Music

Chris White, Head

Music Building, 903-886-5303

            The Department of Music is a member of the National Association of Schools of Music and the Texas Association of Music Schools. The Department of Music offers the Master of Music degree with two areas of emphasis:  Performance and Music Education. 

            Maintained within the Music Building are ample facilities for developing the various phases of musical ability. The recording and score collection in the general university library provides a valuable supplement for music scholarship and research . Private instruction is available in voice, keyboard, winds, percussion, strings and conducting.

Programs of Graduate Work

            Students in the M.M. program choose either an emphasis in performance (applied music or conducting) or music education.  The Master of Music with an emphasis in performance develops specific music skills and abilities to a high degree in the fields of instrumental and vocal performance and conducting. The Master of Music with an emphasis in music education focuses on teacher training at the elementary and secondary level.

Master of Music degree: Emphasizes performance major (applied music, conducting) or music education.

1. Emphasis in Performance: Prerequisite: Bachelor of Music degree (or equivalent)

Applied major [instrument, conducting, piano, voice] (8-10)

Applied recital [instrument, conducting, piano, voice] (2-4)

Applied minor [instrument, conducting, piano, voice] (2)

Pedagogy [instrument, conducting, piano, voice] (2-4)

Literature [instrument, conducting, piano, voice] (2-4)

Music history and theory [minimum 2 sh history and 2 sh theory] (6)

Architecture, Music, and Philosophy (3)

Research literature and techniques (3)

Music electives—not major applied (3)

TOTAL 36 sh

2.  Emphasis in Music Education:  Prerequisite: A bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) with a music major.

Applied major  (0-6)

Applied minor (2)

Pedagogy (3-6)

Literature (3-6)

Independent Study in Music Education (3)

Music history and theory [minimum 2 sh history and 2 sh theory] (6)

Architecture, Music, and Philosophy (3)

Research literature and techniques (3)

Music electives—not major applied (4)

Music Minor

The music minor at the graduate level will include a minimum of 12 semester hours of graduate work in music.  A comprehensive minor of 30 semester hours in music is available for doctoral degree students majoring in supervision, curriculum, and instruction.  This program is recommended for junior and senior college teachers of music and for school supervisors.  (See Doctor of Education in Supervision, Curriculum, and Instruction--Higher Education degree plan program, Department of Educational Leadership.)  A music minor (or its equivalent) at the undergraduate level constitutes the normal prerequisite for declaring a graduate minor in music.

Department  Requirements

Qualifying (Advisement) Examinations

            Graduate students are required to audition (performance or teaching demonstration) and complete the diagnostic examinations at the beginning of the first semester of graduate study.  Students with a Bachelor’s degree from A&M-Commerce may use a letter of recommendation from their applied teacher(s) in lieu of an audition.  Students may petition to defer all or part of the diagnostic examinations to the beginning of the second semester of graduate study; however, the diagnostic examinations cannot be repeated.

            All graduate students will take diagnostic examinations in music history and theory. Depending on the student’s intended graduate major, additional examinations may be required in music education, major and/or minor applied music, piano, orchestration, conducting, and foreign language diction.  The results of the diagnostic examinations are used for academic advisement and normally do not constitute a basis for actual admission.  Once the student completes the diagnostic examinations, the student is assigned a committee which will determine a degree plan to address the student's strengths, needs, and areas of interest.

Recital

Graduate students pursuing the Master of Music degree with an emphasis in performance must perform a fifty-minute public recital.

Final Comprehensive Examinations

The Department of Music requires the candidate to pass a written examination over the course work listed on the degree plan prior to taking an oral examination.

Applied Music

Graduate students can enroll for a maximum of four semester hours of applied music each semester or two semesters of applied music in the graduate music summer term.  Graduate assistants are limited to four semester hours of applied music and/or ensembles as part of the minimum required course load of six semester hours.  Voice performance majors with advanced piano skills may petition to use the piano minor credits as elective credits.  Instrumental performance majors may use the applied electives on the same instrument as the applied minor or on one other instrument.

Elective Courses

Other than major or principal applied music, any graduate course offered by the

Department of Music may be used as an elective unless specifically limited in a degree

program.

Graduate Courses

Music (Mus)

505. Advanced Theory. Two or three semester hours.

A study of advanced ideas of theoretical thinking. May be repeated for credit when topics vary.

513. Advanced Choral Conducting. Two or three semester hours.

Advanced application of techniques developed in Mus 413. Prerequisite: Mus 413.

514. Advanced Instrumental Conducting. Two or three semester hours.

Advanced application of techniques developed in Mus 414. Prerequisite: Mus 414.

517. Advanced Analysis. Two semester hours.

A study of advanced means of analyzing music. May be repeated for credit when topics vary.

522. Music of the Baroque Era. Two semester hours.

Music from 1600 to the death of Bach; styles, forms, and principal composers.

523. Music of the Classic Era. Two semester hours.

Styles, forms, and composers from the pre-classic school to the death of Beethoven.

524. Music of the Romantic Era. Two semester hours.

Early romantic elements in music. The development of the art song, piano music, opera, and instrumental music during the Nineteenth Century.

525. Music of the Twentieth Century. Two semester hours.

Representative music literature from Debussy to the present.

526. Music Literature and Repertoire. One, two, or three semester hours.

Approved subtitles will include Levels I and II of the following areas: brass, woodwinds, double reeds, percussion, piano, voice, choral, wind ensemble, elementary (i.e. children's choir; textbook series, etc.).  May be repeated for credit when subtitles vary.

529. Workshop. One to six semester hours.

Workshops in elementary music, vocal, instrumental, keyboard, and other selected areas of music.

531. Pedagogy. One to three semester hours.

Approved subtitles will include Levels I and II in each of the following areas: low brass, high brass, woodwinds, double reeds, percussion, piano, voice, elementary (i.e. Orff, Kodaly, etc.). May be repeated for credit when subtitles vary.

532. Seminar in Theory. Two or three semester hours.

Analysis of 20th Century music by major composers including Bartok, Copland, Britten, Barber, Prokofief, Shostakovich, Schoenberg, Schumann and Ives. Prerequisites: Satisfactory completion of Theory portion of the Graduate Diagnostic Exam.

550. Seminar in Music Education. Two or three semester hours.

Approved subtitles will include Philosophy and Psychology of Music Teaching, Source and Research Techniques, Historical Studies, Theoretical Studies, and Experimental Studies. May be repeated for credit when subtitles vary.

536  Architecture-Music-Philosophy Three semester hours

The purpose of this course will be to study the relationship between architecture, music, and philosophy in several selected historical periods from Greek civilization to the 20th century.  In addition to studying specific content areas of each discipline, the influence of each area on the other will be investigated and students will be expected to develop maxims and to synthesize the information into broader contexts.

551. Applied Music. (Minor applied) One to four semester hours.

Private instruction for graduate performance majors. Prerequisites: Satisfactory level assessed in the applied music performance audition.

552. Applied Music. (Principal applied) One to four semester hours.

Private instruction for music majors in conducting, composition, instrumental, keyboard, and vocal study. May be repeated for credit.

589. Independent Study. One to four semester hours.

Individualized instruction/research at an advanced level in a specialized content area under the direction of a faculty member. May be repeated when the topic varies. Prerequisite: Consent of department head.

595. Research Literature and Techniques. Three semester hours.

Bibliographical material, library resources, and research techniques applicable to graduate study in music will be surveyed.

Music

John Burkett, D.M.A.

Associate Professor of Music

B.A., Florida State University; M.M., University of Michigan; D.M.A., University of Illinois. Associate Member.

Mary Druhan, D.M.A.

Assistant Professor of Music

B.M. Louisiana State University; M.M. University of Cincinnati; D.M.A., Louisiana State University. Associate Member

Jeffrey Gershman, D.M.A.

Assistant Professor of Music

B.M.E., M.M., Indiana University; D.M.A., University of Texas. Associate Member

Theodore C. Hansen, D.M.A.

Professor of Music

B.M., University of Colorado; M.M., Arizona State University; D.M.A., University of Arizona. Senior Member.

Christopher White, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Music

B.A., M.M., University of Northern Colorado; Ph.D., University of Colorado. Associate Member.

William Witwer, D.M.A.

Associate Professor of Music

B.M., University of Akron; M.M., Texas State University; D.M.A., University of Colorado, Associate Member