Music Degree

For a complete listing of Music courses and requirements, please see the Course Catalog.

About the Department

Within a personalized and inclusive environment, the Whitman Music faculty will connect your passion for music with diverse approaches to new ways of understanding. Our supportive environment meets you where you are but also challenges you to surpass your own expectations as you perform, create, critically examine, and advocate for the music that matters to you.

Students majoring in music may specialize their studies in curricular tracks including Composition, History, Jazz, Performance, and Theory, and Technology and Production, or pursue studies that balance these areas with the Standard track. A student who enters Whitman without any prior college-level preparation in music will have to complete 36 credits to fulfill the requirements for each of the tracks.

Proficiency in piano is required of all students majoring in Music. On declaration of a Music major, a student has two options. If the student has previous piano experience and is not a piano major, they may take the piano proficiency exam. The details of this exam are available from the head of the piano area at the request of the student. If the student is not able to pass or opts not to take the exam, they must take piano until able to pass the exam.