Music (BA)
The Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music is designed for students who wish to develop a career in music while exploring and studying courses in other disciplines.
With an activity of intense artistic creativity shared with the of Visual Arts faculty, the opportunity to grow in areas other than performance as a musician or educator is facilitated. The program promotes the participation in ensembles and individual classes that allow the development of performance skills in a broad variety of musical styles.
Students will take private classes in their main instrument, in piano, and in another secondary instrument. They will also appear as soloist in recitals, will participate in chamber ensembles, and in larger ensembles, be they choral or instrumental.
Students entering the program will take a placement test in rudiments of music and in their instrument. This test must be approved more with a minimum of 70 percent; otherwise students must take preparatory courses. Preparatory courses exist for those students who need them.
The San Germán Campus is authorized to offer this Program.
Competencies Profile of Graduates
The programs are designed to develop the competencies that will enable students to:
Knowledge
Demonstrate knowledge of and understand:
- The theoretical foundations and appropriate auditory skills to harmonize music on the keyboard or on the guitar.
- The elements of music as they have evolved through different historical and cultural periods: tempo, melody, harmony, tone, texture and form.
- The diverse techniques of musical arrangements.
- The process of musical composition.
Skills
- Develop their musical quality and the technical skills necessary to obtain an expressive musical execution, by presenting repertoire of varied styles as a soloist, and in sets.
- Improvise harmonies on the piano or guitar, with transpositions when necessary.
- Develop skills and apply necessary techniques in direction, to take a score and to prepare it for a practice, by located indicators that will allow it to give form to an appropriate interpretation.
- Use their auditory skills to detect and correct melodic, rhythmical errors or interpretation errors in a practice.
- Interpret music at first sight with the necessary exactitude to:
- contribute successfully to the development of the sets in which they participate.
- use this knowledge as a learning tool.
- select and prepare a repertoire for a practice.
- Demonstrate capacity to use their conducting technique as a means to communicate an interpretation that is musical and aesthetically convincing.
- Develop skills to take rhythmical, melodic and harmonic dictation.
- Develop skills in applications of technology to: prepare simple Web pages, improvise on MIDI keyboards, compose using sequencers, record and edit sequences in MIDI format, record and edit audio, write and edit musical annotation in a computer.
Attitudes
- Demonstrate discipline and commitment towards the practice of their instrument by participating effectively as a soloist in recitals, and in sets of several sizes.
- Form a good documented judgment on the capacity that the historical and cultural context has to influence the musical production of a country.
- Value Puerto Rican and Latin American music in the planning of their concerts, by demonstrating knowledge of its history and musical genres.
- Value technology as a process, a tool capable of extending their musical and creative capacities.
Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music
| General Education Requirements |
48 credits |
| Major Requirements |
32 credits |
| Prescribed Distributive Requirements |
18 credits |
| Elective Courses |
22 credits |
| Total |
120 credits |
General Education Requirements - 48 credits
Forty-eight (48) credits are required as explained in the section “General Education Requirements for Bachelors’ Degrees.”
Major Requirements - 32 credits
Note:
Courses MUSI 1251-3251 is for students of violin, viola, cello and contrabass.
Course 1401 requires courses MUSI 1111 and 1112 or passing a placement test.
Prescribed Distributive Requirements - 18 credits
Eighteen (18) additional credits, which may be chosen from other music courses, except MUSI 101, 102, 1110, 1111 and 1112.