Music Minor: Listening-Focused

Program Code: U-MUSL-MIN
Plan Type: Minor
Department: Music Department
Website: music.duke.edu/minor-music-listening-focused

Program Summary

Music is among the most ancient of human pursuits and has long been viewed as a crucial part of education. As a discipline, it has its own logic and grammar in the understanding of which the mind is stretched and tested. Students at Duke encounter a variety of approaches to music that encompass the many ways that we create, perform, and comprehend it.

The Listening-focused Music Minor hopes to serve students who are engaged in music making, widely and broadly conceived, or who are invested listeners and would like to develop their critical thinking about music, improve their listening skills, expose themselves to a range of sounds and ideas about music, and explore avenues towards the professional world of musical entertainment. The Listening-focused Music Minor is designed to complement the Score-focused Music Minor which caters to students who read music notation. For the Listening-focused Music Minor, students may draw on Duke’s student-initiated music-making opportunities, Durham’s music offerings, or the Department’s ensembles and lessons. Reading music notation is not a requirement for the Listening-focused Music Minor. However, the Listening-focused Music Minor is also available to students with notation skills who wish to expand the scope of their knowledge beyond their particular canonical expertise or to put their interests in dialogue with other musical histories or styles.

Attending to music–playing together, listening, dancing, talking–is a major preoccupation of student social life. The Score-focused Music Minor accommodates students' diverse musical interests and skills.

Go to Programs by Department to view all related programs.

Academic Requirements

At least 5.5 units total to complete the minor. At least 34 units total to earn a degree.

• Required Course (1 unit)

  • MUSIC 163L

• Course Cluster (4 units)

  • Any 4 MUSIC courses 100-level and above

  • Must include at least 1 MUSIC course numbered 214 and above (excluding MUSIC 401)

• Artistic Practice (.5 units)

  • 2 semesters of MUSIC 114T, taken concurrently with an approved artistic practice (ensembles, lessons, sound production, composition, other)

Students minoring in Music must complete the core requirements for a letter grade. For a list of Music courses offered, please refer to music.duke.edu/courses.

Waiver of Music Minor Requirements

A request for waiver of any requirement for the music minor, together with supporting documentation where appropriate, should be submitted to the Director of Undergraduate Studies. After reviewing the request, the DUS may decide that the student needs to take a departmental examination in the area before a final decision can be made. Waived courses earn no credit towards the 34-course graduation requirement, nor will grades for them appear on your transcript.