M.A. in Music roadmap · CSU East Bay Department of Music and Performing Arts

unit summary

requirement	units
graduate seminars (eight courses)	16
Graduate Applied Study (MUS 661–668, four semesters)	8
ensemble (MUS 351–355, 360–369, four semesters)	4
capstone (MUS 693, four semesters)	4
m.a. total	32

Each semester has 8 units. Students declare one area of emphasis at admission: Performance (Classical or Jazz), Choral Conducting, or Composition. The graduate seminars are common to all three emphases.

note

The comprehensive examination is a degree requirement that has no units. It’s in the final semester, with the capstone.

2026–2027 cohort

The 2026–2027 cohort has a different distribution of units. In the 2026–2027 catalog, MUS 603 is 3 units, and MUS 693 Capstone is 3 units over three semesters (the second, third, and fourth).

four semesters

Seminars are offered on a two-year rotation. Fall A is in even years (2026, 2028, and so on), and fall B is in odd years (2027, 2029, and so on). Each entry term has its own plan.

entering in fall A (even years)

first semester (fall A)

requirement	course	title	units
graduate seminar	MUS 601	Analysis of Musical Styles: Birth and Death of Tonality	2
graduate seminar	MUS 603	Entrepreneurship in the Arts	2
applied study	MUS 661–668	Graduate Applied Study	2
ensemble	MUS 351–355, 360–369	Ensemble	1
capstone	MUS 693	Capstone, 1 of 4	1
		semester total	8

second semester (spring A)

requirement	course	title	units
graduate seminar	MUS 605	History and Theory of Jazz	2
graduate seminar	MUS 606	Interdisciplinary Collaboration in Music	2
applied study	MUS 661–668	Graduate Applied Study	2
ensemble	MUS 351–355, 360–369	Ensemble	1
capstone	MUS 693	Capstone, 2 of 4	1
		semester total	8

third semester (fall B)

requirement	course	title	units
graduate seminar	MUS 602	Analysis of Musical Styles: Post-Tonality and Beyond	2
graduate seminar	MUS 630	Advanced Conducting	2
applied study	MUS 661–668	Graduate Applied Study	2
ensemble	MUS 351–355, 360–369	Ensemble	1
capstone	MUS 693	Capstone, 3 of 4	1
		semester total	8

fourth semester (spring B)

requirement	course	title	units
graduate seminar	MUS 631	Teaching Music in Higher Education	2
graduate seminar	MUS 604	Sounding Justice: Unveiling the Ecological and Social Dimensions of Music	2
applied study	MUS 661–668	Graduate Applied Study	2
ensemble	MUS 351–355, 360–369	Ensemble	1
capstone	MUS 693	Capstone, 4 of 4	1
		semester total	8

entering in fall B (odd years)

first semester (fall B)

requirement	course	title	units
graduate seminar	MUS 602	Analysis of Musical Styles: Post-Tonality and Beyond	2
graduate seminar	MUS 630	Advanced Conducting	2
applied study	MUS 661–668	Graduate Applied Study	2
ensemble	MUS 351–355, 360–369	Ensemble	1
capstone	MUS 693	Capstone, 1 of 4	1
		semester total	8

second semester (spring B)

requirement	course	title	units
graduate seminar	MUS 631	Teaching Music in Higher Education	2
graduate seminar	MUS 604	Sounding Justice: Unveiling the Ecological and Social Dimensions of Music	2
applied study	MUS 661–668	Graduate Applied Study	2
ensemble	MUS 351–355, 360–369	Ensemble	1
capstone	MUS 693	Capstone, 2 of 4	1
		semester total	8

third semester (fall A)

requirement	course	title	units
graduate seminar	MUS 601	Analysis of Musical Styles: Birth and Death of Tonality	2
graduate seminar	MUS 603	Entrepreneurship in the Arts	2
applied study	MUS 661–668	Graduate Applied Study	2
ensemble	MUS 351–355, 360–369	Ensemble	1
capstone	MUS 693	Capstone, 3 of 4	1
		semester total	8

fourth semester (spring A)

requirement	course	title	units
graduate seminar	MUS 605	History and Theory of Jazz	2
graduate seminar	MUS 606	Interdisciplinary Collaboration in Music	2
applied study	MUS 661–668	Graduate Applied Study	2
ensemble	MUS 351–355, 360–369	Ensemble	1
capstone	MUS 693	Capstone, 4 of 4	1
		semester total	8

milestones

Advancement to candidacy is at the end of the first year, after 2 units from MUS 601 or MUS 602, 2 units from MUS 604, MUS 605, or MUS 631, 4 units of Graduate Applied Study, and 2 units of ensemble, with a grade point average of at least 3.0. It must be on record before the final semester. The requirements are in the Graduate Handbook.

The capstone (a public recital, conducting performance, or lecture on a composition portfolio, by emphasis) and the comprehensive examination are in the final semester. Both are described in section 03 of the Graduate Handbook.

fast and the certificate

Students admitted through FAST follow the FAST 4+1 roadmap or the FAST 2+1 transfer roadmap. On those roadmaps, the first two graduate semesters are taken alongside the last two of the B.A.

M.A. students can add the Certificate in Music Education. Its semester placement alongside the M.A. is in the M.A. in Music with the Certificate in Music Education roadmap, and its two-year rotation is in the certificate rotation.