Program

Degree Requirements

A minimum of 33 semester hours of graduate work is required to complete any MM degree. All MM degrees require at least 12 hours in graduate courses in music history and music theory, with at least 6 hours in each. MUS 501 Intro Grad Study In Music must be taken in the first fall semester of enrollment. 

Concentrations in musicology require a written thesis and public lecture. Students must pass written comprehensive examinations in theory, history, and the major area. All MM students must pass an oral examination. For musicology students, the oral examination will be a defense of the thesis.

Find degree requirements in the UA graduate catalog.

Admission Requirements

All courses of graduate music study must meet the general requirements of the Graduate School as given in the Admission Criteria section of the UA graduate catalog.

In addition, the School of Music imposes the following special requirements: 

The Bachelor of Music degree in the chosen field of study from The University of Alabama or the equivalent from another accredited institution. In special cases, a student holding the bachelor’s degree but without a formal major in the chosen field may be admitted by examination. 

All students must take examinations in music history and music theory prior to initial registration. Any required courses or other work specified as a result of deficiencies revealed in these examinations must be completed by the end of the first fall semester after matriculation. A schedule of remediation will be determined by appropriate faculty and the director of graduate studies in music and may include enrollment in MUS 595 Graduate Theory Review and/or MUS 591 Readings in Music History. Students may not earn graduate credit in theory and history until all deficiencies in the respective areas have been removed. 

Any deficiencies revealed by analysis of undergraduate transcripts prior to enrollment must be removed within one year of initial enrollment. 

The musicology area requires submission of work that illustrates research and writing skills. Students must have a reading knowledge of a foreign language (usually German, French, or Italian). Those who do not have this skill at matriculation will be required to remove the deficiency, through the completion of appropriate language courses or by examination, before they are admitted to candidacy.