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

Major

Minor

Music Minor

Post-Baccalaureate Certification

Music, K-12 Post-Baccalaureate Certification

Courses

Applied Music Courses

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