Department of Music Programs

Southern’s music department prepares students for careers in the music industry, music education, music performance, and for graduate studies. Large ensembles, small and chamber ensembles, private lessons, jazz studies, keyboard studies, music history, and music theory, electronic and media music are all offered as a part of the department's thorough curriculum.

The music major program leads to a Bachelor of Arts degree in music. It prepares students for careers in the music industry, music education, music performance, and for graduate studies.  All students take courses in Music Theory, Music History, Musicianship, Improvisation, Applied Lessons, and Ensembles.  Students also have the opportunity to select from two specializations to complete their coursework:  Music Traditions or Music Technology and Composition.

The B.S. in Music Therapy offers students comprehensive training in music therapy at an affordable price, with a well-defined path to achieving a degree and finding employment. Students develop skills in voice, piano, guitar, and a major instrument, participate in large and small ensembles, and take coursework in music theory, history, technology, and psychology. Important aspects of the program are practicum experiences, where students observe practicing music therapists working with a variety of client populations, and the culminating clinical internship, a six-month experience in which students work under the supervision of a practicing music therapist.

 

Learn More

The music minor is designed to provide students with a general background in music theory and literature and with intermediate skills in some performance areas. Students pursuing a minor in music must participate in a performing group for three semesters.

The minor in Music, Technology, and Media offers the student a hands-on approach to music production with an emphasis on digital technology and contemporary media such as film, advertising, television, and social media. Students will gain proficiency with using software and hardware for creating, recording, editing, mixing, and disseminating music. An important part of the minor is interdisciplinary course offerings in Music, Communications, and Media Studies, which encourage students to make connections between music and other media and to use their studio production skills to create music that can be used in a variety of contexts.