Department of Music

Robert L. Elliott, D.M.A., Department Chair
104 Performing Arts Center
Telephone 615-963-5341

Faculty: R. Bryant, M. Crawford, A. Dunsavage, R. Elliott, D. Greene, E. Holt, L. Jenkins, R. McDonald, D. Nettles, L. Rasmussen, J. Tackett, R. Todd, J. Van Dyke.

Mission Statement

The Music Department contributes to the comprehensive formation of all University students through multi-faceted engagement with music. The Department facilitates the expansion of the general student’s musical perspective with a wide array of musical experiences. Additionally, it nurtures the music major’s development in the following areas:

1. Performance.

2. Music education.

3. Commercial music.

4. Scholarly inquiry into both western and world music.

5. Technological innovation.

Departmental engagement with students in these areas prepares them to creatively, critically, and collaboratively shape their lives, careers, and communities.

Vision Statement 

The Department will advance as a center for music within and beyond the University through:

1. Programs that prepare majors for successful futures as elementary and secondary educators, performers, graduate students, researchers, and commercial music professionals.

2. Superior teaching, research, and service.

3. Excellent student outreach, mentoring, and support of the university community by (1) enhancing its cultural life with a wide array of musical experiences; and (2) providing non-majors with numerous opportunities to learn about and participate in the making of music.

4. Actively engaging with other musicians at the local, regional, and international levels by continuing development of professional relationships in order to provide students with an informed perspective on, and opportunity to interact with, the global community of musicians.

Core Values 

Integrative Learning: The Music Department recognizes education as an inherently connected, cumulative, and student-centered experience in which learning occurs across courses and across disciplines.

Creativity: The Music Department values and nurtures originality, imagination, discovery, active creation, and appreciation of beauty, and the unique voice of each student. We seek to inspire students and draw inspiration from them.

Responsibility: The Music Department recognizes the development of integrity, ethical thinking, and social and environmental awareness as essential goals of a college education.

Critical Thinking and Reasoned Judgment: The Music Department recognizes discourse and the construction of knowledge as human activities requiring the questioning of assumptions, logical reasoning, analysis and synthesis, the appreciation of multiple perspectives, self-awareness, empathetic capacity, and civility.

Professional Competency: The Music Department values, models, and cultivates excellence in written and oral communication, task organization, collaboration, quantitative thinking, and literacy in information technology, equipping students with transferrable professional skills.

Student Service and Support: The Music Department recognizes the quality of the individual student’s educational experience as the primary measure of its effectiveness and is committed to the highest standards of service for both traditional and non-traditional students in curriculum design, course offering, instruction, learning assessment, co-curricular activities, and academic and career advisement.

Degree Programs

The Department offers the Bachelor of Science in Music Degree with concentrations in 1) Instrumental/General Music Education, 2) Vocal/General Music Education, 3) Liberal Arts, and 4) Commercial Music with emphases in Business, Technology, and Performance. In cooperation with the College of Education’s Department of Teaching and Learning, the Department of Music also offers the Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction in Music. Please refer to the Graduate Catalog for more information.

Accreditation 

The Department of Music is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, the official accrediting agency for schools of music in the United States. The teacher certification programs in Music are approved by the Tennessee Department of Education. In addition, the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) has extended national accreditation to the teacher certification program of the University.

General Education Core

Specific requirements for the General Education Core, which consists of 41 credit hours plus Orientation, vary for each of the above mentioned Degree Programs. These requirements are available at www.tnstate.edu/music.

Music Core

Specific Music Core requirements for each of the above mentioned Degree Programs are available at www.tnstate.edu/music.

Additional Requirements for Music Majors: Each student must declare a primary applied area of performance and focus in this area as indicated in each degree plan. Students must present recitals as noted in the specific degree program.

A piano skills diagnostic test will be administered upon admission and the student will be advised as to the best manner of meeting the required piano proficiency. Each music major is encouraged to experience a variety of additional ensembles, whether enrolled for credit or for zero credit.

Teacher Certification for Music Education Majors

Music Education majors who seek teacher certification in Music must make an official application for admission to the Teacher Education Program, located in the College of Education. They must have a minimum 2.75 cumulative grade point average at the time of application and must pass the Core Academic Skills Test. Students who have earned a 22 or better on the ACT or a 1020 or better on the SAT are exempt from the Core Academic Skills Test. Formal admission to the Teacher Education Program is a prerequisite to enrolling in all upper-level certification courses. A year-long practicum of Residency 1 and Residency 2 is required of all candidates for certification. For a complete list of requirements for admission to and retention in the Teacher Education Program, see College of Education  section of this Catalog.

Students are required to seek advisement regarding their licensure programs during their Freshman year at Tennessee State University to ensure that all prerequisite courses and teacher licensure exams are completed as required.

It is mandatory that students confer with departmental advisors prior to registering each semester.

Programs

• Music, Commercial Music: Business Concentration, B.S.
• Music, Commercial Music: Performance Concentration, B.S.
• Music, Commercial Music: Technology Concentration, B.S.
• Music, Instrumental/General Music Education Licensure for Grades K-12 Concentration, B.S.
• Music, Liberal Arts Concentration, B.S.
• Music, Vocal/General Music Education Licensure for Grades K-12 Concentration, B.S.

• Music Minor

• Music, K-12 Post-Baccalaureate Certification

Courses

• MUSC 4001 - Applied Percussion VIII (1)
• MUSC 4010 - Internship (3)
• MUSC 4010 - Practicum in Arranging (2)
• MUSC 4100 - Applied Piano VII (1)
• MUSC 4101 - Applied Piano VIII (1)
• MUSC 4200 - Applied Organ V (1)
• MUSC 4201 - Applied Organ VI (1)
• MUSC 4210 - Form and Analysis I (3)
• MUSC 4211 - 20TH/21ST Century Music (2)
• MUSC 4220 - World Music (3)
• MUSC 4240 - American Music I (3)
• MUSC 4250 - American Music II (3)
• MUSC 4300 - Applied Violin VII (1)
• MUSC 4301 - Applied Violin VIII (1)
• MUSC 4305 - Applied Viola VII (1)
• MUSC 4306 - Applied Viola VIII (1)
• MUSC 4307 - Applied Cello VII (1)
• MUSC 4308 - Applied Cello VIII (1)
• MUSC 4310 - Orchestration (2)
• MUSC 4315 - Applied String Bass VII (1)
• MUSC 4316 - Applied String Bass VIII (1)
• MUSC 4317 - Applied Harp (1)
• MUSC 4318 - Applied Harp (1)
• MUSC 4400 - Applied Voice VII (1)
• MUSC 4401 - Applied Voice VIII (1)
• MUSC 4410 - Arranging (3)
• MUSC 4450 - Entrepreneurship in the Arts (3)
• MUSC 4500 - Applied Trumpet VII (1)
• MUSC 4501 - Applied Trumpet VIII (1)
• MUSC 4505 - Applied French Horn VII (1)
• MUSC 4506 - Applied French Horn VIII (1)
• MUSC 4510 - Senior Recital
• MUSC 4515 - Senior Project (1)
• MUSC 4520 - Special Topics I (1-3)
• MUSC 4521 - Special Topics II (2)
• MUSC 4522 - Special Topics III (3)
• MUSC 4590 - Applied Guitar VII (1)
• MUSC 4591 - Applied Guitar VIII (1)
• MUSC 4600 - Applied Trombone VII (1)
• MUSC 4601 - Applied Trombone VIII (1)
• MUSC 4605 - Applied Euphonium VII (1)
• MUSC 4606 - Applied Euphonium VIII (1)
• MUSC 4607 - Applied Tuba VII (1)
• MUSC 4608 - Applied Tuba VIII (1)
• MUSC 4615 - Audio for Video (3)
• MUSC 4700 - Applied Clarinet VII (1)
• MUSC 4701 - Applied Clarinet VIII (1)
• MUSC 4705 - Applied Flute VII (1)
• MUSC 4706 - Applied Flute VIII (1)
• MUSC 4708 - Choral Methods & Materials (3)
• MUSC 4709 - Instrumental Methods & Materials (3)
• MUSC 4710 - Music Residency I (5)
• MUSC 4720 - Music Residency II: Enhanced Student Teaching (9)
• MUSC 4800 - Applied Oboe VII (1)
• MUSC 4801 - Applied Oboe VIII (1)
• MUSC 4805 - Applied Bassoon VII (1)
• MUSC 4806 - Applied Bassoon VIII (1)
• MUSC 4900 - Applied Saxophone VII (1)
• MUSC 4901 - Applied Saxophone VIII (1)
• MUSC 4905 - Applied Music IX (1)
• MUSC 4906 - Applied Music X (1)