Music (BA)
Program Description
The Department of Music offers both a major and a minor in Music. Both programs give students the opportunity to gain proficiency in the theory, history, and interpretation of music throughout the world and help them build a solid set of applied critical and listening abilities demanded of musicians and listeners today. The major offers students opportunities for independent research during their final year.
The breadth and depth of knowledge offered by the major provide an excellent foundation for academic, creative, and performance work, offering a solid set of applied critical and listening abilities. The major is equally ideal for students seeking careers requiring a solid liberal arts background and strong analytical and critical skills and for students interested in humanistic fields in which sonic culture is a central element.
The department teaches a wide range of innovative courses in ethnomusicology, popular music, the cultural study of music, and sound studies. Many of these courses are open to non-majors. Some recent courses include: Music in the Post-9/11 World; Introduction to World Music; Music in New York; Music, Global Hip-Hop, and the Politics of Culture; and Music, Sound, and Technology.
The department’s Waverly Labs provide digital resources for composition and research. The department hosts the Washington Square Contemporary Music Society and a number of other performing ensembles and initiatives. Our majors and minors may also take private instrumental instruction with department support and are eligible to join performance ensembles at the Steinhardt School. Our students take advantage of our location in one of the world’s major cultural centers by attending concerts and pursuing internships with New York recording companies, music magazines, or major performing arts organizations.
Honors Program
Highly motivated students may apply for the department’s honors program, which culminates in a senior-year independent study supervised by a faculty member. To qualify, students must maintain a minimum 3.65 GPA both overall and in the major.
Honors students must complete the ten required 4-credit courses (40 credits) for the Music major. As part of their coursework, they may enroll in MUSIC-UA 997 Independent Study (either 2 or 4 credits), where they will develop a capstone project in musicology, music history, ethnomusicology, analysis, or composition under faculty supervision. Projects may include an analytical or historiographical study of a significant work or repertoire, a biographical study of a composer, or the composition of a substantial musical work.
Students interested in pursuing departmental honors must apply via email to the Director of Undergraduate Studies by April of their junior year. Applications should include a brief description of the proposed project and the name of the faculty supervisor.
Admissions
New York University's Office of Undergraduate Admissions supports the application process for all undergraduate programs at NYU. For additional information about undergraduate admissions, including application requirements, see How to Apply.