Piano Proficiency Examination

The Piano Proficiency Examination is required for all music majors. Students should begin taking piano their first semester at Mississippi College in preparation for the Piano Proficiency Examination. The students will register for one non-credit hour (MUS066) each semester until the requirements are completed. Every student will be expected to take piano until he or she has completed these requirements. The Proficiency Examination is divided into four sections which the student must pass in succession. The Music Department Student Handbook outlines the specific requirements of each section. No student may take the proficiency or any part of the proficiency during the semester in which he or she graduates. Piano Proficiency must be completed the semester preceding student teaching. Piano Proficiency must be completed before a student can schedule a senior recital. 

Ear-Training Proficiency

Procedures for the ear-training classes are as follows: In the fall semester, students sign up for Music 105 or 205. Upon completion of all requirements for that semester, students earning the grade of A, B, C or D may then sign up for Music 106 or 206. Note: A grade of at least a “C” in Music 106 (or consent of the instructor) is suggested for enrollment in Music 205. Transfer students who have completed two years of Theory and Ear-Training courses at other schools will be given one semester to complete the MUS 077 requirement. If credit for MUS 077 is not earned by the end of the student’s first fall semester at Mississippi College, the student will be required to take MUS 206, which is the second semester of Second-Year Ear-Training. Successful completion of MUS 206 will constitute fulfillment of the Ear-Training Proficiency Requirement for the student. 

Performance Laboratory

On Wednesday afternoons all students majoring in music are required to participate in Performance Laboratory. These may take the form of Solo Hours or Studio Classes. All music majors must complete eight semesters of Performance Lab attendance. Music minors must complete four semesters of Performance Lab. This is accomplished by registering for Music 055 and attending 75 percent or no more than 15 of the Wednesday afternoon sessions and evening recitals and concerts. 

Degree Recitals for Majors

These recitals are designed to meet the requirements of the various music curricula and are presented in partial fulfillment of degree requirements . All applicants for the degree of Bachelor of Music (with the major field in guitar, organ, piano, voice, or a wind instrument) will be required to give recitals as follows: junior recital duration, 30 minutes; senior recital duration, one hour. Composition majors will give a one-hour senior recital. Church music (voice, instrumental and keyboard) majors will be required to give a 30-minute recital in the senior year. This recital may be shared with another student. The applicant for either the Bachelor of Music Education degree or the Bachelor of Arts degree in music will be required to give a 30-minute recital in the senior year. This recital may be shared with another student.                       

Advanced Standing

The process of achieving Advanced Standing qualifies a music major to enter upper division music courses and endorses the student’s work in the major area within music. For music majors who enter Mississippi College at the freshman or sophomore level, the process involves: 

1. Theory/Ear-Training Assessment: Completion of Second-Year Music Theory MUS 202 and Second-Year Ear-Training MUS 206 with a grade no lower than C. Composition majors also must have completed MUS 208 with a grade which evidences their qualifications and motivations for the field.
2. Music History Assessment: Completion of MUS 255 and MUS 256 with a grade no lower than C in MUS 256.
3. Applied Area Assessment: Occurs after the completion of four semesters of applied study. At the fourth applied jury, the student will be assessed by the appropriate applied faculty according to the Advanced Standing processes established by that faculty. (For example, voice performance majors and music majors in other curricula with a voice emphasis perform a longer jury and include one self-prepared piece.) All music students will prepare and present an oral report related to one of their prepared pieces. The jury will be allowed to question the students and will weigh the effectiveness of the student’s oral communication as a part of the jury grade and worthiness to be granted Advanced Standing. Decisions concerning the eligibility of the students who are auditioning for an invitation into the applied performance programs will be made at this applied jury.

For music majors who transfer into the Mississippi College program at the junior level and have completed courses equivalent to Second-Year Theory and Second-Year Ear-Training , one semester of study is allowed before assessment. During this first semester, the student must satisfactorily complete the Ear- Training Proficiency Test. At the close of the semester, the student is then eligible for the Applied Area Assessment as described in (3) above. If the student fails to complete the Ear-Training proficiency during this first semester, they must enroll in MUS 202 and complete the requirement in that fashion. The Mississippi College Music Faculty is charged with the appropriate responsibility and reserves the right to make recommendations concerning a student’s choice of major. When the student has completed both parts of the process as cited above, the music faculty, in a subsequent meeting, will vote to endorse a student’s choice of major or recommend other directions. These endorsements/recommendations will be documented by letter and sent to the student and the student’s parents. Following discussion between the student and the advisor a copy of the letter with the recommendations will be placed in the student’s permanent file. Furthermore, students who have applied for entrance into the performance or composition areas will be notified in this letter as to their eligibility. The student should realize that these recommendations may involve a schedule change in order to place the student in a curricular track appropriate to their major. 

Organ Major Expectations

To enter the four-year course for the Bachelor of Music with a major in organ, the student should have reached the sophomore level in piano as outlined in the piano course of study.

First Year: The art of organ playing is developed through use of organ literature taken from all periods of music. Exercises and method books are used as needed by the student. Hymn playing and basic service-playing techniques are introduced .

Second Year: Literature on a more advanced level is studied, including more extended Bach preludes and fugues, chorale preludes by composers, past and present, and intermediate-level organ music by composers to the present .

Third Year: The study of more extended organ works is expected. Literature includes larger Bach preludes and fugues, 17th and 18th century French organ music, more advanced chorale preludes by composers of all periods of music, and other more advanced literature by composers to the present .

Fourth Year: The literature to be studied includes several major organ works representing all periods of music. Compositions include trios, preludes and fugues, toccatas, sonatas, organ symphonies, organ concerti, and selections representing the works of composers of the 20th century.

Piano Major Expectations

To enter the four-year course with a major in piano, preparatory training must be sufficient to permit the student to take up the following studies:

First Year: Major and minor scales in parallel and contrary motion, seventh chord arpeggios, Czerny, opus 299, Bach Two-Part Inventions, Suites, Well-Te m p e red Clavier, the easier sonatas of Mozart, easier sonatas of Beethoven, and representative works of Romantic and Modern composers.

Second Year: Continuation of first-year technical studies, scales in thirds, sixths and tenths, Czerny, opus 740, Bach Three-Part Inventions, Suites, Well-Te m p e red Clavier, the more difficult sonatas of Mozart, easier sonatas of Beethoven and representative works of Romantic and Modern composers.

Third Year: Continuation of second-year technical studies, Bach Well-Tempered Clavier, Suites and Partitas; and more difficult sonatas of Beethoven, the major works of Chopin, Schumann and other Romantic composers.

Fourth Year: Continuation of technical study through the etudes of Chopin, Liszt and other concert etudes, Bach Well-Te m p e red Clavier, the larger works of Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Brahms and the Modern school. 

Voice Major Expecations

The student should possess a natural vocal quality that would warrant advanced training and must be able to sing songs of moderate difficulty.

Second Year Level At the end of the second year the student should have acquired and developed to a high degree the principles of enunciation, tone-production, tone-placement, breath-control , essentials of interpretations and the ability to sing major and minor scales and arpeggio. Representative literature of the less difficult arias from opera and oratorio and several standard songs must be sung from memory. Two songs from the Italian, German, and French classics should be prepared for public performance.

Fourth Year Level The candidate for graduation shall have pre p a red arias and recitatives from opera and oratorio in English and two foreign languages and shall have a knowledge of general song literature from the classic, romantic, and modern composers. The repertory and recital materials must include at least four arias from opera and four from oratorio and a minimum of fifteen classical and twenty-five modern songs. 

Wind Instrument Major Expectations

To enter the four-year course with a major in woodwind or a brass instrument, the applicant must display a basic control of the technique of the instrument. Studies will include embouchure development, tonguing, phrasing, breath control, diatonic and chromatic scales, arpeggios, and exercises from the standard methods. Solo pieces will be from the standard repertoire as listed in the bulletin of the National Association of Schools of Music, and the study of band and orchestral literature will be emphasized. 

Applied Music

Daily practice requirements are based upon the amount of credit to be earned. Repertoire requirements are also graduated according to the number of hours being earned each semester. Specific requirements regarding the repertoire can be obtained from your professor. Credit is given according to the following tables:

Applied Music Requirements

Students desiring to enroll for applied music, either as an elective or as an assisting course for a music degree, will be assigned a course number and an instructor by the Chair of the Music Department. The final exam for each applied music course is a jury examination. In the event of illness, an incomplete grade may be given by the instructor. Make-up exams will be scheduled early in the next semester. An incomplete taken during the spring semester must be resolved in the first summer term. 

Junior Recital (Vocal Performance Major)

Junior Recital is normally taken in the sixth semester of vocal study. Students are required to perform thirty minutes of music at a level of difficulty deemed appropriate by the studio teacher and acceptable to the voice faculty. Music from diverse periods and styles is to be re p resented on the recital, with a minimum of three languages represented, including two languages other than English. 

Senior Project

These numbers are utilized to facilitate the credit given for recital completion at various levels during an applied performance major’s study at Mississippi College. Specific requirements for each of these are established between teacher and student and vary according to the student’s instrument performance level, playing/singing facility, maturity of technique, and teacher expectations. Generic statements and requirements concerning these recitals may be found in applied policies for the given instructor. 

Senior Recital (Vocal Performance Major)

Senior Recital is normally taken in the eighth semester of vocal study. Students are required to perform sixty minutes of music at a level of difficulty deemed appropriate by the studio teacher and acceptable to the voice faculty. Music from diverse periods and styles is to be re p resented on the recital, with a minimum of four languages re p resented, including three languages other than English.