Music

Robert Trent, Graduate Program Coordinator
Graduate Faculty

Graduate Program

The graduate program in music offers courses leading to a Master of Arts or Master of Science degree. The Master of Arts program provides advanced study for musicians, music scholars in preparation for professional careers or doctoral study. The Master of Science program provides advanced study and opportunities for music therapists to refine existing competencies and to attain new ones.

Graduate standing is a prerequisite to all 500- and 600-level courses. At least 80 percent of hours in the program must be in 600-level courses. An exception to the 80 percent minimum in 600-level courses is applicable to graduate degree programs in music for specific purpose of providing for an additional one to six credit hours of 500-level performing ensembles in the program of study. The 500-level courses listed in this section may be taken for graduate credit provided the student has the necessary prerequisites and if the same course or a comparable course was not taken as part of the student’s undergraduate program (MUSC 531 , MUSC 535 , MUSC 536 , MUSC 553 , MUSC 555 , MUSC 557 and MUSC 558 excepted).

Admission Requirements

Minimum overall grade point average required is 2.75. Minimum major grade point average required is 2.75. All applicants must submit an official undergraduate transcript prior to admission.

Three letters of reference are to be submitted from professional sources. All students pursuing a master’s degree in music must have, at the undergraduate level, music courses equivalent to those required in an appropriate undergraduate degree program at Radford University. All students entering the M.A. (Music) program (which requires at least two semester hours of graduate level applied study) must also present an entrance audition in their applied performing area for placement purpose. Students entering the M.S. (Music Therapy) program (which does not require graduate level applied study) without a bachelor’s degree in music from an NASM member institution must also present an entrance audition in their undergraduate applied major and minor performing areas for diagnostic purposes. Please refer to Application Requirements for application deadlines. Students entering the program as non-degree seeking students are required to complete the online graduate application and submit transcripts from all undergraduate institutions where courses were completed. Additional information about non-degree seeking status can be found elsewhere in the current Radford University graduate catalog. Non-degree seeking students are not required to satisfy the music history and music theory diagnostic examination requirements.

Entrance Requirements in Music

History and Music Theory

Students admitted to the graduate music program are required to take the Radford University diagnostic exams in music history and music theory on the first day of classes in the first semester of graduate study.
Students will be informed of specific deficiencies identified through the diagnostic exams and they will have the choice of two options:
1. Students may take (a) prescribed course(s) to remedy the deficiencies. A grade of at least B must be earned in the course(s) in order to remove the deficiency from the student’s record. If a grade of at least B is achieved, the student will have satisfied the entrance requirements in music history and music theory for master’s degree programs in music.
2. Students may choose to study on their own in areas of deficiency. Following individual study, the student must retake the diagnostic examination(s) prior to completing 18 hours of study. Failure to retake the exam prior to the completion of 18 hours in the degree program will require the student to utilize option “a.” If upon retaking the exam(s) a satisfactory score on the exam(s) is achieved, the student will have satisfied the entrance requirements in music history and music theory for master’s degree programs in music. The student will be permitted to retake the diagnostic exam(s) only one time, after which the option “a” must be utilized.

The Preliminary Comprehensive Examination in Music

The Preliminary Comprehensive Examination is a discussion among the student and a faculty committee regarding the progress of the student in the degree program. It is not an assessment of the student’s knowledge in any specific content area. The Preliminary Comprehensive Examination occurs prior to the completion of the first semester (or 9 hours) of graduate study.

The committee will consist of the student’s advisor and two other graduate music faculty appropriate to the student’s degree program selected by the student in conjunction with the advisor. This committee may or may not be the same as the committee for the student’s eventual final project, thesis, recital and/or Final Comprehensive Examination.
At least one week prior to the exam, the student will submit a report containing the following information to each committee member: (1) a summary of the student’s progress in the degree program, including progress toward the remediation of any deficiencies; (2) a statement of professional objectives and a plan for realizing these objectives which includes a proposed program of study; (3) if appropriate to the student’s degree program, an outline of possible areas/topics of interest for the final project, thesis or recital.
During the exam, the committee and student will discuss the three areas outlined in the student’s report. As part of this discussion, the committee will offer suggestions to the student on courses and procedures that may be beneficial in working towards the attainment of the student’s goals.
The student will be provided with a written assessment by the committee following the examination.

The Final Comprehensive Oral Examination in Music

The final comprehensive oral examination is designed to measure the ability of students to synthesize course work taken in their degree program and apply the content of these courses. The student’s ability to verbally express ideas and facts coherently and concisely is an important focus of the oral examination. All Master of Arts candidates and those Master of Science candidates in the “recital” or “thesis” option within the music education concentration are required to take the final comprehensive oral exam concurrently with their recital hearing or thesis defense. Master of Science candidates in the “cognate” option within the music education concentration are required to take only the final comprehensive oral exam. Master of Science candidates in the music therapy concentration are required to take the final comprehensive oral exam concurrently with their project defense.