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Harpsichord Performance Degree
Bachelor of Music (B.M.)
Program type:
Major
Format:
On Campus
Est. time to complete:
4-5 years
Credit Hours:
132
Strike the right chord and start your music career at one of the best music schools
in the nation.
It is the goal of the Harpsichord division to develop students into well-rounded performers
on the instrument by not only fostering their growth as solo artists, but to provide
them with the tools and experiences to make them collaborative artists of the highest
order as well.
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Request More InfoWhy earn a degree in Harpsichord Conducting Performance?
A Harpsichord degree from UNT aims to provide students an understanding and command of solo literature of all national styles (Italian, French, German, English, Spanish, etc.) from the Renaissance through the early Classical periods, and with significant continuo playing experience with period instrument ensembles and singers.
Harpsichord majors are presented with numerous opportunities for these performances, such as solo recitals, playing continuo with the Baroque Orchestra and/or Collegium Singers, many period chamber ensembles, as well as a wide variety of student degree recitals.
In addition to private harpsichord instruction, students will also take courses in Performance Practice, Basso Continuo, Improvisation and Ornamentation, Harpsichord Literature, and time spent learning Tuning and Maintenance of harpsichords.
Marketable Skills
- Performance communication
- Excellent memory capability
- Command of music computer programs
- Pattern understanding
- Improvisation and analytical capabilities
Harpsichord Performance Degree Highlights
UNT is fortunate to have a large collection of early keyboards, including world-class
instruments by some of the finest builders.
Our faculty members are dedicated teachers and nationally and internationally known
performers who have performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony,
Minnesota Opera Orchestra, Dallas Opera Orchestra and many others.
We're one of the nation's most comprehensive music colleges and offer opportunities
to meet some of the world's top music scholars and artists through specialized lectures
and events hosted by various divisions in the college.
Being near Dallas and Fort Worth gives students additional performance opportunities
including those with the Dallas Bach Society, Texas Camerata, Fort Worth Symphony
Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Opera Orchestra and symphony orchestras
in Irving, Plano and Richardson.
Our facilities include the Murchison Performing Arts Center, which houses the Winspear
PerformanceHall and the Lyric Theater. Both performance halls, as well as the center's
large rehearsal space, have state-of-the-art acoustics.
The College of Music has a rich tradition in music and is attended by talented musicians
from all over the world.
What Can You Do With A Degree in Harpsichord Performance?
This major will prepare you for a career as a member of a symphony orchestra, a professional band, and as a soloist or a chamber musician. You can also work as a studio musician for movies and television, become a church musician or teach lessons in a private studio.
Our instrumental performance alumni include:
- Assistant principal oboist with the Cleveland Orchestra
- Principal timpanist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
- Second flutist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra
- Principal cellist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
- Principal euphoniumist with the United States Marine Band
Other alumni perform with symphony orchestras in Fort Worth, Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Cincinnati, Houston and Kansas City, as well as major orchestras on five continents and with all major U.S. military bands.
Harpsichord Performance Degree Courses You Could Take
Harpsichord Literature and Pedagogy (3 hrs)
Harpsichord music of the Renaissance and early Baroque periods. Survey of major composers,
national styles and forms; construction and design of appropriate instruments. Performance
practices are thoroughly explored. Pedagogical principles are applied to repertoire.
Individual research projects.
Music as Communication (3 hrs)
Introduction to issues of music seen as a form of human communication with emphasis
on developing listening skills and critical thinking. Includes discussion of Western
and non-Western music based on case studies.
Fundamentals of Conducting (3 hrs)
Fundamentals of conducting, including beat patterns, various gestures for attack,
release and phrasing. Includes the use of the left hand, score reading, development
of aural skills, rehearsal techniques and interpretation.
Music History and Literature Since 1750 (3 hrs)
Comprehensive coverage of stylistic developments, genres, and creative figures in
Western art music from the Classic period to the present.
Science and Technology of Musical Sound (3 hrs)
Sound production; nature of vibrations in percussion, string, and wind instruments.
Sound propagation; sound speed; echoes. Sound intensity, physical and perceived. Sound
pitch, physical and perceived; intervals. Complex sounds; harmonic series. Room acoustics;
reverberation time; ideal listening rooms. Wave phenomena; interference and diffraction.
Digital sound recording; musical scales; the human voice. Includes weekly laboratory
exercises.
Harpsichord (1-5 hrs)
Lower-level applied music, private lessons. Variable credit for majors.
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