Master's Degree Procedures

Once the GPAS Planner or GDP has been approved, the student must assign their exam committee. All examining faculty members must hold the appropriate appointment in the Graduate School to form a valid committee. Please review Graduate School faculty appointment information (login required). 

MM

It is the obligation of the faculty advisor to assist students in choosing three (3) faculty members for their examining committees:

• First member: The student’s advisor

• Second member: A faculty member from an academic area within music (Theory, Creative Studies & Media, or Musicology/Ethnomusicology)

• Third member: A faculty member of the student’s choosing, usually within the area of concentration

Committee members cannot represent more than one field simultaneously.

In listing the names of these faculty members, the student indicates that they have secured their agreement to serve on the examining. committee

Note: Please see below for details regarding MM in Music Education, as well as the final recital for performance students.

MA–Plan B

It is the obligation of the faculty advisor to assist students in choosing three (3) faculty members for their examining committees:

• First member - The student’s advisor

• Second member - A faculty member from an academic area within music (Theory, Creative Studies & Media, or Musicology/Ethnomusicology)

• Third member - A faculty member from the minor, or a related field “outside of music”

Committee members cannot represent more than one field simultaneously

In listing the names of these faculty members, the student indicates that they have secured their agreement to serve on the examining committee

MM in Music Education

Students in the Master of Music in Music Education program will conduct a final project in consultation with their advisor and determined by their track: Research or Pedagogical. This project will be graded by a committee of three faculty members.

• Research Track: The student must develop a conceptual framework, design, and execute a meaningful research study (pending advisor approval). The student will demonstrate familiarity with scholarship in the field and proficiency with research tools, providing evidence of the ability to work independently and to disseminate research findings effectively.

• Pedagogical Track: The student must design and execute a project that has direct application in the field (pending advisor approval). Potential projects include action research, curricular design, program proposals, etc., and demonstrate familiarity with research tools and current scholarship.

MM: All other programs

All students pursuing the Master of Music degree in a performance area are required to complete a master’s recital (two, in the case of collaborative piano). Although there is currently no registration for this recital, the recital must be graded by a committee of at least two faculty members, and the recital committee grade will be factored into the applied lesson grade in the term of the recital. In some programs, the student may be required to complete additional work in conjunction with the master’s recital. This additional work often has a course registration associated with it. Be certain to review the degree program outline and consult with the faculty advisor about the details of the final performance/project for the degree.

Wind Band Conducting: MM Wind Band Conducting students are required to complete at least one official MM Recital, typically a Chamber Winds Recital with scholarly program notes. The student should give this recital in the second year of study and concurrently register for MUS 8479, Performance and Document: Wind Ensemble/Band Conducting. Alternatively (and at the discretion of the faculty advisor), the MM Recital may be a collection of guest conducting work, as the Band program offers podium time to the student as a guest conductor with the University Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, and University Band, and occasionally Campus Bands.

MA–Plan B

Students must demonstrate familiarity with the tools of research and scholarship in their major field, the ability to work independently, and the ability to present the results of their investigation effectively by completing at least one Plan B project. Musicology/Ethnomusicology requires two Plan B projects. The graduate faculty in a major field may require as many as three such projects.

The Plan B project(s) should involve a combined total of approximately 120 hours (the equivalent of three full-time weeks) of work. The graduate faculty in each major field specifies both the nature and extent of the options available to satisfy this requirement and whether the requirement is to be satisfied in conjunction with or independent of the courses in the student’s program. 

Please refer to the degree program outline specific to the student’s area of study or consult with the faculty advisor on the type and number of projects for the Plan B Master’s degree.

MM in Music Education

In addition to the process and questioning by the examining committee (approximately 60-90 minutes in length), students in both Pedagogical and Research tracks of the Master’s of Music in Music Education must include a 30-minute public presentation of the project; committee questions may relate either to the research project or to the candidate’s masters degree coursework.

MM: All other programs

The oral examination (approximately 60-90 minutes in length) will be given by the student's three-person examining committee. At least one day prior to the exam, the student must initiate the Final Exam Form at z.umn.edu/FinalExamForm. Once the Final Exam form is submitted, the committee chair will receive an email with a link to the form. The chair must bring a computer at the final exam in order to complete the form following the defense. The chair must record the votes of each committee member listed on the form. If there are alternates, the committee can record their names and votes on the form. Once the chair submits the form, the student is immediately notified of the committee’s final decision. 

A majority vote of the committee is required to pass the examination. The examination will cover both the student’s final recital and the course work that the student has completed in pursuit of the Master's Degree. Please note: It is not appropriate to bring to the exam gifts or refreshments for the examining committee members. 

For policies on failing and/or re-taking the final examination, see “Master’s Degree: Completion” from the University Policy Library.

MA–Plan B: Musicology/Ethnomusicology

Two examinations, one written and one oral, comprise the final stages of the requirements for the Master’s Degree Plan B programs in Musicology/Ethnomusicology. After the project papers have been approved by the faculty advisor and distributed to the examining committee (Plan B), in consultation with the faculty advisor and the other committee members, the student must find a time during which to hold the written and oral exams. The written exam is to be read and evaluated by all members of the divisional faculty. The exam will be considered passing only if approved by a majority of the divisional faculty members. 

Written Exam

The written examination (usually scheduled on two consecutive days, generally 10-11 hours in total) will be taken no sooner than the last term in which a student is registered for required degree courses and after the submission of the  Plan B paper(s). This typically occurs in the spring of the second year of study. 

The exam generally has three portions: The first consists of a single substantial essay on a broad intellectual topic; the second comprises a range of shorter essays covering a wide array of period-oriented topics; the third is devoted to short essays in response to either recorded musical examples (audio or video), scores, or a combination of both, which have been selected by the divisional faculty. The examples will cover a broad range of musical styles, periods, and types. They will have been chosen either as representative of significant styles or genres or on the basis of their traditional status as noteworthy individual compositions.

The purpose of the written examination is to demonstrate a grasp of the broad areas of knowledge that have traditionally been considered central to the field. This exam seeks a demonstration of both general knowledge and an awareness of the current work being  conducted in the discipline of Musicology. To prepare for it the student should strive to attain a graduate-level overview of the history of Western music. For the most part, one’s focus in preparing for the exam should be on achieving the ability to provide a coherent historical and contextual narrative of the major genres and composers of the European (and eventually American) tradition from antiquity through the twentieth century. Moreover, the student should be able to support that narrative through carefully chosen illustrations from individual compositions, discussed at an appropriate level of theoretical sophistication. The student should also come prepared to write about the history of and contemporary issues in the field of Ethnomusicology.

Oral Exam

The oral examination (approximately 60-90 minutes in length) will be given by the student’s three-person Examining Committee. At least one day prior to the exam, the student must initiate the Final Exam Form at z.umn.edu/FinalExamForm. Once the Final Exam form is submitted, the committee chair will receive an email with a link to the form. The chair must bring a computer at the final exam in order to complete the form following the defense. The chair must record the votes of each committee member listed on the form. If there are alternates, the committee can record their names and votes on the form. Once the chair submits the form, the student is immediately notified of the committee’s final decision.

A majority vote of the committee is required to pass the examination. The examination will focus both on the student's Plan B paper(s) and on the course work that the student has completed in pursuit of the Master’s Degree. Please note: It is not appropriate to bring to the exam gifts or refreshments for the examining committee members. 

MA–Plan B: All other programs 

The Graduate School requires a final examination for Plan B candidates; this may be written, oral, or both, at the discretion of the graduate faculty in the major field. The final examinations cover the major field and the minor or related fields, and may include any work fundamental to these fields. Students should make the Plan B projects available to the examining committee for its review well in advance of the final examination. If a final oral examination is held, it is conducted as a closed examination, attended by only the student and the examining committee. All committee members must be present at the oral examination; the absence of any member results in an invalid examination. For specific details about the MA Plan B final examination, consult with the faculty advisor. Note: It is not appropriate to bring to the exam gifts or refreshments for the examining committee members. 

Requesting Remote Participation in Graduate Examinations

The university policy “Required Conditions and Best Practices for Remote Participation in Graduate Examinations” requires the following conditions be met in order to allow remote participation by graduate examination committee members and/or the student in the master's final oral examination, the doctoral preliminary oral examination, or the doctoral final oral examination:

• If the student requests to participate remotely, all members of the examining committee must agree in advance to allow the remote participation of the student.

• All participants must be able to communicate with each other at all times during the examination.

• Accessible versions of all materials must be available to all examination participants.

• Provisions must be made for independent balloting during the initial vote by examiners.

• Provisions must be made for signing the examination report form.

• For doctoral final oral examinations, arrangements must be made for a public presentation, including opportunities for questions from the audience.

• The chair of the examining committee must recess the examination immediately if any technical problems unduly interfere with the proceedings.

• All participants must be notified ahead of time of the options for recessing the examination.

• The chair of the examining committee must guarantee that all the above conditions are satisfied.