Music, BA

The Bachelor of Arts in Music provides students with a broad training in the field, which includes a well-rounded curriculum that provides foundational training in music’s theories, contexts, and contemporary applications. Students are required to choose from five different concentrations: Composition, Instrumental Performance, Vocal Performance, Jazz Studies, and Contemporary, Urban & Popular Music (CUP). Faculty advisors guide students in choosing elective courses and ensembles appropriate to each student’s goals. Careful planning through departmental advising with faculty also allows the student to effectively integrate the Liberal Arts and Sciences core curriculum with the study of their major.

Graduates of the program should be prepared for a number of possible careers as performers, arrangers, studio musicians, and composers, and will have gained the tools required for pursuing further study in music. Students have the opportunity to study diverse musical styles and forms of music on a pathway toward discovering the creative directions their lives and careers can take.

For students who have already completed a Bachelor’s degree, the Music Department also offers a Second Bachelor of Arts in Music.

Composition

Upon successful completion of the Bachelor of Arts in Music with Composition concentration, students should be able to:

Identify, analyze, and emulate compositional systems from different historical periods, with an emphasis on 20th- and 21st -century compositional techniques.
Proficiently write for traditional acoustic instruments in a variety of ensemble settings.
Create original music works and performance materials that meet the basic professional standards within the field in regard to theoretical and technical fluency.
Fluently read and write traditional musical notation.
Assess musical performances and compositions according to specific theoretical, technical, and cultural standards.

Student composers are encouraged and facilitated in collaborating with students from film, dance, theatre, and other departments of Columbia College Chicago in creating film scores, music for dance and theatre performances, and other mixed media projects.

Program Requirements | 4 Year Planning Tool | Transfer Planning Tool

Contemporary, Urban and Popular Music

Upon successful completion of the Bachelor of Arts in Music with Contemporary, Urban and Popular Music concentration, students should be able to:

Demonstrate a mastery of technical skills and stylistic practices across a range of popular music genres; apply these skills effectively in preparation, rehearsal, and performance.
Fluently read and write traditional music notation; prepare professional lead-sheets and charts for small and medium-sized band arrangements.
Critically assess artistic and technical aspects of their own and other’s recorded and live performances; demonstrate an understanding of the essential elements and conventions of popular music composition, production, and arrangement as applied to music creation and development.
Display a practical understanding of multi-track recording, looping, signal-processing, and virtual instrument software, and utilize these software environments as creative tools.
Confidently communicate an understanding of the structural aspects of the music business, including talent management, contracts, media, resources, marketing, and promotion.

Program Requirements | 4 Year Planning Tool | Transfer Planning Tool

Instrumental Performance

Upon successful completion of the Bachelor of Arts in Music with Instrumental Performance concentration, students should be able to:

Demonstrate mastery of technical skills and stylistic practices for their primary instrument and apply them in solo and ensemble situations.
Compose and arrange music for instruments and voices in diverse styles, and prepare written music for performance.
Discuss the analytical tools of music and use them to create expressive and coherent performances in a range of styles.
Fluently read and write traditional musical notation.
Assess musical performances and compositions according to specific theoretical, technical, and cultural standards.

Program Requirements | 4 Year Planning Tool | Transfer Planning Tool

Jazz Studies

Upon successful completion of the Bachelor of Arts in Music with Jazz Studies concentration, students should be able to:

Fluently communicate about the harmonic and formal makeup of jazz and apply that knowledge in performance of idiomatic improvised music.
Demonstrate a high degree of technical proficiency on a primary instrument across a wide repertoire of standard compositions.
Discuss the development of jazz in its musical, social, and cultural contexts.
Fluently read and write traditional musical notation.
Assess musical performances and compositions according to specific theoretical, technical, and cultural standards.

Program Requirements | 4 Year Planning Tool | Transfer Planning Tool

Vocal Performance

Upon successful completion of the Bachelor of Arts in Music with Vocal Performance concentration, students should be able to:

Demonstrate proper vocal technique while displaying all aspects of good stage presence and awareness of ensemble musicians and audience.
Apply theoretical knowledge and musicianship skills with accurately written musical indications while developing a diversified repertoire of appropriate keys for range, ability, and style.
Effectively communicate musical ideas to accompanying musicians across this diverse repertoire and apply appropriate linguistic and stylistic elements for the chosen style or genre.
Fluently read and write traditional musical notation.
Assess musical performances and compositions according to specific theoretical, technical, and cultural standards.

Program Requirements | 4 Year Planning Tool | Transfer Planning Tool