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General Requirements & Courses

General Requirements

  • Students will complete 45 credit hours to fulfill requirements in each track.
  • A total of 16 hours of MUS 300, 320, and 310 may be applied toward the 124 academic hours requirements for graduation, although all applied music and ensembles must be taken for credit. Students may not apply MUS 300, 310, or 320 as electives in any of the tracks.
    • Performance track students enrolled in MUS 320 must also be co-enrolled in a MUS 300 ensemble. Any MUS 300 ensemble will count toward this requirement.
  • MUS 190 may not be counted towards the major.
  • No course for the major may be taken S/U.
  • Music majors on all three tracks are required to take the core Theory courses MUS 121, MUS 122, and MUS 221, and the introductory History and Culture course MUS 200.
    • See further details for requirements on the Composition Track, Performance Track, and History, Culture, and Theory Track, respectively.
    • Options in History and Culture are listed below.
    • Unless otherwise indicated, no additional 100-level courses may be counted towards the major.

Other information

  • Students must either be exempted from or registered for MUS 120 Keyboard Skills by the time they begin MUS 121 Music Theory.
    • MUS 120 Keyboard Skills is for music majors & minors, and for anyone signed up for MUS 121 Music Theory.
    • Students enrolled in piano lessons (MUS 320) are exempt from MUS 120 Keyboard Skills. Students may also receive an exemption by passing a proficiency exam. This must be scheduled and completed before the add/drop/swap deadline. Please email Dr. Dinkins-Matthews for additional information.
  • AP Music Theory Exam — A score of 4 will transfer to Emory as MUS 114. A score of 5 on both the written and aural components will transfer to Emory as MUS 121 and the student may move on to MUS 122 in the spring semester. IB theory is not accepted.
    • Students who test out of MUS 121 must replace those credits toward the major with an additional elective. 
  • Any transfer credits from another institution, before or after enrolling at Emory, must be approved in writing by the Director of Undergraduate Studies in order to count toward the music major or minor, even if the College has accepted credit for the courses.
  • No more than three credit hours of Supervised Reading or Study Abroad courses may count toward fulfillment of the music major.
  • An internship may not count toward the music major.

History and Culture Courses (all Tracks)

History and Culture Courses
History and Culture Courses designed to build broad-based knowledge of Western classical repertoires and music outside of the Western classical tradition
MUS 204Music Cultures of the World
MUS 207Cultures and Arts of Indonesia
MUS 211Tango Music & Dance
MUS 215Jazz: Its Evolution & Essence
MUS 252Performing Arts and Devotion
MUS 270Special Topics in Music
MUS 280Early Music Explorations
MUS 281Baroque Music
MUS 282Haydn, Mozart, & Beethoven
MUS 28319th Century Music
MUS 284Music & Contemporary Society
MUS 302American Music
MUS 303Black Music: Culture, Commerce, & the Racial Imagination
MUS 304Music & Cultural Revolution since the 1960s
MUS 306Music of the Harlem Renaissance
MUS 370Special Topics in Music
MUS 381Music & Storytelling
MUS 382The Art of Listening
MUS 463Seminar in Ethnomusicology
MUS 470Special Topics in Music
History/Culture/Theory Continuing Communication Courses designed to teach essential research and writing skills in historical musicology, ethnomusicology or theory
MUS 252WPerforming Arts and Devotion
MUS 270WSpecial Topics in Music
MUS 306WMusic of the Harlem Renaissance
MUS 356WWomen, Music, & Culture
MUS 360WWriting About Music
MUS 364WRomanticism in Music
MUS 365WWagner & Wagnerism
MUS 366WTopics in Philosophy of Music
MUS 370WSpecial Topics in Music
MUS 374WThe Soundscapes of China
MUS 376WIndigenous Music of the Arctic
MUS 379WNorth American Indigenous Music and Modernity
MUS 381WMusic & Storytelling
MUS 382WThe Art of Listening
MUS 383WMusic & Film
MUS 455WMusic in Emory's Special Collections
MUS 456WAnalysis & Archival Study
MUS 460WStudies in Music History & Culture
MUS 461WDiscipline of Ethnomusicology
MUS 464WStudies in Music Theory
MUS 470WSpecial Topics in Music

Concert Attendance

Attendance at 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. See the Events Calendar for a list of artists performing at Emory during the current academic year.