Music B.A.

We help prepare you for careers as performing artists, recording technicians and music teachers. Our goal is to provide you with music and performing arts skills and knowledge for use in a rapidly changing technological world. In the process, you will have the opportunity to learn about American forms of music and the value of aesthetic expression.

Our comprehensive program addresses the complex issues of performing artists and their relationship to other arts. You will learn fundamental skills of listening, recording, expressing, interpreting and relating sound and movement to the social environment. Importantly, our MPA program develops essential workplace qualities of pluralism, teamwork, collaboration, flexibility and respect for others' ideas and personal expressions.

To learn more about the major, visit the Music & Performing Arts website.

Required Courses

Students are required to take a Musicianship and Theory placement assessment and complete a diagnostic audition. MPA 100: Introduction to Music will be required for any student who does not successfully pass the Musicianship and Theory diagnostic assessment with a C- or higher.

Complete ALL of the following courses:

• MPA 110: Keyboard I
• MPA 210: Keyboard II
• MPA 101: Musicianship and Theory I
• MPA 102: Musicianship and Theory II
• MPA 300: Major ProSeminar
• MPA 306: Music and Computers
• MPA 335: Reflections on America
• MPA 337: MusHistory I 500-1750 ONLINE
• MPA 338: MusHistory II 1750-1900 ONLINE
• MPA 317S: Community Involvement SL

Take each of the following courses for TWO semesters:

• MPA 475: Senior Capstone
• MPA 440: Master Classes/Lecture Demos

Complete TWO of the following courses:

• MPA 341: Sight Reading for Singers
• MPA 345: Improvisation
• MPA 370: Composition/Arranging I
• MPA 371: Composition & Arranging II
• MPA 401: Conducting

Complete FOUR UNITS from the following course list:

• MPA 211: Beginning Guitar
• MPA 212: Intermediate Guitar
• MPA 213: Jazz Blues Guitar
• MPA 214: Guitar Ensemble
• MPA 309: Global Percussion
• MPA 310: Gospel Choir
• MPA 313: Music & Performance: Theatrical Approaches to Musical Performance
• MPA 315: Performance Study Intermediate
• MPA 320: Chorale
• MPA 330: Voice Training
• MPA 332: Voice Training II
• MPA 340: Music Prod & Artistic Dev
• MPA 350: Advanced Performing Band
• MPA 405: Ensembles I
• MPA 406: Ensembles II
• MPA 415: Performance Study Advanced
• MPA 420: Advanced Voice Ensemble

Select one of the following concentrations to complete the requirements of the Music degree:

Contemporary Studies Concentration 

Complete ALL of the following courses:

• MPA 336: Jazz History
• MPA 345: Improvisation
• MPA 365: Survey of Global Music
• MPA 401: Conducting

Recording Technology Concentration 

Complete ALL of the following courses:

• MPA 307: Audio Production
• MPA 308: Analogue Mixing and Digital Editing
• MPA 408: Advanced Audio Production

Learning Outcomes

MLO 1: Historical and Theoretical Analysis

Students identify genres from different periods and integrate historical and theoretical perspectives in analyzing contemporary styles.

MLO 2: Community Issues Analysis

Students understand and analyze societal issues associated with the production, dissemination and consumption of music.

MLO 3: Comparative Analysis

Students understand compositional processes, aesthetic properties of style and the ways these shape and are shaped by artistic and cultural forces.

MLO 4: Moral and Ethical Analysis

Students understand and address moral and ethical issues.

MLO 5: Performance Skills

Students express themselves artistically in at least one major performance area at a level appropriate for the particular music emphasis.

MLO 6: Technological Skills

Students understand how technology serves music and use the technological tools applicable to a specific area of concentration.

Course Pathways

These pathways are examples of how you might complete all the requirements for your degree in an order that makes sense given prerequisites. They are meant to give you a general sense of what your education will look like.

Your own unique situation and a number of other factors may mean your actual pathway is different. Perhaps you'll need an extra math or language class, or one of the courses we've listed isn't offered in a particular semester. Don't worry — there is flexibility built into the curriculum. You'll want to work closely with an advisor and use the academic advisement report to take all that into account and develop a pathway that's customized for you.

In the meantime, use this example as a starting point for choosing classes or discussing your plans with an advisor. Your advisor is your best resource when it comes to figuring out how to fit all the courses you need, in the right sequence, into your personal academic plan.

Freshman Contemporary Studies Pathway

Fall Freshman

* This FYS class is just an example. The FYS class you choose might meet a different GE area, so you would have to adjust your actual pathway accordingly.

Spring Freshman

Fall Sophomore

Spring Sophomore

Fall Junior

Spring Junior

Fall Senior

Spring Senior

Freshman Music Recording Technology Pathway

Fall Freshman

* This FYS class is just an example. The FYS class you choose might meet a different GE area, so you would have to adjust your actual pathway accordingly.

Spring Freshman

Fall Sophomore

Spring Sophomore

Fall Junior

Spring Junior

Fall Senior

Spring Senior

Transfer Contemporary Studies Pathway

All transfers are considered to have taken lower division requirements (such as Musicianship & Theory and Keyboard), however you will be required to take a Musicianship & Theory Diagnostic Placement Assessment to ensure success in the concentration, as there is an emphasis on music literacy and mastery of theory. If a student does not pass the assessment with a C- or above, they will need to enroll in our Musicianship and Theory sequence as per the assessments outcome. It is highly recommended that all transfer students complete American Institutions and language proficiencies before coming to CSUMB. If a transfer student has not completed these requirements prior to CSUMB, the course work will be added to their learning plan.

Fall Junior

Spring Junior

Fall Senior

Spring Senior

Transfer Music Recording Technology Pathway

All transfers are considered to have taken lower division requirements (such as Musicianship & Theory and Keyboard), however you will be required to take a Musicianship & Theory Diagnostic Placement Assessment to ensure success in the concentration, as there is an emphasis on music literacy and mastery of theory. If a student does not pass the assessment with a C- or above, they will need to enroll in our Musicianship and Theory sequence as per the assessments outcome. It is highly recommended that all transfer students complete American Institutions and language proficiencies before coming to CSUMB. If a transfer student has not completed these requirements prior to CSUMB, the course work will be added to their learning plan.

Fall Junior

Spring Junior

Fall Senior

Spring Senior

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