Music

The Associate in Arts in Music degree prepares students to build a solid foundation in music theory, musicianship, keyboard skills, and music history, as well as performance skills as a solo and ensemble musician. The degree requirements mostly align with the freshman and sophomore level music study for a Bachelor of Music or Bachelor of Music Education degree at local CSU campuses. As such, this is a high-unit degree and may take longer than 4 semesters to complete. However, students who complete this degree successfully will be better prepared to do well on theory, musicianship and keyboard skills placement exams at CSUs, UCs or private 4-year conservatories and universities, alleviating the need to take remedial courses at a higher tuition.

Students must audition with an instrument of choice or voice to be admitted into the program to take the applied skills course. Students whose applied music skills are at a pre-collegiate level may enroll in remedial course such as Elementary or Intermediate Voice, Piano or Guitar class. Students who have college-level performance and musicianship skills and are interested in pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in General Music can select the Associate in Arts in Music for Transfer, which can be completed in 4-semesters of full-time study.

Students who complete this program should be able to:

1. Analyze a short musical work by applying intermediate-level music theory, including analysis of melody, harmony, rhythm and meter, and form, demonstrating skills and knowledge acquired over 3 semesters of music theory study.
2. Aurally identify intervals, rhythms, voice-leading and harmonic progressions by taking dictation and writing appropriate musical notation, and sight read melodies of difficulty level covered in the third semester of Musicianship.
3. Publicly perform on their major instrument or voice a solo repertoire appropriate for college sophomores with technical facility and artistry.
4. Play or sing in an ensemble with technical ease, blend, and expressive artistry, demonstrating culmination of four semesters of study in improved reading ability, listening skills, and performing skills.
5. Demonstrate piano keyboard skills acquired in three semesters of study, including sight reading, scales and arpeggios, and harmonic progressions in various keys and modes.
6. Identify various musical styles and genres of the Western art music as well as select styles and genres of non-Western music, and distinguish their cultural and historical context.

Required courses

Students earning an AA/AS degree must complete a minimum of 21 units of General Education requirements and the health graduation requirement, in addition to the program units listed here. Students must complete a total of 60 degree applicable units to earn an AA or AS. Please see your counselor for additional information.