About the Music Department

Mission Statement

The mission of the Music Department at SUNY Oneonta is to encourage the individual student's musical, artistic, intellectual, personal, and civic development. The Music Department and SUNY Oneonta are dedicated to excellence in teaching, advisement, creative and scholarly activities, and the cultivation of an academic environment rich in opportunities for musical growth, personal challenge, and service. The Music Department provides education that will help students deal with the current and evolving realities of music and music-related professions, including consideration of ethical issues as they present themselves in the world of music and the general culture.

The Music Department has developed its two majors, Music and Music Industry, to be programs that are separate but that contribute equally to the overall academic rigor and robustness of the department's offerings. Each program has been designed to strengthen the other and to provide additional opportunity for quality of educational experience and student success.

Goals & Objectives

Goal #1: To encourage the individual student's musical, artistic and intellectual development.

  • Objective: Students will develop an understanding of a musical notation system, building a theoretical foundation and understanding of standard melodic, rhythmic and harmonic structure.
  • Objective: Students will be familiar with musical styles and genres from different cultures and historical periods.
  • Objective: Students will acquire an understanding of the compositional processes, aesthetic properties of style and the ways these shape and are shaped by artistic and cultural forces.

Goal #2: To provide students with an academic environment rich in opportunities for personal challenge, musical interaction with other musicians and with audiences and civic responsibility.

  • Objective: To teach students to use their musical skills and knowledge to enrich their own lives and the lives of others through performance, instruction, and service to the community.
  • Objective: To help students retain and enhance their own, individual love of music.
  • Objective: To encourage students to use technology in their coursework and to acquire skills they can use to pursue further knowledge on their own.
  • Objective: To help students develop appropriate and informed critical, analytical and research skills for their own music and for the music and performance of others.
  • Objective: To teach students principles and practices of solo and ensemble-based musical performance, organization, and promotion of live and recorded performance.

Goal #3: To provide an education that will enable students to succeed in the fields of music and entertainment industry professions.

  • Objective: To encourage students to acquire the career development and entrepreneurial techniques necessary to advance themselves according to their area of specialization and their own career objectives.
  • Objective: To help students examine ethical issues related to the music and entertainment industry professions.
  • Objective: To prepare students for graduate school and/or careers in their chosen area of specialization.

Goal #4: To provide a minor in Audio Production.

  • Objective: Students who have studied Audio Production will have:
    • An understanding and appreciation of the artistic quality found in music recordings.
    • A method to evaluate the sound source and sound environment in the live room as well as heard through the control room loudspeakers.
  • Objective: Completed a comprehensive study of practical modern recording methods including microphone technique, multi-track recording, midi sequencing, sound synthesis, sampling, and synchronized sound for film/video.

Goal #5: To provide a minor in Music Literature.

  • Objective: To provide structured training for students who are not Music majors but who want to continue their study of music literature from a variety of time frames and culture. Music Literature goals include training in theory and musical performance.

Goal #6: To provide a minor in Theory.

  • Objective: To provide a specified series of courses for students who wish to study form and analysis of music, including special projects involving composition, but who are not Music Majors. Theory studies reflect additional studies in performance and literature.

Goal #7: To provide a minor in Music Performance.

  • Objective: To provide courses in performance opportunity for students who wish to begin or continue their involvement with music performance but who are not Music Majors. Performance training includes studies in music literature and theory.

Health & Safety Policies

In order to ensure the safety and well being of our students, faculty, and staff with regard to occupational hazards associated with music performance, the Department of Music will follow recommendations provided by Health Promotion in Schools of Music. Those recommendations include:

  1. Adopting a “Health Promotion Framework” that provides students, faculty, and staff with information pertaining to occupational hazards associated with music performance:
  2. Developing and offering an undergraduate musician’s health course, to be implemented as part of our orientation process for all new students and presented to faculty and staff at the start of each new year.
  3. Educating students about hearing loss as part of ensemble-based instruction. Every ensemble will start with a class on hearing preservation and safety for musicians. In addition, the department will provide ensemble members with hearing protection at the start of each semester.
  4. Assist students through active engagement with healthcare resources. In addition to the above measures, resources regarding healthful practices for musicians will be provided via links on our websites, posters in the department, and frequent electronic communications.

The Music Department will make the following resources available electronically:

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