Jazz and Commercial Music (BM)

The Bachelor of Music (BM) in Jazz and Commercial Music, with special areas of interest in instrumental, vocal, and composition, provides training in performance, conducting, improvisation, arranging and composition, and recording techniques, and prepares students for professional careers in the field of jazz.

Please see the College of Fine Arts web page at www.unlv.edu/finearts for information about department programs, faculty and facilities.  Degree worksheets and 4/5 year plan for the major are available at www.unlv.edu/degree/bm-jazz-commercial-music.

Available Options

• Concentration in Composition
• Concentration in Instrumental
• Concentration in Vocal

Learning Outcomes

Students graduating from the UNLV School of Music with a Bachelor of Music degree will:

1. Perform in one primary performance medium, at a level appropriate for the area of specialization, with sufficient technical and musical skills requisite for artistic self-expression;
2. Demonstrate broad working knowledge of the solo repertoire for their primary performance medium, at a level appropriate for the area of specialization, and display essential skills to interpret a range of styles within that repertoire;
3. Perform in solo and ensemble (large and small) settings at a level appropriate for the area of specialization, with sufficient technical and musical skills requisite for artistic self-expression;
4. Read solo and ensemble (large and small) literature at sight with fluency demonstrating both general musicianship and, in the primary performance medium, a skill level relevant to professional standards appropriate for the area of concentration;
5. Demonstrate in written, verbal, aural, and visual methods knowledge of styles, composers, genres, forms and processes of Western European art music through present time, including contributions to this tradition made by composers of both genders and multicultural societies;
6. Demonstrate knowledge of the principles of harmony, musical form, and compositional process, and the ability to use this knowledge in written, verbal, aural, and visual analyses;
7. Demonstrate fluency in written fundamentals and aural comprehension of music theory (including aural dictation); utilize the piano for personal music study and instruction;
8. Synthesize performance, historical, stylistic, analytical, and technological information to solve artistic problems and form musical interpretations, and convincingly communicate these solutions and interpretations in written, verbal, aural, and visual methods;
9. Develop and plan for instruction in P-12 settings (Music Education Only);
10. Facilitate the technical development and artistic growth of students’ musical skills through appropriate pedagogical techniques and methodologies (Music Education Only).