Music Education

A Bachelor of Music (B. Mus.) in Music Education from the nationally accredited Lionel Hampton School of Music at the University of Idaho gives you the breadth of musical knowledge and experience you need to teach music in public schools. The professional program provides personal instruction from top-notch faculty, in-depth musical study and diverse performance opportunities. You’ll graduate with the training and credentials to become a certified K-12 music teacher in public schools.

The program offers the following specializations:

• Instrumental music education
• Instrumental-vocal music education
• Vocal music education

An emphasis in jazz education is also available.

As a music education major, you’ll learn by performing, listening to, analyzing and creating music. You’ll undergo intensive professional training, enhanced with one-on-one attention and expert guidance from our accomplished music faculty as well as other professional educators. Courses in theory and history give you a broad understanding of musical styles and techniques of all eras, including contemporary music. You’ll take courses in music teaching, learning, development and other professional education topics. You’ll also gain valuable practical experience by spending your last semester in a K-12 classroom as a music teaching apprentice.

The Lionel Hampton School of Music, accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, offers outstanding opportunities to perform in an array of ensembles and performance groups, with the flexibility to explore a wide variety of performing media – which is sometimes not an option in larger music schools.

Additionally, the annual University of Idaho Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival and performances by other guest artists give you the opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the greatest professional musicians in the world.

Prepare for Success

If you have a passion for music, and you like children and young adults, then a career combining the two might be for you. To succeed in the profession, you should have a broad knowledge of music, be creative (as a musician and a teacher), and be enthusiastic. You should also have a positive attitude and excellent communication skills.

The music education program at the University of Idaho Lionel Hampton School of Music is not just a course of study, it’s a lifestyle. The Bachelor of Music in Music Education is an extremely rigorous program that demands tremendous dedication and unwavering focus. You must be entirely committed to the program, to your talent and to your growth as a musician and as a teacher.

To prepare while still in high school, take private lessons in music. Candidates for the Bachelor of Music in Music Education must be capable performers on at least one instrument or voice. Admission into the program requires an audition.

Your First Year

During your first year in the Bachelor of Music program, you will enroll in university general requirements, music foundation courses, and studio instruction. You are also required to attend recitals throughout the year. You may take:

• MusC 139 and 140 – Aural Skills I & II
• MusC 141 and 142 – Theory I & II
• MusA 115 and 124 – Studio Instruction
• MusA 145 and 146 – Class Piano
• MusA – Major Ensemble
• MusX 101 – Orientation for Majors
• MusX 140 – Convocation
• MusH 111 – Intro to Music Literature
• English 101 and 102 – College Writing
• Core Discovery

You will take more teaching and education courses during your junior and senior years. You will complete a teaching practicum just before graduation.

Printable four-year plan:
Instrumental Music Education
Instrumental-Vocal Music Education
Vocal Music Education

What You Can Do

A Bachelor of Music (B.Mus.) in Music Education prepares you to become a certified music teacher. You may become a:

• Public school music teacher
• Private school music teacher
• General music teacher
• Choral director
• Band director
• Marching band director
• Orchestra director
• Private music instructor
• Church music director
• Music director
• College level music teacher (with further study)

The B.Mus. in Music Education is also excellent preparation for graduate study in music:

• Master of Music
• Master of Arts in Music History

Opportunities

A Bachelor of Music in Music Education is your first step toward a fulfilling career as a music teacher in schools and other settings. Music plays an important role in childhood development. You will not only become equipped to teach students how to play and sing music, but you will also have the ability to help them develop a lifelong appreciation for the art.

You may have a career teaching music in:

• Public elementary schools
• Public middle/junior high schools
• Public high schools
• Preschools
• Private schools
• Parochial schools
• Community programs
• Music schools
• Private studios
• Churches
• Colleges (with further study)

You may also continue performing in:

• Community bands, orchestras and choirs
• Professional ensembles
• Popular, jazz, rock and other bands
• Other performing media

A degree in music also prepares you to succeed in many other fields. When you study music, you develop valuable transferable skills – creativity, leadership, analytical and critical thinking, attention to detail, discipline, perseverance – highly desired in business, law and other professions.

Idaho Graduates at Work

Current Research

Faculty members in the University of Idaho’s Lionel Hampton School of Music are recognized worldwide as accomplished soloists, orchestral musicians, chamber musicians, conductors, composers and teachers. They are leading experts in education, piano, voice, guitar, and orchestra and band instruments, with extensive experience performing professionally in classical, jazz, operatic and popular ensembles. Current faculty research interests and areas of expertise include:

• Effects of instrumental music participation on middle and high school students and on senior adults
• Stages of growth of new teachers, music education in one-room schools, vocal physiology and Byzantine music notation
• Compositions and arrangements for symphonic bands, wind ensembles, orchestral winds, choirs, jazz bands, symphony orchestras and marching bands
• Neurological and physical bases for human finger independence
• Composition of music for video documentaries and interactive CD ROM educational software and chamber music
• Jazz performance and education
• Mental skills training and presentation techniques
• Music entrepreneurship
• Theory, history and criticism of film music
• Theory pedagogy and analysis
• Pedagogy, 19th century chamber music and the music of Francis Poulenc
• 19th and 20th century American music, including historiography, criticism and the community band movement in the West
• Pedagogical works of Godowsky, the transcriptions of Franz Liszt
• Piano teaching and performance
• Music of Abel Carlevaro, Maximo Diego Pujol and Bryan Johanson
• Music of the 19th century virtuoso-composer Johann Kaspar Mertz

Activities

Sigma Alpha Iota (SAI): Sigma Zeta Chapter, the international fraternity for women in music
Phi Mu Alpha: A music fraternity for men
Collegiate Music Educators' National Conference (CMENC), University of Idaho Chapter
Pi Kappa Lambda: An honorary music society
Student Advisory Board: Acts as liaison between students and music administration

Hands-On Experience

• Student Teaching: All music education students will complete a semester-long student teaching apprenticeship during their senior year. You’ll receive mentoring from a certified music teacher and gain valuable experience working directly with students in the classroom.
• Undergraduate Teaching Assistants: Students may apply as teaching assistants in music theory, aural skills and music history.
• School of Music Internships: Internships include production management, arts management, jazz festival audio technician and jazz festival site management.
• Convocation-Recital Attendance: Because listening experiences are important in the study of music, all music majors are required to attend 10 recitals per semester for seven semesters. We produce more than 170 recitals per year.
• Ensembles : We have musical organizations to fit the interests of almost everyone, including the University Chorus, Vandaleers Concert Choir, Opera/Musical Theatre Studio, Vandal Marching Band, Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, jazz ensembles and many other performing groups.
• Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival : This widely popular, four-day event draws hundreds of top jazz artists and spectators from around the world to the University of Idaho each year. Visiting professionals and students in the Lionel Hampton School of Music give evening concert performances and conduct clinics for elementary, junior high, high school and university students. Lionel Hampton School of Music students perform throughout the event.
• Auditorium Chamber Music Series : The series presents some of the world's finest chamber ensembles in concert and places these extraordinary musicians in university and public school classrooms and community centers in our region.
• Dancers, Drummers and Dreamers: This spring performance is presented in collaboration with the University of Idaho Department of Dance. All dances are performed to original, live music composed by faculty and students in the Lionel Hampton School of Music.
• Community Performances: The region’s active arts community creates many opportunities for students to perform in a variety of venues.

Facilities

The Music Building houses the Schuldt Music Library, faculty studios, ensemble rehearsal areas, classrooms, an electronic music lab, a music education materials center, a listening center and a recital hall. Individual practice rooms are available in nearby Ridenbaugh Hall. Recording, radio-television, language listening lab and computer facilities on the campus are also available to music students.

In addition to organ, harpsichord, harp and piano practice instruments, the school maintains two performance pipe organs, three concert grand pianos and a concert harpsichord.