Faculty/Staff Search

OR

Department/Unit Search

  1. Home
  2. Admissions
  3. Undergraduate Programs
  4. Sample Courses

Sample First and Second Year Courses

Music students in all Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Music modules or programs offered by the Don Wright Faculty of Music share several common first-year core courses, including those in Music History, Music Theory and Musicianship. Applied studio lessons are included in the Bachelor of Music programs (all streams) and available as elective courses for non-Bachelor of Music students (for a supplemental fee). Small and large ensemble courses are available by audition to all students, including students whose home faculty is outside of Music.

Sample Courses

Introduction to music learning theories and how to facilitate musical development. Explores principles of music teaching across the lifespan. Develops awareness of diverse methodological approaches used in studio, classroom, and community settings. View Western Academic Calendar
Introduction to the study of the culture and history of popular music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and its links to other arts and media. View Western Academic Calendar
Why do certain notes sound good together? Why do some chords feel stable or predictable, while others feel tense or surprising? And how does harmony relate to melody, rhythm, or other musical features? This course explores such questions, introducing principles of tonal harmony and voice leading. It examines functional relationships among notes and chords in a key, and how they are combined in musical phrases. View Western Academic Calendar

The Western University Symphonic Band has a long-standing history of musical achievement. It was the first large instrumental ensemble at the university over 50 years ago. Our goals are to explore quality music written for the wind band and to perform it with mastery. Admission is by audition - all Western students are eligible to audition. View Western Academic Calendar

This course focuses on the American musical theatre of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries and will involve a survey of the history of the Broadway musical through the study of selected works from the repertoire. We will look at how the different elements of the musical (music, lyrics, book, choreography, and direction) work together to create a performance. View Western Academic Calendar