Major / Minor
Wheaton's flexible major and five minors can be tailored to meet the needs of students with diverse musical interests. Through close relationships with students and careful advising, our faculty help majors and minors identify the courses, performance opportunities, independent study, extracurricular work, and internships that will help them achieve their career goals, whether in music graduate school, the music business, arts management or non-musical careers.
Major requirements
The major in music consists of 11.5 semester courses:
MUSC 114 Music Theory I: Fundamentals of Harmonic Practice
MUSC 115 Music Theory II: Tonal Harmony
MUSC 214 Music Theory III: Form and Analysis
or another theory course at or above the 200 level
MUSC 209 Western Music I: Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque
or MUSC 210 Western Music II: Classical, Romantic, Modern
MUSC 211 World Music: Eurasia
or MUSC 212 World Music: Africa and the Americas
Two additional 200-level courses, other than the required history or theory courses.
Two 300-level courses to be taken at Wheaton.
MUSC 402 Senior Conference
One year (1 credit) of individual performance study and one year (.5 credit) of ensemble performance.
Students who place out of MUSC 114 or MUSC 115 through proficiency tests must take electives within the MUSC catalog (not MUSP performance courses) to maintain the 11.5 credits required for the music major.
No course taken pass/fail can satisfy a major requirement.
Minor requirements
There are five minor concentrations in music, each involving five semester courses. For all minors 300-level electives should be taken at Wheaton.
Music history
MUSC 114, MUSC 115, MUSC 209, MUSC 210 and one music history course at the 300 level.
Music theory and composition
MUSC 114, MUSC 115, MUSC 214, MUSC 307 and MUSC 308.
American music
MUSC 114, MUSC 115, two courses from MUSC 220, MUSC 262, MUSC 272 and MUSC 273 and MUSC 292, and one course in American music at the 300 level.
Ethnomusicology
MUSC 113 or MUSC 114, ANTH 102, MUSC 211 or MUSC 212, one course from MUSC 220, MUSC 221, MUSC 222, MUSC 262, MUSC 272, MUSC 273, MUSC 282, MUSC 292, and one course in ethnomusicology at the 300 level (MUSC 309 or MUSC 315).
Music performance
MUSC 114, MUSC 115, MUSC 214, another music course at or above the 200 level, two semesters of 300- or 400-level private lessons, and a half recital (MUSP 315 or MUSP 415) or full recital (MUSP 320 or MUSP 420). Instructor permission required for all advanced performance study.
