Music Department

Open to all students with experience on brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments.

Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor.

Small-group performance in various jazz styles. Emphasis on ensemble play and individual improvisation. Student arrangements encouraged.

Prerequisites: Jazz Improvisation-MUSC 2060, concurrent enrollment in MUSC 2060, or permission of the instructor.

This laboratory group is open to all students with previous instrumental music experience. The jazz ensemble performs at assemblies, concerts, shows, and on tour.

Prerequisites: Experience in music, preferably jazz. Students should be proficient on one of the following instruments: saxophone, trumpet, trombone, guitar, bass, drums, or piano. 

The goal of this music performance course is to provide the opportunity for you as a woodwind, brass, or percussion performer to come together with other like-minded (and like-spirited) musicians in an ensemble setting to rehearse and perform standard and emerging literature from the wind ensemble repertoire.

Prerequisites: Audition.

A large non-auditioned mixed choir open to all students regardless of their field of study. Emphasis is on a wide variety of choral literature, including music of diverse cultures.

Prerequisites: none.

A selected mixed chamber ensemble of 20-35 voices open to all students on campus regardless of their field of study. Emphasis is on a wide variety of choral literature appropriate for chamber choirs, including music from diverse cultures, musical time periods, and language.

Prerequisites: An audition with the instructor determines the final list of singers.

A performance-based class designed to provide experience and opportunities for singers interested in exploring the genre. Students will learn basic performance techniques and will improve their dramatic abilities through the performance of an operatic scene.

Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor.

A small vocal ensemble open to all students. The course provides an opportunity to study and perform a variety of diverse popular styles, and culminates in a number of performances in various venues.

Prerequisites: Audition with the instructor.

A performance class open to all string players on campus. This course is designed to cover a variety of literature from primarily the Baroque era. Open to all students on campus, BOCES students and community members regardless of their field of study.

Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor.

Designed to provide students with training in the ideal medium of chamber music (small ensembles, such as trio, string quartet, etc…), where they can apply and integrate all elements of their musical knowledge.

Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor.

As a music major at Casper College, you will take four semesters of Written Theory, Aural Theory, and Class Piano. These classes are designed to help you understand and fluently speak the language of music so that your performances are expressive and musical in nature, rather than “just playing the notes.”

Your success in these classes is dependent upon already having had enough musical experience to be able to read music and to demonstrate a basic perception of pitch and rhythm. To make sure you are prepared for the core sequence of theory classes, as a new music major at Casper College you will be required to take the Music Theory Placement Exam. This is a short (ten to fifteen minute) exam where you will do the following:

• Identify the letter names of some notes written on your choice of treble, bass, or alto clef
• Write a major scale of your choice on the clef of your choice
• Identify some major key signatures
• Relate different note values to each other (for example: how many eighth notes are equal to a quarter note?)
• Draw missing barlines to make music fit a given time signature
• Recognize by ear if one pitch is higher or lower than another pitch
• Recognize the melodic shape of a recording you hear
• Recognize the written rhythm of a recording you hear

If your placement exam indicates that you have some weaknesses in the above skills, you will be required to take Music Fundamentals during your first semester at Casper College. Music Fundamentals is a course specifically designed to introduce you to the basic elements of music and teach you how to read music notation, and it is offered as a supplemental course that you take along with the regular theory sequence. You are more than welcome to register for Music Fundamentals even if your placement exam doesn’t require you to take Music Fundamentals; many students find that the extra time and practice they get by taking Music Fundamentals helps them do better in their other classes.

You are encouraged to prepare for the Music Theory Placement Exam by practicing your music fundamentals over the summer. Some useful resources to help you prepare for the placement exam include:

• The Fundamentals section of Open Music Theory, an open-source music theory textbook available for free at http://openmusictheory.com
• Free interactive online tutorial sites available on the Internet, such as http://www.musictheory.net and http://www.teoria.com
• A four- to six-week online course offered by the Eastman School of Music that is designed to prepare incoming music majors for music placement exams; this resource is not free, but it is highly recommended, and can be found at http://www.esm.rochester.edu/iml/store/product/music-theory-fundamentals/

We wish you every success as you start your education here at Casper College! If you have any questions about music theory or the placement exam, please feel free to send an email to our Music Theory Coordinator, Nathan Baker, at nbaker@caspercollege.edu.