Sheet music on a music stand.

BA: Music

Bachelors of Arts in Music (B.A.)


The Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Music is separated into three concentrations:

  • Contemporary Practices – prepares students to perform create/compose/improvise, and think critically about music in a diverse range of musical practices and traditions. Emphasizes composition, improvisation, and topical theory.
  • Global Musics – prepares students to perform, think critically, and write in a diverse range of musical practices. Emphasizes research and performance practice.
  • Western Art Music – focuses on Western Canon theory, history, and performance, but allows students to study ethnomusicology, composition, and improvisation through elective courses.

Note that these are not separate degrees – if you choose the Music B.A., your diploma will read “B.A. in Music with a Concentration in …

For more specific information on each concentration in the major, please see below.


B.A. in Music – Contemporary Practices Concentration

The objective of the Contemporary Practices (CP) concentration is to prepare students to perform, create/compose/improvise, and think critically about music in a diverse range of musical practices and traditions.

Students in the CP concentration will take a variety of history, culture, theory, improvisation and composition courses & participate in ensembles and performance practice workshops – gaining academic, performance and music making fluency in a variety of musical practices.

In addition to taking core music courses, students in the CP concentration will also be required to complete three “Modules”, or course pathways, organized around central themes:

  • Global Art Musics [e.g. history/culture, workshop, ensemble, and special topics theory courses in art music traditions]
  • Experimental and Contemporary Musics [e.g. culture/history courses in contemporary and popular musics, and workshop courses in music production, technology, and songwriting]
  • Spontaneous Composition/Improvisation [e.g. theory and practice courses in improvisation, ensembles involving improvisation-focused traditions]

For more detailed information regarding course requirements, please reference the resources linked below:


B.A. in Music – Global Musics Concentration

The objective of the Global Musics (GM) concentration is to prepare students to perform, think critically, and write in a diverse range of musical practices.

The GM concentration provides a pathway for students interested in various modes of musical inquiry not limited to western art music to pursue the Music major (though western art music is included). Students in the GM concentration will take a variety of history and culture courses & participate in ensembles and performance practice workshops – gaining academic and performance fluency in a variety of musical practices.

In addition to taking core music courses, students in the GM concentration will also be required to complete three of seven “Modules”, or course pathways, organized around a central theme.

Modules contain courses that cross a range of regional, genre and theme-based topics including:

  • Region/Area coverage (and repertoires within area)—Europe; Asia (including South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia); Africa and the Americas (including Latin America and Latin American Diasporas & Africa and African Diasporas);
  • Genre/Repertoire coverage—Jazz; Contemporary/Experimental;
  • Theme-based coverage—Popular Music; World Musics.

For more detailed information regarding course requirements, please reference the resources linked below:


B.A. in Music – Western Art Music Concentration

The Western Art Music concentration is simply a renaming of our longstanding Music B.A. curriculum. It emphasizes deep knowledge in Western theory, history, and applied performance on a primary instrument, but allows for students to branch out into other areas via upper-division electives. Unlike the other two concentrations, it is not focused around a modular design.

For more detailed information regarding course requirements, please reference the resources linked below:


Undergraduate Program Learning Outcomes

PLO #Program learning Outcomes
PLO 1Knowledge about diverse musical practices 
– Demonstrate critical familiarity with differences and commonalities among musical practices and their material conditions, across a diverse range of genres, cultures, and histories.
PLO 2Skills for analysis and description of music
– Demonstrate familiarity with analytical tools arising in theories of  music, including those in music theory, ethnomusicology, and sound studies, as they are applied to musical sounds, practices, and repertoires in diverse musical contexts.
PLO 3Skills of music literacy and aurality
– Demonstrate musicianship skills across diverse oral and notational repertoires.
PLO 4Proficiency in music performance
– Demonstrate performance proficiency on a specific instrument (including voice specializations) across a range of musical genres, periods, and/or practices
PLO 5Music production, composition and improvisation
– Demonstrate skills in music composition, improvisation and/or production including skills in audio technologies.
PLO 6Research methods
– Demonstrate working knowledge of social science, humanities, and/or arts approaches to research in music-relevant topics.This includes qualitative and quantitative research methods for, gathering or obtaining research data, finding/using primary sources, and other research approaches/methods
PLO 7Effective writing about music and music practices
– Demonstrate effective writing and interpretive skills to participate in disciplinary and interdisciplinary dialogue about musical practices, traditions, genres, ideas, and music-making spaces. 
PLO 8Familiarity with multiple languages associated with music performance, scholarship, and composition

Undergraduate Advising

Please contact the Music Department undergraduate advisor:

Cory Graves-Montalbano
Office: 246 Music Center

Email: cgravesm@ucsc.edu


Last modified: Sep 09, 2024