College of Arts to start offering Music Studies minor
Utah State University has a renowned music program and the Caine College of the Arts has decided to make this program more accessible to students, not only those who are music majors. A new Music Studies minor is in the process of being passed.
Approval is currently being awaited while music departments prepare for the final meeting of the Board of Regents in May.
Timothy Chenette, an assistant professor of music, began the idea for this minor.
“We had a music minor that involved a lot of music lessons and music ensembles, so if you didn’t play an instrument or didn’t sing, that was basically a closed door. We also had some general education classes that were for a broader audience, and it seemed like a good decision to package those all together and let there be something that is open to anybody,” Chenette said.
The music department recognizes the desire some students have to expand their musical knowledge without having to major in music entirely.
“A lot of these classes are available online, which also makes these classes available to the whole state,” Chenette said.
Not only will this be good for students, but it will be good for the music program here at USU and the state, as word catches on that there are more musical options.
“It really is important to us to bring in more people, not only because we want more people in our program, but also because it expands the audience for music in the state,” Chenette said.
Chenette and Cindy Dewey, the music department head, envision this minor being something that students who have an interest in music can take, but for which they may not necessarily have the time nor the desire as a full major.
On top of that, there is a desire within the music department to expand further.
“We really feel like we need to provide access to the regional campuses and all the different centers throughout the state,” Dewey said.
The minor will be flexible so students can mold the minor to fit their own musical interests.
“We look at creating a long menu of choices so that students who really have an interest in contemporary music styles can really focus their music studies minor on that or students who want a good mix, or those who love classical music can be flexible. Our goal is to educate and inspire,” Dewey said.
Apart from expanding physically around the state of Utah, the music department would like to expand across fields as well, in order to give students a few more general education requirement options.
“We would like to do things that can also be cross-referenced with other majors, and we are trying to get a Breadth Social Science designation for some courses,” Dewey said.
“We’re also hitting a lot of bases in terms of general education requirements,” Chenette said.
Maurie Cunningham, a freshman majoring in journalism who is currently taking a music course said, “I play music by ear, and I’ve always loved music, but because I play by ear, it’s really hard for me because I will hear a song and want to play it but I don’t have pitch training. I would definitely take some of these class.”
Not only will the minor make music more available, but it will be less expensive than taking a full music major.
“I also have friends and roommates who love music but they don’t want to do a music major because it is so expensive and there are so many requirements,” Cunningham said.
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