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BFA Degree Curriculum Model for Instrumentalists
This schedule represents a suggested sample curriculum. Individual students’ curricula may differ, sometimes substantially, from this model, depending on transfer credits and performance on the placement tests.
The BFA degree is granted upon completion of at least 134 credits and must include 90 credits of applied music along with the required liberal studies and music history distribution.
Student progress is monitored on the basis of entrance evaluations, ensemble work, student juries (normally in the second half of the sophomore year), successful completion of the core curriculum, and the normal accumulation of course credits.
First Year
2 Instrumental Instruction (2 semesters)
2 Jazz Harmony and Theory I (2 semesters)
1 Theory and Performance I—Lab (2 semesters)
2 Theory and Performance I—Ensemble (2 semesters)
2 Ear Training I (2 semesters)
1 Piano Proficiency I (2 semesters)
3 History of Jazz (2 semesters)
1 Sight-Reading (2 semesters)
3 English Composition (2 semesters)
17 credits per semester
Second Year
2 Instrumental Instruction (2 semesters)
2 Improvisation Ensemble (2 semesters)
2 Jazz Harmony and Theory II (2 semesters)
2 Theory and Performance II (2 semesters)
2 Rhythmic Analysis I (2 semesters)
2 Ear Training II (2 semesters)
3 Cultural Foundations of Western Music (2 semesters)
3 Liberal Arts (2 semesters)
18 credits per semester
Third Year
2 Improvisation Ensemble (2 semesters)
2 Instrumental Instruction (2 semesters)
2 Fundamentals of Composition/Arranging (1 semester)
6 Theory and/or Performance Electives (2 semesters)
3 World Music History (1 semester) or
2 20th-Century Music History (1 semester)
3 Liberal Arts (2 semesters)
15–18 credits per semester
Fourth Year
2 Improvisation Ensemble (2 semesters)
2 Instrumental Instruction (2 semesters)
2 Contemporary Jazz and Its Exponents (1 semester)
10–12 Electives (2 semesters)
16–18 credits per semester
GENERAL COURSE DESCRIPTIONS - CLICK HERE
