The Bachelor of Music degree in composition is comprised of a comprehensive range of courses including analysis, orchestration, counterpoint, compositional procedures and contemporary musical styles. Throughout their studies, students work with a faculty of distinguished composers and participate in master classes with well-known guest composers. Student compositions may be performed at quarterly Composers Forums, and seniors may have a composition read through and recorded by Ensemble 20+, the School's student new music ensemble.
| Program Requirements | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|
| Music Core Requirements | 65 |
| Liberal Studies Requirements | 52 |
| Specialization Requirements | 57 |
| Electives | 18 |
| Total hours required | 192 |
Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:
- Demonstrate a growing competence in technical aspects of performance, such as tone quality, pitch consistency, dynamic control, technical agility, accurate rhythmic concepts, and other skills particular to the area of specialization
- Identify and analyze the elements of music in a given piece, including an understanding of its compositional processes, aesthetic properties, and artistic, social, and historical contexts for works in the Western music tradition, Contemporary periods, Jazz, and World Music Cultures.
- Demonstrate an appropriate level of aural, keyboard, and conducting skills.
- Compose consistently, developing a compositional voice that reflects awareness of prevalent musical styles of the 20th and 21st centuries and that shows a fundamental knowledge of instrumentation.
- Analyze appropriately music of the common practice period as well as the 20th and 21st centuries.
- Identify and demonstrate essential techniques of creating electro-acoustic music.
- Effectively employ contrapuntal composition techniques of previous centuries.
Music Core Requirements
Course Requirements
All students in the School of Music are required to enroll in the following music courses:
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| First Year Core | ||
| MUS 110A | MUSIC THEORY I | 2 |
| MUS 120A | MUSIC THEORY II | 2 |
| MUS 130A | MUSIC THEORY III | 2 |
| MUS 111 | AURAL TRAINING I | 1 |
| MUS 121 | AURAL TRAINING II | 1 |
| MUS 131 | AURAL TRAINING III | 1 |
| MUS 113 | GROUP PIANO I | 1 |
| MUS 123 | GROUP PIANO II | 1 |
| MUS 133 | GROUP PIANO III | 1 |
| Second Year Core | ||
| MUS 212A | MUSIC THEORY IV 1 | 2 |
| MUS 222-A | MUSIC THEORY V - A 2 | 2 |
| or MUS 222-B | MUSIC THEORY V - B | |
| or MUS 222-C | MUSIC THEORY V - C | |
| MUS 232A | MUSIC THEORY VI-A: CONCEPTS AND MATERIALS IN CONTEMPORARY MUSIC 3 | 2 |
| or MUS 232B | MUSIC THEORY VI-B: ANALYSIS OF MUSICAL FORM | |
| MUS 211 | AURAL TRAINING IV 4 | 1 |
| MUS 221 | AURAL TRAINING V 4 | 1 |
| MUS 231 | AURAL TRAINING VI 4 | 1 |
| MUS 213 | GROUP PIANO IV 5 | 1 |
| MUS 223 | GROUP PIANO V 5 | 1 |
| MUS 233 | GROUP PIANO VI 5 | 1 |
| Choose three of the following musicology courses: 6 | 12 | |
| MUS 224 | MUSIC, HISTORY, AND CULTURE I | |
| MUS 225 | MUSIC, HISTORY, AND CULTURE II | |
| MUS 226 | GLOBAL MUSIC CULTURES | |
| MUS 310 | INTRODUCTION TO ETHNOMUSICOLOGY | |
| Upper Level Core | ||
| MUS 303 | BASIC CONDUCTING PRACTICUM | 0 |
| MUS 304 | BASIC CONDUCTING | 4 |
| MUS 323 | MUSICOLOGY SEMINAR | 2 |
- 1
Jazz Studies majors take JZZ 300 in place of MUS 212A.
- 2
Jazz Studies majors take JZZ 301 in place of MUS 222A/B/C.
- 3
Jazz Studies majors take JZZ 302 in place of MUS 232A/B.
- 4
Jazz Studies majors take JZZ 205, 206 and 207 in place of MUS 211, MUS 221 and MUS 231.
- 5
Jazz Studies majors take JZZ 202, 203 and 204 in place of MUST 213, MUS 223 and MUS 233.
- 6
Jazz Studies majors take one fewer musicology course. They supplement this missing credit in their major coursework.
Liberal Studies Requirements
Honors program requirements can be found in the individual Colleges & Schools section of the University Catalog. Select the appropriate college or school, followed by Undergraduate Academics and scroll down.
| First Year Program | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago Quarter | ||
| LSP 110 or LSP 111 | DISCOVER CHICAGO or EXPLORE CHICAGO | 4 |
| Focal Point | ||
| Not Required | ||
| Writing | ||
| WRD 103 | COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC I 1 | 4 |
| WRD 104 | COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC II 1 | 4 |
| Quantitative Reasoning | ||
| MAT 120 | QUANTITATIVE REASONING 2 | 4 |
| Sophomore Year | ||
| Race, Power, and Resistance | ||
| LSP 200 | SEMINAR ON RACE, POWER, AND RESISTANCE | 4 |
| Junior Year | ||
| Experiential Learning | ||
| Not Required | ||
| Senior Year | ||
| Capstone | ||
| Not Required | ||
- 1
Students must earn a C- or better in this course.
- 2
Readiness for MAT 120 is determined by the math placement test taken online after admission. Students may need to take developmental coursework prior to MAT 120. Students who complete MAT 120 and both a Computational Reasoning course and a Statistical Reasoning course in the Math and Computing Learning Domain take one less Learning Domain course. Students may not apply the course reduction to any Domain where only one course is required, and cannot be applied to the Scientific Inquiry Learning Domain. The MAT 120 requirement may be waived by passing a dedicated proficiency exam or it may be fulfilled by credit for advanced math coursework earned in-residence at DePaul (MAT 135, MAT 136, MAT 147, MAT 148, MAT 149, MAT 150, MAT 151, MAT 152 MAT 155, MAT 156, MAT 160, MAT 161, MAT 162 MAT 170, MAT 171, MAT 172, or equivalent) or earned externally either as transfer credit from another college/university or as test credit through AP, CLEP, IB, or International A and A/S Level exams. Calculus course(s) may be used to fulfill any of the three QR/MCD requirements.
Learning Domains
Arts and Literature (AL)
- 2 Courses Required
Historical Inquiry (HI)
- 2 Courses Required
Math and Computing (MC)
-
Not Required
Philosophical Inquiry (PI)
- 1 Course Required
Religious Dimensions (RD)
- 1 Course Required
Scientific Inquiry (SI)
- 1 SWK Course or 1 Lab Course Required
Social, Cultural, and Behavioral Inquiry (SCBI)
- 1 Course Required
Notes
Courses offered in the student's primary major cannot be taken to fulfill LSP Domain requirements. If students double major, LSP Domain courses may double count for both LSP credit and the second major.
In meeting learning domain requirements, no more than one course that is outside the student’s major and is cross-listed with a course within the student’s major, can be applied to count for LSP domain credit. This policy does not apply to those who are pursuing a double major or earning BFA or BM degrees.
Major Requirements
Program Checkpoints
Students are admitted to a specialization at their initial enrollment. Students are then allowed to continue in specialization courses on the basis of program checkpoints. The program checkpoints differ for each specialization, and students should contact the department chairs or program directors/coordinators for more information. Students are not permitted to continue to enroll in specialization classes if they have not met the requirements of their program checkpoints.
Course Requirements
Students are required to complete the following courses for a specialization in Composition:
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| 24 credits of composition (2 credits in each quarter): | 24 | |
| COMPOSITION | ||
| Counterpoint sequence: | ||
| COM 301 | 16TH CENTURY COUNTERPOINT | 4 |
| COM 302 | 18TH CENTURY COUNTERPOINT | 4 |
| COM 303 | 20TH CENTURY COUNTERPOINT | 4 |
| Orchestration Sequence: | ||
| COM 300 | ORCHESTRATION I | 4 |
| COM 320 | ORCHESTRATION II | 4 |
| Additional required courses: | ||
| COM 305 | ANALYTICAL STUDIES | 4 |
| COM 326 | ELECTRO-ACOUSTIC MUSIC I | 4 |
| COM 316 | COMPUTER ASSISTED COMPOSITION | 4 |
| COM 399 | FINAL COMPOSITION PROJECT | 1 |
| 12 credits of Applied Instrumental/Voice Lessons | 12 | |
| 6 credits of Large Ensemble 1 | 6 | |
| 5 credits of Any Ensemble 2 | 5 | |
| 8 credits of Music Electives 3 | 8 | |
| 10 credits of Free Electives | 10 | |
- 1
Large Ensemble courses include: MEN 101, MEN 123, MEN 130, MEN 131, MEN 221, MEN 231, MEN 301, and JZZ 200.
- 2
Any Ensemble courses include: MEN 101, MEN 123, MEN 130, MEN 131, MEN 205, MEN 221, MEN 231, MEN 240, MEN 241, MEN 261, MEN 300, MEN 301, JZZ 200, and JZZ 201.
- 3
Any 200-300 level course in the School of Music can fulfill Music Electives.