BM in Music
Degree Program Description
The Bachelor of Music (BM) degree is a program that may be earned with an emphasis in Composition, Music Education, Music History, Music Theory, or Performance (brass, percussion, piano, strings, voice, or woodwinds). It is designed for the student who intends to pursue a career as a composer, performer, K-12 or college teacher, as well as the student who plans to enter graduate school to pursue further study in one of these areas. Students must audition to be admitted into the program.
Major Program Requirements
The Bachelor of Music (BM) is a professional degree that offers the maximum concentration in music. The student may focus on instrumental, keyboard or vocal performance; music theory; composition; music history or music education based on the choice of emphasis area. In addition, students must complete degree, college and university requirements, including Arts & Science Foundation Requirements. The Bachelor of Music degree program is 120-133 credit hours.
In addition to University, general education, and College of Arts and Science requirements, students must also meet the following major program requirements. All major requirements in the College of Arts and Science must be completed with grades of C- or higher unless otherwise indicated.
Second Language Requirement:
- Composition, History, Performance (except Vocal), Theory: Fulfill the Arts & Science second language foundation requirement
- Vocal Performance: GERMAN 1100 Elementary German I (5 hours), FRENCH 1100 Elementary French I (5 hours), and ITAL 1100 Elementary Italian I (6 hours) (16 hours total). In addition, one hour each in English, Italian, French, and German diction (music courses; 4 hours total)
- Music Education: Second language is not required
Candidates must pass an examination administered by the applied faculty in the area of performance at the completion of their sophomore year before entrance is approved to studio instruction at the 4455-level (for performance tracks) or 3455-level (for all other tracks). Degree recitals must be approved two weeks in advance by a faculty hearing committee.
Courses completed in the “D” range may not fulfill music course requirements without the approval of the Director of Undergraduate Studies, and the student must achieve an overall average of at least C (2.0) in all of the courses attempted in the School of Music at MU. Music education students must have an overall grade point average (GPA) of 2.75, a music content GPA of 3.00, and an education course GPA of 3.00 to qualify for teacher certification.
| Requirements for ALL emphasis areas and tracks, except music education. | ||
| MUS_THRY 1220 | Tonal Music Theory I | 2 |
| MUS_THRY 1221 | Tonal Music Theory II | 2 |
| MUS_THRY 1230 | Aural Training and Sight Singing I | 2 |
| MUS_THRY 1231 | Aural Training and Sight Singing II | 2 |
| MUS_THRY 2220 | Tonal Music Theory III | 2 |
| MUS_THRY 2221 | Tonal Music Theory IV | 2 |
| MUS_THRY 2230 | Aural Training and Sight Singing III | 2 |
| MUS_THRY 2231 | Aural Training and Sight Singing IV | 2 |
| MUS_THRY 4220 | Post-Tonal Music Theory | 2 |
| MUS_THRY 4224 | Counterpoint | 3 |
| MUS_H_LI 1338 | Music and Culture | 2 |
| MUS_H_LI 2307 | History of Western Music I | 2 |
| MUS_H_LI 2308 | History of Western Music II | 2 |
| MUS_H_LI 43xx | History Elective | 3 |
| MUS_I_VT 2631 | Basic Conducting and Score Reading | 2 |
| MUS_GENL 1091 | Recital Attendance for Undergraduate Music Majors (7 semesters) | 0 |
| Total Credits | 32 | |
Semester Plan
The BM in Music has emphasis areas in Composition, Music Education, Music History, Music Theory, and Performance. Please see the individual emphasis area pages for semester plans specific to the emphasis area.
Degree Audit
The degree audit is an automated report reflecting a student’s academic progress toward the completion of a degree.
MU students can request a degree audit by logging in to myDegreePlanner. Students may also access myDegreePlanner via myZou, in the Student Center, click on the Academic Progress Tile, then select Request Degree Audit. The audit automatically pulls in the student’s MU course work, transfer courses and courses in progress. This is available to current students, admitted students, and those who last attended less than three terms ago.
Past MU students can request a degree audit by contacting the Academic Advising Unit of the division in which they were last enrolled at MU. For contact information, go to https://advising.missouri.edu/contact/.
Prospective students, can access a preliminary MU degree audit via https://www.transferology.com. Information on the college credits already earned will have to be manually entered before it can be evaluated against current degree requirements.
For additional details on degree audits, go to https://registrar.missouri.edu/degrees-audits/degree-audits/.
Major and Career Exploration
The University of Missouri has many resources to assist you in exploring majors and career possibilities. For guidance, visit the Majors and Careers website or view specific resources below.
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If you are considering a change of major or are exploring multiple majors, schedule an appointment with an advisor in the Discovery Center by calling (573)884-9700 or through MU Connect Discovery Center service in you success network.
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If you have decided on a major, visit an academic advisor in the School or College that you are interested in to discuss the process of declaring the major.
- If you would like to learn more about your career interests, abilities, values and talents, visit the MU Career Center. No Appointment is necessary to explore career options with one of our staff members.
- If you would like information about MU majors and degree programs, visit:
- the Degrees, Majors (Degree Programs), Emphasis Areas, Minors and Certificates page in the catalog,
- the MU Majors website.
For additional major and career exploration resources, visit Major & Career Exploration in the catalog.