Department of Music
Administered by the Department of Music within the College of Arts and Sciences.
https://www.utpb.edu/academics/colleges/arts-sciences/departments/music/index
Music Degrees
Both a major and a minor in music are available to students at UT Permain Basin. The Bachelor of Music degree is a comprehensive, professional degree. Through a sequenced series of courses and pre-service public school teaching experience, students who successfully complete the degree fulfill the requirements for Texas EC-12 teacher certification in music. The music degree prepares students for positions as choral, instrumental, or general music teachers at preschool, elementary, junior high, or high school levels. The music degree requires a minimum of 127 credit hours to complete and will require students to spend approximately two-thirds of their time in music and teacher certification study.
Within the Bachelor of Music degree, three emphases are available: Choral/Vocal emphasis, Wind/Percussion emphasis, and String emphasis. Specific information regarding courses required for specific emphases and teacher certification may be found below. Further information on Texas teacher certification and requirements may be found at https://www.utpb.edu/academics/programs/teaching-certification/index
Music Degree Audition Policy
Students interested in a major in Music must go through a two-part admissions process. All students must be admitted to the University through the regular freshman and transfer admissions processes. In addition, all freshmen and transfer students must audition in order to be accepted into the Music Department. The audition will differ slightly based on the track (choral, wind, piano, strings, or percussion). Auditions may be arranged on an individual basis prior to the semester for which the student is seeking admission.
Choral
Students interested in a major in Music choral track must pass an audition before they will be permitted to enroll in the Music degree program. During the audition, students must demonstrate the following: 1) the ability to accurately reproduce pitches; 2) possession of appropriate range, tonal beauty, and vowel accuracy; 3) the ability to repeat brief melodic fragments; 4) the ability to accurately reproduce written rhythmic patterns; 5) the ability to sight-sing a passage equivalent in difficulty to that of a Bach Chorale; and 6) the ability to perform an accompanied solo demonstrating a high degree of musical artistry.
Strings and Wind
String and wind student interested in a major in Music must pass an audition before they will be permitted to enroll in the Music degree program. During the audition, students must: 1) perform two pieces of contrasting style (etudes or solos); 2) play two scales of at least one octave, two preferred (winds from among G, C, F, Bb, Ab, & Db. Strings play 3 octave C major scale, one scale from a sharp key, and one scale from a flat key); and 3) the ability to sight-read a passage chosen by the Music faculty.
Percussion
Percussion students - freshman auditions should prepare something to perform on each of the following instruments: mallets, snare drum, timpani and optional 4-mallet. Transfer auditions should prepare something to perform on each of the following instruments: 4-mallet, snare drum, timpani, and optional drum set.
Piano
Piano students need to present two compositions of contrasting style periods form either the Baroque Classical, Romantic, Impressionistic, or contemporary styles. The student will also be asked to sight read piano music at an early intermediate level. Suggestions for repertoire: Baroque period: Preludes and fugues from Well-Tempered Clavier, a suite or a partita by Bach, Sonatas by Scarlatti, etc. Classical Period: One movement of Sonata or Sonatas by Clementi, Haydn, Mozart, or Beethoven. Romantic period: Brahms, Chopin, Schuman, Mendelssohn, Liszt, etc. Impressionistic or contemporary: Bartok, Debussy, Ravel, Prokofiev, Shostakovitch, etc.
Proficiency Exams
Before beginning the junior year, Music majors must pass an exam to demonstrate that basic musical skills have been mastered. For detailed information regarding the exam, please see the Music Student Handbook. All music majors must pass a piano proficiency exam prior to graduation. The exam may be taken at any time during the course of study. Please see the Music Student Handbook for more information.
The Non-Music Major
The Music Program at UT Permian Basin serves students in other fields of study from within a broad liberal arts curriculum. In this role, it provides:
- A core of basic courses and musical experiences to meet general education requirements in music for the university student population
- An awareness of the interrelationship between the arts and other academic disciplines
- Opportunities for individuals to develop an articulate aesthetic sense and to become discerning consumers and patrons of the arts
- Performance experiences for musicians of various skill levels, through ensembles open to membership without audition and auditioned ensembles designed for students with who desire a more rigorous schedule and heightened performance experience.