate musicological/ethnomusicological methods for the purposes of answering the developed questions and supporting the developed arguments.
• Demonstrate understanding and breadth of critical approaches to music in preparation for researching and writing a master’s level thesis.
• Produce a master’s thesis displaying research of a caliber that could be presented at a regional music conference. This thesis will:
  • Present an original, sustained, and coherent argument.
  • Involve detailed musical analysis of the work of a particular composer or a specific repertoire of musical works.
  • Summarize, respond to, and/or build upon the prior secondary analytical literature on that composer or repertoire.
  • Employ a methodology that is more detailed, specific, and/or advanced than the approaches taught at the level of the basic undergraduate music history course sequence.

Theory

• Students develop skills in music theory that prepare them for further study of music theory at the doctoral level.
• Develop music research and writing skills (including the ability to locate, assess, and synthesize a wide range of research materials related to music), compile a comprehensive bibliography of existing research in the field, and write effective expository prose on music and related topics.
• Acquire advanced skills for analyzing traditional tonal music, including the ability to create Schenkerian graphs of musical excerpts and pieces.
• Learn advanced methodologies for analyzing post-tonal music, including pitch-class set theory and twelve-tone theory.
• Increase analytical writing skills, including the ability to formulate an original interpretation of a musical work, elucidate this interpretation in prose, supported by detailed musical observations, and in relation to existing secondary literature.
• Produce a master’s thesis displaying research of a caliber that could be presented at a regional music theory conference. This thesis will:
  • Present an original, sustained, and coherent argument.
  • Involve detailed musical analysis of the work of a particular composer or a specific repertoire of musical works.
  • Summarize, respond to, and/or build upon the prior secondary analytical literature on that composer or repertoire.
  • Employ a methodology that is more detailed, specific, and/or advanced than the approaches taught at the level of the basic undergraduate music theory course sequence.
  • Be orally defended by the student in front of a defense committee.
• Acquire knowledge of music theory pedagogy, including diverse techniques and strategies for teaching musical fundamentals, tonal harmony, and ear-training at the high school and college levels.

Vocal Performance

• Students develop skills in vocal performance that prepare them for professional singing careers or for further vocal study at the doctoral level.
• Apply knowledge of vocal literature within its historical context through successful collaboration in rehearsals and performances.
• Demonstrate proper vocal technical, musicianship, artistry, and interpretation in advanced-level solo-vocal performances.
• Develop a broad range of skills, from refined stage deportment in performance to exemplary understanding of stylistic contrast, in preparation for auditions into performance organizations and/or competitive doctoral programs.
• Listen to and respond thoughtfully and thoroughly to work by other MM vocal performance students in order to hone the critical, intellectual and analytical skills, and practice providing and receiving critique. Use critiques and insights from others to hone one’s performance craft.
• Apply professional standards in oral and written communication such as utilizing proper etiquette for phone interviews or video consultation and composing well-designed letters of inquiry regarding job opportunities.
• Investigate the world of the performance industry in order to discover suitable venues to perform.
• Actively participate and network in a community of musicians and cultivate a professional identity through performing one’s work frequently in recitals and master classes.