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Learning Goals


Analytical Skills

Students will demonstrate aural and written skills required to analyze basic harmonic, melodic, and textural examples of tonal music. Students will acquire the necessary theoretical and methodological tools to engage with music from a diverse spectrum of cultures, styles, and historical periods.

Critical Thinking Skills

Students will demonstrate skills in writing and critical thinking by considering issues surrounding a wide variety of music and their larger connection with history, culture, and contemporary society. Intellectual curiosity will be encouraged by employing methodologies and strategies of cultural inquiry through assignments requiring analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and argument.

Creative and Performance Skills

Students will acquire the facility to engage creatively with music through composition, improvisation, and performance. Students will develop their skills in various forms of music-making, including concert performance, production and composition, collaboration, and digital music applications.

Knowledge of Content and Context

Students will demonstrate knowledge of the historical and theoretical framework for ways in which music and sound intersect with aesthetic trends, geography, technology, race, gender, sexuality, and economics. Students will acquire a broad knowledge of western music and representative composers, and examine the range of contemporary and historical music performance practices found in a diverse global community.

Concert Attendance

Attending concerts is an important part of the student's musical education. When possible, students should be present at concerts sponsored by the Department of Music. Several music courses require students to attend concerts at Emory or in the Atlanta area. The Arts at Emory calendar features a comprehensive list of concerts at Emory during the academic year, most of which are free or discounted for Emory students. TheAtlanta Symphony Orchestra offers a College Pass to all Georgia college students.