The Major
The music major provides grounding in the theory and practice of music, and instruction in performance, composition and musical scholarship.
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Tools
We support a wide range of musical styles and encourage all students interested in making music to join us in a class or an ensemble appropriate to their level.
Department Highlights
The Curriculum
Anyone can take a course in music. Topics include composition, electronic music, ethnomusicology, history, improvisation, jazz, opera, performance, popular music and theory.
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Arts at Amherst
Together, Amherst’s arts programs host more than 300 events in the performing, literary and visual arts each year.
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Performance Opportunities
We support performance opportunities in early music, experimental music, jazz, new music, popular music, western classical music and world music.
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Amherst Ensembles
Student musicians make up our three large ensembles—Choral Society, Symphony Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble—and an array of smaller ensembles.
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Private Lessons
We offer private music lessons for beginners, intermediate and advanced performers taught by professional adjunct instructors.
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Music at Amherst Series
Our concert series brings internationally renowned musicians to campus for performances, master classes and lectures.
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Arms Music Center
The music building houses Buckley Recital Hall, as well as two large rehearsal rooms and practice facilities for student and faculty use.
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Current Courses
MUSI 115
Bob Marley & the Globalization of Jamaican Popular Music
Description
Explore the roots and development of Afro-Jamaican popular music, its leading figures and styles, and its enduring influence throughout the world.
MUSI 238
Pioneer Valley Soundscapes
Description
Explore, participate in and document the Pioneer Valley’s musical communities and acoustic terrain. Engage through fieldwork with local musicians to contribute to a Web-based documentary archive of nearby soundscapes.
MUSI 444
Twentieth-Century Analysis
Description
Explore stylistic characteristics of compositions that demonstrate the most important tendencies in 20th-century music. Try out various approaches, taking into consideration the composers’ different educational and cultural backgrounds.