BA in Music
California State University-San Marcos — San Marcos, CA
About this program
California State University, San Marcos offers a Bachelor of Arts in Music through the Music Department within the School of Arts. CSUSM is proud to be an All-Steinway Piano school. The program offers a flexible and customizable degree experience rooted in traditional training practices and supplemented with introductions to new technology, production, and performance. Whether a student's aspirations include performance, production, teaching, or creation, the curriculum is designed for maximum flexibility while encouraging students to explore a wide variety of musical practices. The BA in Music is not a conservatory degree — it is a liberal arts music degree designed for students who wish to combine serious musical training with a broad undergraduate education. Students work closely with a faculty advisor to design a personalized plan of coursework drawn from theory, history, technology, composition, performance, and world music. Emphasis areas include performance (including private vocal or instrumental instruction), music technology, composition, and world music, or any combination thereof. All courses counted toward the major must be completed with a grade of C or better. Incoming first-year students are expected to have developed basic proficiency in piano, voice, or instrument — either through high school ensembles or private study — and to have basic knowledge of music fundamentals and the ability to read standard music notation. Students entering at the junior level must have completed the lower-division core before pursuing upper-division coursework at CSUSM. Students entering without prior applied lesson experience may begin with group classes in Beginning Guitar, Intermediate Piano, or Introduction to Singing before advancing to private instruction. Applied lessons (MUSC 240: Vocal and Instrumental Instruction and MUSC 340: Advanced Vocal and Instrumental Instruction) are available by audition only and require instructor consent. Students approved for MUSC 240 must be co-enrolled in an appropriate ensemble course at CSUSM. The curriculum culminates in a Senior Capstone project (MUSC 490), which takes a form appropriate to each student's emphasis — a recital, a collection of original compositions, a recording, or a multimedia presentation. Music facilities at CSUSM include the Arts 111 Performance Hall, Arts 114 Music Majors Practice Room (with a Steinway grand piano), Arts 116 Music Rehearsal and Recording Room, Arts 177 Music Recording Studio, and ACD 104 Piano and Music Technology Lab.
Audition & application overview
- Requires a live or recorded audition
None for admission; placement audition required after enrollment for applied lessons (by instructor consent); ensemble placement by audition
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