Music Minors

Undergraduate

Overview of Music Minors

The Music Department offers three minors:

• Western Art Music Minor – The goal of the Western Art Music minor is to provide a focus for music activities, as well as a background in music theory, history, and performance.
• Jazz, Spontaneous Composition & Improvisation Minor – The Jazz, Spontaneous Composition, and Improvisation minor focuses on the study of the history, theory, and performance of jazz and other improvised musics.
• Electronic Music Minor – The Electronic Music minor focuses on the study of creating music using the tools of modern technology. It is designed to complement the music major or programs in other media by providing instruction in advanced skills of audio production, sound synthesis, and computer-assisted composition.

For more specific information on each minor, please see below.

Declaration of a minor:

There are no course requirements for declaring the minor, though individual courses may have enrollment prerequisites, and a major must be officially declared before a minor may be declared.   

To declare the minor, have an Academic Planning form created, or updated, and SIGNED (digitally) by your major adviser – tell them that you wish to declare a minor (we do not not require the university’s major/minor declaration form in addition to the academic plan, but will be happy to sign one if your major department requests it). While your major plan is current (within one quarter), bring it to the Music Department Advisor to add a plan for and declare the minor.

Students are strongly encouraged to consult early with the department advisor to create an academic plan for the minor. This may be done prior to the declaration. For further information about minor requirements, declaration, or about the Music Department in general, please contact the Music Department office at music@ucsc.edu, or (831) 459-2292.

Summer Session:

Some courses are offered during Summer Session, and can count towards your minor. Check the Summer Session schedule of classes for more info!

Western Art Music Minor

The goal of the Western Art Music minor is to provide a focus for music activities, as well as a background in music theory, history, and performance.

See curriculum roadmap (to the left, and linked below) for more details.

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

Jazz, Spontaneous Composition, & Improvisation Minor

The Jazz, Spontaneous Composition and Improvisation Minor (hereby: “Jazz Minor”) focuses on the study of the history, theory, and performance of jazz and other improvised musics. In addition, students may be introduced to musical styles that have had profound influences on the uniquely American art form of jazz: folk and popular musics of Africa, Europe, South Asia and the United States and Western classical music. The Jazz Minor is limited to students who have sufficient performance proficiency to pass auditions for entry into the jazz ensembles.

Students from all majors are encouraged to pursue the Jazz Minor! However, there are certain restrictions for Music major interested in pursuing the Jazz Minor:

• The Jazz Minor can be added to the Music B.M. degree, and to the Western Art Music concentration of the Music B.A. degree, but it cannot be added to the Global Musics or Contemporary Practices concentrations of the Music B.A. degree.
  

See curriculum roadmap (to the left, and linked below) for more details.

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

Electronic Music Minor

The electronic music minor focuses on the study of creating music with the tools of modern technology. It is designed to complement the music major or programs in other media by providing instruction in advanced skills of audio production, sound synthesis, composition, and computer-assisted composition.

See curriculum roadmap (to the left, and linked below) for more details.

Important Notes

• Application and acceptance to the electronic minor program is required to enroll in the following studio courses: MUSC 123-series and MUSC 167. 
• Online enrollment is not open to students who have not applied and been accepted to the electronic minor program by taking the steps below. 
• Students wishing to apply to the minor must have completed (or be currently enrolled in) either of MUSC 123’s prerequisites: Music 80C: History of Electronic Music (offered only in Fall), or MUSC 30A: Theory, Literature, and Musicianship I (offered in Fall).
  • MUSC 71 – Laptop Music OR CMPM150: Creating Digital Audio are both very helpful to students wishing to prepare for the MUSC 123-series but these courses are not required for application, nor for completion of the Electronic Music Minor.
• Application period opens in late-October/early-November. The deadline for the Winter 25 application is TBA (typically the Sunday of Fall Finals week). See below for online application link.
• Applications will be reviewed during the Winter break and 25 students will be accepted to the program each year. Students will be notified via email on their acceptance and given a permission code to enroll online in MUSC 123A for Winter.
• Applications are prioritized by students’ apparent technical and musical qualifications.  Student applicants must have sufficient quarters left in residency to complete the program. Applicants that are not accepted can re-apply the following Fall.
• So long as they submit the MUSC 123A application, declared and proposed Music majors are prioritized amongst applicants for spots in MUSC 123A.

*You must be logged into your UCSC email through Gmail in order to access the form. Go to the regular Gmail log-in. Enter your full UCSC email address (example@ucsc.edu) in the user name field, then enter your Blue password. From there, you can click on the link and have access. 

APPLICATION DEADLINE: 11:59pm PST on DECEMBER 3rd, 2023.

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