Department of Music

Mission Statement

The mission of the Department of Music is to provide high-quality instruction in music performance and music education that empowers a diverse student body to achieve maximum competence as music professionals in a global society.

Special Requirements

Although students are not formally admitted to the Music Major until the end of the first year, in keeping with College policy, first-year students who intend to seek Majors in Music should audition during the First-Year Orientation period and register for MUS 113 (Theory I), MUS 115 (Piano Majors) or MUS 117 (Voice majors) and MUS 105 (Piano for Voice) during the first semester. Otherwise,the student will have to spend more than eight semesters to complete the program. The audition requirements that follow may be waived in cases where the student has already been awarded a music scholarship or where the Music faculty is already familiar with the student’s abilities. Piano students are expected to have studied for three to five years prior to entering college and showing promise of developing the reading and technical skills demanded of a Music Major. Although not required, Voice majors will benefit by having studied piano. All students should also have had public performance experience before entering college. In addition to the required courses for Music Performance and Music Education majors, students must also take two years (12 credit hours) of one foriegn language.

Students who enter the Music major after the first semester of the freshman year or after attending another college should expect to spend more than four years in college to meet the requirements of the Tougaloo College Music Department. This will, of course, depend upon the amount and quality of music credits presented upon transfer.

The student’s progress is closely monitored during the first year in the Department. At the end of the year, the student is either accepted unconditionally into the major, accepted on probation, or advised to pursue another interest. Likewise, the upper-level student whose work is not satisfactory may be counseled very seriously to leave the major. In cases where the Department faculty is convinced that students cannot succeed as Music majors, it has the right to refuse admittance to the program or to ask students to withdraw from the program.