Music
College of Fine Arts
Music Education
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Arts Engagement as Active Hope: Attuning, Reflecting, and Writing Our Way Towards a Sustain Future
CFA ME 377
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CAS WR 100 or CAS WR 120). Online offering. Explore the arts and writing to contemplate nature, identify unsustainable practices, and propose viable alternatives. Learners of all ability levels in the arts are welcome. Effective Summer 1 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, The Individual in Community, Creativity/Innovation. 4 cr. Tuition: $3260
Summer 1 (May 13-June 27)
O1 (IND) Arranged Add & Drop DatesCourse Start Date Tuesday, May 13, 2025 Last day to add Friday, May 9, 2025 Last day to drop without "W" grade Sunday, May 25, 2025 Last day to drop with "W" grade Sunday, June 8, 2025 Course End Date Friday, June 27, 2025 ... Open SeatsTawnya SmithOnline Course: Meets online for a live class Thurs 10-11 am in weeks 1-3, and in small groups that are arranged for weeks 4-6. Nonstandard course datesSummer 2 (June 30-August 15)
O2 (IND) Arranged Add & Drop DatesCourse Start Date Monday, June 30, 2025 Last day to add Thursday, June 26, 2025 Last day to drop without "W" grade Saturday, July 12, 2025 Last day to drop with "W" grade Saturday, July 26, 2025 Course End Date Friday, August 15, 2025 ... Open SeatsKarin HendricksOnline Course: Meets online for a live class Thurs 10-11 am in weeks 1-3, and in small groups that are arranged for weeks 4-6. Nonstandard course datesFor information about technology requirements for online courses at Boston University, see bu.edu/online/online-learning/technology. BU Virtual can be reached at buvirtual@bu.edu or 617-358-1960 for additional information. -
Rock & Pop Performance & Pedagogy
CFA ME 638
The course is designed both to introduce learners to, and to develop existing expertise in, skills and techniques for making, teaching, and learning popular music; providing learners with a range of learning and music-making experiences germane to and typical of a range of popular music contexts. Informal, nonformal, and mentoring pedagogical practices are normative components of learning popular music, along with more formal teaching learning approaches, so students are encouraged to embrace all of these approaches, as learners and as co-teachers and peer mentors. 4 cr. Tuition: $3260
Summer 2 (July 14-August 22)
B2 (IND) Arranged Add & Drop Dates(IND) Arranged(IND) Mon./Tues./Wed./Thurs./Fri./Sat. 9:30 am-5:30 pmCourse Start Date Monday, July 14, 2025 Last day to add Monday, November 30, -0001 Last day to drop without "W" grade Monday, November 30, -0001 Last day to drop with "W" grade Monday, November 30, -0001 Course End Date Friday, August 22, 2025 ... Open SeatsBryan Powell and Gareth SmithMeets online July 14-18 and August 18-22. Meets on campus July 28-Aug 2. Nonstandard course dates. -
Creating Music in The Classroom
CFA ME 658
Students will explore forms of creating new music in classroom settings including graphic composition, group improvisation, tech-based exploration, and songwriting, among others. The class will include hands-on music-making alongside discussion and writing focused on developing purposeful pedagogies for music creation. 4 cr. Tuition: $3260
Summer 2 (July 7-August 15)
B2 (IND) Arranged Add & Drop Dates(IND) Arranged(IND) Mon./Tues./Wed./Thurs./Fri./Sat. 9:30 am-5:30 pmCourse Start Date Monday, July 7, 2025 Last day to add Monday, November 30, -0001 Last day to drop without "W" grade Monday, November 30, -0001 Last day to drop with "W" grade Monday, November 30, -0001 Course End Date Friday, August 15, 2025 ... Open SeatsKelly BylicaMeets online July 7-11 and August 11-15. Meets on campus July 21-26. Nonstandard course dates. -
Special Topics: Advanced Conducting Institute
CFA MU 535
This course offers immersive, hands-on instruction for aspiring and experienced choral conductors, including current music educators and conductors, seeking to refine their skills in leading vocal ensembles. Students engage in intensive score study, conducting technique, rehearsal planning, and ensemble leadership, with a focus on technically sound, expressive conducting. Through a combination of podium time, faculty coaching, and private lessons, students will develop advanced gestural vocabulary and explore strategies for achieving cohesive ensemble sound. Pre-course readings and assignments will be provided in preparation for the in-person aspect of this intensive course. Available for graduate conducting credit in consultation with student advisors.. Variable cr. Tuition: $815 per credit
Summer 2 (June 30-July 21)
B1 (IND) Mon./Tues./Wed./Thurs./Fri./Sat. 9 am-5 pm Add & Drop DatesCourse Start Date Monday, June 30, 2025 Last day to add Monday, July 7, 2025 Last day to drop without "W" grade Monday, July 7, 2025 Last day to drop with "W" grade Thursday, July 24, 2025 Course End Date Monday, July 21, 2025 Location: CFA 171 ... Open SeatsDaniel ParsleyNonstandard course dates. Meets in person July 14-21. Students will have preparatory activities and virtual interactions with the instructor beginning June 30. Variable credits. Student must register for 4 units -
The Poetics and Politics of Hip Hop
CFA MH 410
Students in this course will engage with a history of hip hop music, including major trends, changes in technique and musicianship, some important artists and albums, regional styles, and relationship with the larger sociocultural context of African-American and US politics, cultural production, and daily life. Students will examine and critique the construction of canons of hip hop greatness and engage in remaking them. They will identify how hip hop is shaped by the politics of race, class, and gender issues in ways that have ramifications for a broader appraisal of the role of these factors in US society. Students will reflect on their own positionality as social and political actors and global citizens. Students will interpret both primary sources (recordings, music videos, films, album art, reviews) and secondary sources (scholarly and journalistic texts), applying the listening, viewing, and reading skills necessary to assess these sources critically, and bring their analyses of these sources to bear in discussion and in- and out-of-class assignments.¿No prerequisites or prior skills required. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness. 4 cr. Tuition: $3260
Summer 1 (May 20-June 27)
A1 (LEC) Tues./Thurs. 1-4:30 pm Add & Drop DatesCourse Start Date Tuesday, May 20, 2025 Last day to add Tuesday, May 27, 2025 Last day to drop without "W" grade Tuesday, May 27, 2025 Last day to drop with "W" grade Thursday, June 12, 2025 Course End Date Friday, June 27, 2025 Location: FLR 206 ... Open SeatsMichael Birenbaum Quintero -
R&B, Motown, and Classic Funk: Soundtracks of Empowerment and Civil Rights
CFA MH 430
Rhythm and Blues, Gospel, Motown, Soul, and Funk are seminal in the development of rap, hip-hop, fusion, and contemporary urban and R&B styles. These styles provided the soundtrack for African American identity, empowerment, and protest from the civil rights struggle of the late 1950s and early '60s to the Black Power commentary of the 1970s, and, eventually into the hip-hop era. This course places these styles within their cultural and historical contexts and examines their musical characteristics in detail. This course does not require previous training in music. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness. 4 cr. Tuition: $3260
Summer 2 (June 30-August 8)
B1 (IND) Tues./Thurs. 1-4:30 pm Add & Drop DatesCourse Start Date Monday, June 30, 2025 Last day to add Monday, July 7, 2025 Last day to drop without "W" grade Monday, July 7, 2025 Last day to drop with "W" grade Thursday, July 24, 2025 Course End Date Friday, August 8, 2025 Location: FLR 206 ... Open SeatsVictor Coelho -
Elements of Music Theory 1
CFA MT 105
A creative introduction to the foundational principles of musical structure. Uses a multi-modal approach, combining in-class performance exercises, listening, composition, keyboard, and aural (and oral) learning. Students acquire an analytical vocabulary and the basic knowledge to support the exploration of musical repertoires, to enhance their own performances, and to develop their own musical compositions. Analytical and music-composition projects engage concepts of musical space, time, pitch, rhythm, and harmony as employed in tonal music. Course may not be taken by CFA music majors. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation. 4 cr. Tuition: $3260
Summer 1 (May 20-June 27)
A1 (IND) Mon./Tues./Wed./Thurs. 9-11 am Add & Drop DatesCourse Start Date Tuesday, May 20, 2025 Last day to add Tuesday, May 27, 2025 Last day to drop without "W" grade Tuesday, May 27, 2025 Last day to drop with "W" grade Thursday, June 12, 2025 Course End Date Friday, June 27, 2025 Location: CFA 219 ... Open SeatsMartin Amlin -
Applied Voice (Half-Hour)
CFA ML 508
Seven half-hour private lessons provided by CFA faculty. Students should make personal arrangements with the School of Music for private lessons. There is an Applied Music fee during Summer Term of $500 for seven half-hour lessons per session for CFA ML 508. In addition, standard tuition rates also apply. Register for 1 or 2 credits. Variable cr. Tuition: $815 per credit
Summer 1 (May 20-June 27)
A1 (APP) Arranged Add & Drop DatesCourse Start Date Tuesday, May 20, 2025 Last day to add Tuesday, May 27, 2025 Last day to drop without "W" grade Tuesday, May 27, 2025 Last day to drop with "W" grade Thursday, June 12, 2025 Course End Date Friday, June 27, 2025 ... Open SeatsAngela GoochHalf-Hour LessonSummer 2 (June 30-August 8)
B1 (APP) Arranged Add & Drop DatesCourse Start Date Monday, June 30, 2025 Last day to add Monday, July 7, 2025 Last day to drop without "W" grade Monday, July 7, 2025 Last day to drop with "W" grade Thursday, July 24, 2025 Course End Date Friday, August 8, 2025 ... Open SeatsAngela GoochHalf-Hour Lesson -
Applied Guitar for Non-Music Majors (Half-Hour)
CFA ML 566
Seven half-hour private lessons provided by CFA faculty. Students should make personal arrangements with the School of Music for private lessons. There is an Applied Music fee during Summer Term of $500 for seven half-hour lessons per session for CFA ML 566. In addition, standard tuition rates also apply. Register for 1 or 2 credits. Variable cr. Tuition: $815 per credit
Summer 1 (May 20-June 27)
A1 (APP) Arranged Add & Drop DatesCourse Start Date Tuesday, May 20, 2025 Last day to add Tuesday, May 27, 2025 Last day to drop without "W" grade Tuesday, May 27, 2025 Last day to drop with "W" grade Thursday, June 12, 2025 Course End Date Friday, June 27, 2025 ... Open SeatsWarren LevensonHalf-Hour LessonSummer 2 (June 30-August 8)
B1 (APP) Arranged Add & Drop DatesCourse Start Date Monday, June 30, 2025 Last day to add Monday, July 7, 2025 Last day to drop without "W" grade Monday, July 7, 2025 Last day to drop with "W" grade Thursday, July 24, 2025 Course End Date Friday, August 8, 2025 ... Open SeatsWarren LevensonHalf-Hour Lesson -
Applied Voice (Hour)
CFA ML 507
Seven one-hour private lessons provided by CFA faculty. Students should make personal arrangements with the School of Music for private lessons. There is an Applied Music fee during Summer Term of $1000 for seven one-hour lessons per session for CFA ML 507. In addition, standard tuition rates also apply. Register for 3 or 4 credits. Variable cr. Tuition: $815 per credit
Summer 1 (May 20-June 27)
A1 (APP) Arranged Add & Drop DatesCourse Start Date Tuesday, May 20, 2025 Last day to add Tuesday, May 27, 2025 Last day to drop without "W" grade Tuesday, May 27, 2025 Last day to drop with "W" grade Thursday, June 12, 2025 Course End Date Friday, June 27, 2025 ... Open SeatsAngela GoochHour LessonSummer 2 (June 30-August 8)
B1 (APP) Arranged Add & Drop DatesCourse Start Date Monday, June 30, 2025 Last day to add Monday, July 7, 2025 Last day to drop without "W" grade Monday, July 7, 2025 Last day to drop with "W" grade Thursday, July 24, 2025 Course End Date Friday, August 8, 2025 ... Open SeatsAngela GoochHour Lesson -
Applied Guitar for Non-Music Majors (Hour)
CFA ML 565
Seven one-hour private lessons provided by CFA faculty. Students should make personal arrangements with the School of Music for private lessons. There is an Applied Music fee during Summer Term of $1000 for seven one-hour lessons per session for CFA ML 565. In addition, standard tuition rates also apply. Register for 3 or 4 credits. Variable cr. Tuition: $815 per credit
Summer 1 (May 20-June 27)
A1 (APP) Arranged Add & Drop DatesCourse Start Date Tuesday, May 20, 2025 Last day to add Tuesday, May 27, 2025 Last day to drop without "W" grade Tuesday, May 27, 2025 Last day to drop with "W" grade Thursday, June 12, 2025 Course End Date Friday, June 27, 2025 ... Open SeatsWarren LevensonHour LessonSummer 2 (June 30-August 8)
B1 (APP) Arranged Add & Drop DatesCourse Start Date Monday, June 30, 2025 Last day to add Monday, July 7, 2025 Last day to drop without "W" grade Monday, July 7, 2025 Last day to drop with "W" grade Thursday, July 24, 2025 Course End Date Friday, August 8, 2025 ... Open SeatsWarren LevensonHour Lesson
Music History
Music Theory
Applied Music
Applied Music Lessons
Private study in applied music is offered during both sessions of Summer Term. The Summer Term office can assist with any registration questions. Once registered, instructors will reach out to students via email to schedule lessons. There is an Applied Music fee during Summer Term of $1000 for seven one-hour lessons and $500 for seven half-hour lessons per session. Lessons also carry a standard undergraduate tuition charge of $815 per credit. Students taking hour-long lessons must register for 3 or 4 credits; students taking half-hour lessons must register for 1 or 2 credits. Music lessons are available in the following:
Summer 1 and Summer 2: Voice
CFA ML 507: 7 one-hour lessons
CFA ML 508: 7 half-hour lessons
CFA ML 565: 7 one-hour lessons
CFA ML 566: 7 half-hour lessons
Financial aid may be available to BU need-based scholarship recipients for certain HUB courses in summer 2025, including this one. For more information, please contact BU Financial Assistance at 617-353-2965 or finaid@bu.edu. Check out Summer 2025 HUB Course Scholarship eligibility requirements to see if you qualify.