College of Arts & Sciences
where excellence meets opportunity
where excellence meets opportunity
Dr. Susan Tusing, Chair of Visual and Performing Arts Department
Dr. Kurt-Alexander Zeller, Coordinator of Music Division
Mrs. Delores Toothaker, Administrative Assistant, Phone:(678) 466-4750, Fax: (678) 466-4769
Music is an exciting major. It is also a challenging major that demands much time and discipline. If you are like most music majors (including your professors), one of the reasons you have chosen this field is because you love making music and learning all you can about it. This is great, because you will spend many hours every day rehearsing with others, practicing on your own, and studying many aspects of music.
What to Expect in the First Semester
You have passed an audition and have been accepted as a music major. Now what?
Unlike students majoring in many other fields, as a music major you will begin taking several music courses during your first fall semester. This is because most music courses must be taken in sequence—if you wait to begin the sequence, you will delay your graduation by at least a year.
Most music majors begin college with a good deal of musical experience and musicianship skills. Those students are usually ready to “hit the ground running” with their college music classes. Others may begin college with little previous musical training and quickly find themselves struggling to keep up with college-level music studies.
You will take a theory placement test at the beginning of the fall semester. The test will determine your readiness for music coursework as well as provide you an opportunity (if you have an advanced musical background) to test out of MUSC 1011. Students who do not pass the test will enroll in MUSC 1002 (Music Fundamentals) in the spring semester; after passing MUSC 1002 they may enroll in the freshman music course sequence (theory, aural skills, piano class) the following fall.
Before Your First Semester as a Music Major
Before the beginning of the first semester, you are encouraged to spend time improving your skills in pitch reading, basic musical notation, rhythm and meter, reading and notating key signatures, and sight reading so you can be successful in your first-semester college music courses. This is recommended regardless of your current skill level, but especially if you are not fluent in any of these fundamental areas.
The following websites offer instruction and interactive drills for learning and reviewing fundamentals of music theory and are very helpful in your preparation for college music study:
http://www.emusictheory.com/ (click on “Free Resources”)
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