Music

Application Deadline
- Spring: November 15
- Fall: June 1
Class begins
- Spring 2024: Monday, January 8
- Fall 2023: Monday, August 21
Degree Awarded
Master of Arts
in Music
WSU College
College of Arts and Sciences
Enhance Your Skills, Energize Your Career
WSU’s Master of Arts in Music program, offered completely online, is designed to provide music professionals and educators a convenient and effective way to expand their musical knowledge and develop their careers. This flexible, 100%-online degree is ideal for music educators seeking to enhance their skills and credentials while continuing to work in their teaching positions. It is also an excellent choice for aspiring music teachers and those who work—or wish to work—in the music industry as composers, arrangers, or producers.
Get Started: Application Process
If you have questions about the degree, please contact Graduate Program Coordinator Dr. Chris Dickey at chris.dickey@wsu.edu.
- A prospective online Music MA student must have earned (or is in the process of earning) a baccalaureate degree in music from an accredited college or university.
- The applicant must have a current or final overall GPA of at least 3.0, a current or final GPA of 3.0 in all music coursework, and a current or final GPA of at least 3.0 in both Music History and Music Theory combined, including aural skills.
Prospective students must fill out an online application that will be submitted directly to the Graduate School. The Graduate School will share this information on to the School of Music. As part of the online application, graduate student applicants supply:
- Official or unofficial transcripts
- Names and email contact information for three references, who are contacted electronically for letters by the Graduate School
- Written Statement of Purpose, at least three paragraphs long, explaining their professional goals and how graduate study will assist them. They may also discuss any aspects of their life that may not be apparent on their application or transcripts but of which they would like the faculty to be made aware.
In addition to the online application, applicants submit these items directly to Graduate Coordinator Dr. Chris Dickey (chris.dickey@wsu.edu):
- Link to an audition recording, which must be an unedited recording of a performance or recording session that took place in the past 12 months
- Music Education emphasis applicants submit a Teaching Philosophy Statement. In this statement, you outline why you want to teach, what you want to teach, and how you want to teach. For the section on how you want to teach, you must reference specific examples of educational methods.
- Composition emphasis applicants submit scores and recordings of recent compositions.
- Jazz composition emphasis applicants submit scores of original compositions and/or arrangements
Entering graduate students take diagnostic placement examinations in theory (including aural skills) and music history prior to enrolling in classes. These examinations help plan the student’s course of study, including remedying deficiencies.
If a student is deficient in music theory or music history, that student may not enroll in 500-level music theory or music history courses until that deficiency is remedied. Study guides are available on the School of Music graduate studies page.
Program of Study—30 semester credits
All courses are available online.
18 credits
- MUS 560 – Introduction to Graduate Studies in Music (2 credits)
- MUS 553 – Seminar in Music Theory (2 credits)
- MUS 550 – Seminar in Analysis (2 credits)
- MUS 561 – Seminar in Literature of 20th Century Music (2 credits)
- MUS 566 – Seminar in Music History: Baroque (2 credits)
- 500-level Performance Studies (4 credits)
- MUS 700/702 – Thesis or Special Project (4 credits; the final 2 credits must be taken in the semester in which the student takes the final oral exam)
12 credits minimum
- MUS 500-level – Composition, Jazz Composition, Jazz Arranging
- MUS 500-level – Conducting Studies
- MUS 596 – Topics in Music (6 credits allowed, must be arranged with specific instructors)
- MUS 362 – History of Jazz (3 credits)
- MUS 363 – Women in Music (3 credits)
- Online courses for 500-level credits not within the School of Music pertinent to the student’s musical goals.
Teaching and learning (T & L) courses are not available to graduate students in this program without separate application to the WSU College of Education.
12 credits minimum
The Thesis option allows an additional 5 credits of MUS 700, which is included in the 30 required credits. The final 2 credits must be taken in the semester in which the student takes the final oral exam.
- MUS 500-level – Composition, Jazz Composition, Jazz Arranging
- MUS 500-level – Conducting Studies
- MUS 596 – Topics in Music (6 credits allowed, must be arranged with specific instructors)
- MUS 362 – History of Jazz (3 credits)
- MUS 363 – Women in Music (3 credits)
- Online courses for 500-level credits not within the School of Music pertinent to the student’s musical goals.
Teaching and learning (T & L) courses are not available to graduate students in this program without separate application to the WSU College of Education.