Graduate Student Handbook

The Degree Requirements & Timeline page provides a breakdown by academic area.  

Each area of study (Composition, Ethnomusicology, Historical Musicology, Music Theory) has an Area Chair who serves as the academic advisor to all students in that area until they have a formal Faculty Advisor for Dissertation. Area Chairs are the liaisions to the Director of Graduate Studies. Academic advisors are also responsible for coordinating the preparation and evaluation of all graduate student examinations.

Students who hold advanced degrees or graduate level credit from other institutions may be eligible for transfer credit. Transfer credit applications are submitted in the student’s first year of study at Columbia. Please note that all coursework submitted for transfer credit must be at the graduate level (at Columbia, this means courses at the 4000 level and above) and worth 3 or more points each and must not have been used to fulfill requirements for any other degree previously awarded at Columbia or elsewhere.

Students should be aware of the following policies:

• Transfer credit is granted solely by the faculty and the Dean of the Graduate School.
• Requests for transfer credit must be made by both the student and endorsed by the Director of Graduate Studies.  
• Under no circumstances will undergraduate courses (for Columbia courses, those at the 3000 level and below) be accepted as transfer credit toward a Master's or doctoral degree.
• Once granted, transfer credit cannot be revoked.

The Courses page on the Department of Music website provides the description, date, time, location and instructor name for the courses being offered in the current and upcoming semester. The department also distributes detailed descriptions of graduate offerings at the beginning of each semester.

Instructors usually award qualitative letter grades (A,B,C,D,F) for term papers, and possibly for other coursework, a practice that is intended to enhance communication between instructor and student, assist the student's self-assessment, and improve advisement generally. Only courses that were set up as Pass/Fail, at the instructor's discretion, may subit a grade of "Pass" or "Fail" to the Registrar and appear on a student's transcript. 

The grade on IN (Incomplete) may be given in instances when a student has the instructor's permission to defer until after the end of the term, for reasons beyond a student's control, the completion of a term paper or some other course requirement. IN is normally granted only in cases of illness; it should not be requested lightly.  If the IN is not removed by the submission of a qualitative grade by the instructor within one year, it will be changed to an F. Please see GSAS Rules and Policies about Grading for further information.

MA Thesis, Paper or Essays

Ethnomusicology:  Submission of a thesis (approx. 40 pages in length), which should be a coherent piece of work incorporating new insights. Thesis are due no later than the last day of classes of the third semester.

Historical Musicology:  Submission of one essay, which should be a revision of a paper done for a graduate course in Historical Musicology at Columbia. Before deciding which essay to revise and submit, you should consult the professors who have previously read and evaluated your writing. The paper is due on September 30th of the third semester. An MA thesis prepared at another institution cannot be submitted for the fulfillment of this requirement.

Music Theory:  Submission of one paper, of publishable quality, which may (but does not have to) have originated as a seminar paper. You should select your topic and advisor during your second semester, conduct research during the first Summer, and then write the paper during your third semester. The paper is due on the last day of classes of the third semester. An essay paper or thesis will be returned to the student for revisions no more than once. If, after the second submission, it is still deemed unsatisfactory, the student will be awarded a terminal M.A. degree. Students who are deemed to be having severe academic difficulties may be asked to leave the program with no degree.

Each area in the Department of Music has different exam requirements. The types of exams required are:

• Foreign Language Exams: Columbia's graduate program in Music requires that all students, including transfer students, demonstrate competence in reading and translating two languages. This includes the student’s native tongue and one other language. Certain dissertation projects may require a third language (to be determined by Area Committee). Incoming students are encouraged to take exams in their first year, if they feel prepared to do so; the language requirement must be fulfilled for the granting of the MPhil degree for Ethno, HM and Music Theory students. The Department will not accept a passing grade from a language course taken either at Columbia or another institution, or an affidavit from an instructor, in lieu of the departmental exam. The Department will accept competency in programming languages (i.e. Max, PureData, Supercollider, CSound, RTcmix, Python, C++, C, JavaScript, Lisp, Haskell), in consultation with the Foreign Language Exams Coordinator, and as demonstrated through specialized examination at the CMC.
   
• General Exams: These exams cover musical and musicological research methodologies, concepts, skills, and general knowledge. Ethno, HM and Music Theory students should enroll in courses to prepare you for the examinations you expect to take, but you should not assume that you will be responsible only for material covered in coursework. HM & Music Theory students are required to pass three exams. Ethno students are required to pass two exams.  Part 1 and Part 3 are written, Part 2 is oral. No examination may be taken more than twice. 
   
• Oral Analysis Exams a.k.a. Qualifying Analysis Exams

Please click here to review the exam requirements by area.

For Ethno, HM and Music Theory students, the Dissertation Proposal Seminar I & II is designed to help you in writing a successful dissertation prospectus. When choosing a dissertation topic, you should consult the faculty members who know you and your work best. For HM & Music Theory students, you should register to take the Dissertation Proposal Seminar I & II (6 points), in your third year. For Ethno students, you will take Dissertation Proposal Seminar II in Spring of your 2nd year and then Dissertation Proposal Seminar I in Fall of your 3rd year.

You should enroll in Dissertation Proposal Seminar I with your chosen Faculty Advisor, an individual whose expertise is close to your chosen topic and who agrees to work with you. The expectation is that you will work closely with your Faculty Advisor, meeting on a regular basis throughout the semester concerned, and will make significant progress towards writing the prospectus. You will not be given a passing grade for this course until your Faculty Advisor has seen a complete draft of the prospectus. Once you and your Faculty Advisor consider the prospectus finalized, you should submit it to your area advisor.

Prospectus Preparation

The dissertation prospectus should be 1,500-3,500 words in length (in Historical Musicology, 3000-5000 words) and should include, in addition, a substantial bibliography. It should consist of a title, summary of the dissertation contents, justification for undertaking the proposed research, description of intended methods, an outline and/or table of contents, and finally the bibliography.

Once you and your Faculty Advisor are satisfied with the prospectus, you should submit it to your area advisor, and this should be no later than the midterm date of the 6th semester. It will be read by members of the appropriate area subcommittee (the prospectus defense committee), which may return it to you for revision or may declare that you are ready to defend your prospectus. If it is returned to you, you may resubmit only once. If it is not approved on the second occasion, you will not be permitted to proceed to the PhD.

Prospectus Defense

The prospectus defense gives you an opportunity to:

• Demonstrate knowledge and competence in the projected area of your dissertation.
• Receive questions and advice on your dissertation area from several faculty members.
• Defend your dissertation prospectus.

Once your prospectus is recommended for defense, your area chair or the Director of Graduate Studies  will schedule your prospectus defense as expeditiously as possible. Your defense committee will include at least three faculty members, the majority of whom will represent the discipline(s) in which you are specializing. If you fail this defense, you have one chance to retake. If you fail on the second occasion, you will not be permitted to proceed to the PhD.

The prospectus defense lasts up to three hours. Passing the prospectus defense is the final stage before "doctoral candidacy" -- i.e. the point at which you embark on writing your dissertation.

Be sure to check out the GSAS Dissertation website for information regarding the dissertation prospectus and other dissertation-related matters.

Important information on the dissertation can be found at the GSAS Dissertation page, including a "Dissertation Tool Kit."  All PhD students should regularly consult this site, which gives dates of all relevant deadlines as well as forms to be completed.

Every PhD dissertation at Columbia will have a primary Faculty Advisor (a duty sometimes shared between two faculty members) and a total of five readers.  Three of these, including the Faculty Advisor, normally come from inside the department and two from outside (either from another department at Columbia University or from another university).  Normally the three inside members are the same as those who conducted the dissertation prospectus defense, but often the composition of the committee will change after the dissertation prospectus defense.

The Faculty Advisor (a.k.a. first read) will work closely with you throughout the writing, shaping, and revising of the dissertation in its successive drafts. The second reader also reads the dissertation in draft form and confers with you prior to distribution of the dissertation. The third reader is available to you for occasional consultation, but his or her work as reader does not normally begin until the dissertation is approved by the first two readers. When the subject matter of your dissertation overlaps with another discipline, you may find it profitable to check your work, or portions of it, with a scholar in that field, whether or not he or she is one of your readers.

The doctoral defense is your final examination. You will be expected to answer questions related directly to your dissertation. Defenses are oral, last about two hours, and usually take place in one of the seminar rooms in Dodge Hall.

The resources available at Columbia University and in New York City are incomparably rich. The Columbia University Library System is one of the largest in the country. In addition, through its membership in the Research Libraries Group, the University's users have access to collections of other major research libraries in the country.

The main facility, Butler Library, contains a vast humanities collection, a comprehensive reference department, and a superb rare book and manuscript library, among its many resources. Most printed sources, reference works, and periodicals that a graduate student will want can be found in Butler. The library system consists of 26 divisions, many of which contain items of interest to a researcher in music. Notable outside of the Music & Arts Library are the Avery Library, which houses one of the most celebrated architectural collections in the world, as well as an impressive fine arts collection; and the Rare Book and Manuscript Library, which contains several collections of music autograph material and also rare printed items, including material on deposit from the Music & Arts Library.

The Gabe Wiener Music & Arts Library is located adjacent to the Department of Music, on the 7th floor of Dodge Hall, ensuring close integration of its resources with the teaching program and needs of the Music Dept. The library offers strong collections, a welcoming working environment, and facilities including the Digital Music Lab, playback stations for multiple audio/video formats, and regular workshops. The collection contains extensive holdings of books, journals, scores, and sound and video recordings, in multiple languages, and both physical and electronic formats. Access copies of selected archival materials, principally audio recordings, are available for on-site consultation.  Due to space constraints affecting all libraries on campus, a considerable portion of the collection is housed in the Libraries’ Offsite storage facility, but items are easily requestable for delivery to campus within 1-3 business days.  Questions or concerns regarding any library matters can be directed to Nick Patterson, at [email protected] or 212-854-8523.

Located in 701C Dodge, the Center for Ethnomusicology provides materials and facilities that include an archive of music recordings and a laboratory. These resources are available to students enrolled in ethnomusicology courses. The Center also sponsors extracurricular lectures and performance sessions.

Columbia University Information Technology (CUIT) offers access to the University's mainframe computers for research purposes and access to the electronic mail system. CUIT also provides tutorials and short courses in computer use. Together, the Library and CUIT offer a wide range of on-line search facilities for the library user and researcher. In addition, the Computer Music Center, housed at 318 Prentis Hall, 125th Street, and 803 Dodge Hall, is open to students in music.

Columbia has its own concert hall; the Kathryn Bache Miller Theater, located on the first floor of Dodge Hall. This handsome venue, acoustically adapted, and equipped with a range of electronic facilities, offers a season of outstanding recitals and concerts. Concerts are also frequently given at other venues on campus, including the Roone Arledge Auditorium in Lerner Hall, the Casa Italiana and St. Paul's Chapel.

Superb additional resources are available elsewhere in Manhattan. The New York Public Library's main research division at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street houses a world-renowned collection. The Library and Museum of the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center contains the New York Public Library's music and dance collection, including the Toscanini Archives and the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound. The Public Library's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture also contains significant materials. The Pierpont Morgan Library contains outstanding collections of autograph material, particularly of 19th-century composers; an important collection of early printed music books; and illuminated medieval manuscripts of musical interest. Students interested in the visual arts have at their disposal the varied holdings of the Metropolitan Museum, the Frick Collection, the Museum of Modern Art, and numerous other museums and galleries. The Metropolitan Museum has a splendid historical collection of musical instruments.

New York City has, of course, countless venues in which music of all ages and traditions can be heard: concert halls such as Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall; three opera houses, the Metropolitan Opera House, the New York State Theater, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music; jazz clubs, in Greenwich Village the famous Village Vanguard and more locally in the Columbia neighborhood, SMOKE; and "alternative" venues such as the Knitting Factory and the Kitchen. Important concert series are given at the Metropolitan Museum, the Frick Collection, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and many churches, notably the nearby Corpus Christi Church. With its resident orchestras, choruses, ensembles, opera companies, conservatories, and visiting artists from all over the world, New York has no equal in music.

Graduate students in Columbia's Music Department who remain in good academic standing are fully funded through the sixth year. See the GSAS web page on Financial Aid for all details about graduate funding.

Students will be expected to meet the deadlines established by GSAS for completing all MA requirements within four semesters, and those for the MPhil within six semesters from initial registration. 

From the second year on, fellowships are awarded in the form of instructional appointments, either as a Teaching Assistant or Teaching Fellow (instructor of record), except for one year of dissertation fellowship. Continuation on fellowship is contingent on two things: satisfactory academic progress (including meeting the above deadlines) and satisfactory performance in assigned instructional appointments.

Experience in the classroom is integral to the PhD and DMA degrees, which seeks to offer a kind of professional "apprenticeship". International teaching fellows, whose first language is not English, must be screened by the American Language Program (ALP) in order to ascertain their readiness to begin their teaching duties. International teaching fellows are then placed in the necessary training level. The program is offered at no cost to the student and is pass/fail and does not count for credit.

THE FIRST YEAR

First year students have no instructional obligations. They receive a fall stipend, spring stipend and summer stipend, and their tuition and health fees are covered by GSAS.

THE SECOND THROUGH FOURTH YEARS

All students in their second through fourth years will be required to hold an instructional appointment in the Music Department. They will receive a 9-month salary, a summer stipend, and their tuition and health fees are covered by GSAS.

THE FIFTH YEAR

Students in their fifth year are expected to take their dissertation fellowship. The dissertation fellowship exempts the students from an instructional appointment, so they can focus on their research and writing. They receive a fall stipend, spring stipend and summer stipend, and their tuition and health fees are covered by GSAS.

THE SIXTH YEAR

All students who have not distributed by their sixth year will be required to hold an instructional appointment in the Music Department. They will receive a 9-month salary and their tuition and health fees are covered by GSAS.

INTERNAL/EXTERNAL FELLOWSHIP INFORMATION

Students are required to try and find external fellowships during their time at Columbia. Attached is a list of fellowships, awards, and grants for pre- and postdoctoral students. This list is compiled by the department and includes opportunities both within and outside Columbia University. This list is not exhaustive; email David Newtown, [email protected], to add other opportunities to this list.

Overview

Teaching positions, broadly conceived, are available after the first year to students who are in good academic standing. The positions carry a fixed salary (the same for all students) for nine months, plus tuition and fees. In fulfillment of the requirements for the MPhil degree, all students must gain teaching experience as part of their graduate training. Students from all areas within the music Department may apply to any fellowship position listed below.

Selection and Assignment

There are a variety of teaching appointments available and students are encouraged to tailor their teaching experience to their academic and professional aspirations. These positions are announced in early Spring and students state their preference by applying to the positions that suit them. The department considers these positions an important professional training opportunity for students in all areas of study. Students submit their preferences to Graduate Student Coordinator and recommendations are made to the Committee on Admissions and Financial Aid. Successful candidates are informed by a letter of appointment from the Chair of the Music Department.

Grievance Procedure

Any grievances should be resolved first by bringing them to the attention of their faculty advisor, the area chair, the Director of Graduate Studies or the Chair. If they cannot be resolved at this level, they may be brought to the Assistant Dean for Graduate Teaching at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Responsibilities and Training

Descriptions of the responsibilities and training associated with these appointments are detailed below, by appointment area & type.

Limitation on Hours

Funded doctoral students in Arts and Sciences programs who are appointed as salaried student officers may not spend more than twenty hours per week in the discharge of the responsibilities associated with their appointment and those associated with any other activity within or outside Columbia for which they are compensated. 

Music Humanities

The focus of Music Humanities is on masterpieces of western art music in their historical and cultural contexts. The specific goals of the course are to awaken and encourage an appreciation of Western music, to help students learn to respond intelligently to a variety of musical idioms, and to discuss the issues of various debates about the character and purposes of music that have occupied composers and musical thinkers since ancient times. Active involvement is sought, in the process of critical listening, in classroom discussion, online, and at professional concerts in New York.

Like the rest of the Core Curriculum of Columbia College, the course is taught in relatively small sections with a discussion format, and with the works in approximately chronological order. Moving from the fundamentals of music—melody, rhythm, harmony, and so on - to a “great works” approach, the course looks at the changing genres and styles of music, examining composers’ choices and assumptions, as well as those of their patrons and audiences, from the Middle Ages to the present.

Flexibility in the syllabus allows a certain amount of instructor choice in repertoire and approach.  Weekly staff meetings cover teaching techniques, approaches to the repertoire, exams and papers, and administrative matters.

Training:

All members of MH staff are required to serve first as a Teaching Assistant (TA) to a faculty member or advanced graduate teaching fellow to provide an apprenticeship, and may lead, if successful, to a teaching fellowship.

A TA teaches a total of 180 minutes across the semester and is trained in part by the course section’s instructor. This training comprises:
regular attendance at all class meetings;

• regular meetings between Instructor and TA:
  (i) to discuss the teaching plans for individual classes;
  (ii) to review and provide information and advice on materials to be taught and the methods to be used;
  (iii) to review the TA’s teaching;
  (iv) to review the performance of the students in the section;
  (v) to plan and discuss forthcoming examinations.
• regular observation by the Instructor of the TA’s teaching;
• advice offered by the Instructor immediately after such observation;
• informal communications (emails, phone-calls, extra meetings) about the TA’s work; and ​​​​​​​a written report by the Instructor, addressed to the TA, and copied to the Chair of MH.

​​​​​​​Each TA is observed at least once by one of the members of the MH Committee, and a formal report is sent to the TA.  Consultation with the Chair of MH may result from this, and the TA has the right of reply to the observer.

Attendance is required by all TAs and Teaching Fellows at the pre-term Organization Meeting and at weekly staff meetings. These meetings deal with practical business matters (registration, petitioning, attendance, use of classrooms and audio-visual equipment, the timing of assignments and exams, etc.), offer presentations on the teaching of specific topics and on issues of method and approach, and receive visits from deans of schools and others.

Responsibilities of the Teaching Assistants:

1. Attendance at the pre-term Organizational Meeting, and all weekly Staff Meetings is mandatory.
2. Attend all the class meetings.
3. Attend meetings with the Instructor of Record to discuss ideas for teaching and other class matters, including examinations.

Responsibilities of the Teaching Fellow:

1. Teaching Fellows teach one section of MH per semester, prepare a full syllabus for it, and hold regular office hours.
2. Attendance at the pre-term Organizational Meeting and all weekly Staff Meetings is mandatory.
3. Grading shall be done within a reasonable time and in a responsible and judicious manner.
4. The Final Examination shall be given during the final exam period assigned by the Registrar.
5. Training of the TA, if assigned one, meet regularly, observe teaching, hold meetings, give feedback candidly and constructively; provide a written report on the TA’s performance to the Chair of MH when requested; obtain draft questions from the TA for Midterm and Final Examinations regarding works or topics that he/she has taught.

Appointment Procedures:

All applicants for teaching fellowships in Music Humanities (MH) undergo an interview lasting about 20 minutes, with members of the MH Committee. The interview will determine each applicant’s qualifications to teach MH in such matters as the extent of historical and repertorial knowledge, ability to give clear explanations, and proficiency in the English language. The successful candidate will be informed by a letter of appointment from the Chair of the Department of Music.

Evaluation:

TAs & TFs are observed in the classroom and evaluated by those who have taught the course.

Music Theory

The aims of the courses, Music Theory I – IV (UN2318, UN2319, UN3321, UN3322) and Fundamentals of Music (UN1002), are as follows:

1. To improve students’ perceptive and imaginative abilities in music by helping them to draw regular connections between certain kinds of musical effects and the configurations of notes that typically produce them.
2. To analyze passages from the tonal repertoire, to abstract from these examples models for composition, and to compose passages and pieces based on these models.

The aims of the one-hour laboratory sessions taught by the Teaching Assistants are as follows:

1. To rehearse and deepen engagement with material presented in regular lecture meetings.
2. To focus on the students’ analytical and compositional work in progress; less frequently to present of any new material.
3. To allow students to hear, criticize, and learn from one another’s work.
4. To make sure that students hear their own work with precision—by singing and playing it themselves, where possible (and, where not possible, by having it sung and played for them, with alternatives proposed and tested on the spot).

Responsibilities of the Teaching Assistants:

1. Attend all the class meetings, and meet at least weekly with the professor to discuss the aims and techniques of new assignments (often to assist in their formulation) and the results of recently completed ones.
2. Lead weekly one-hour lab sessions, in multiple groups smaller than that of the entire class section.
3. Coordinate grading standards, through the exercise of professor and assistant independently marking copies of the same assignments and then comparing notes.
4. Grade many of the assignments.
5. Help the students to develop tactics and routines for dealing with the compositional projects—ways of formulating possibilities knowingly, instead of merely hoping for inspiration to strike.
6. Offer the students another listening and composing sensibility besides that of the professor.
7. Explain puzzling points from the large class, clarify directions for assignments, examine supplementary examples.
8. Eventually lead discussion with the entire class. The degree to which this happens varies from professor to professor. It is at least an ideal—and, in practice, one frequently realized—that the graduate assistant will finish the year having practiced all of the many skills needed to teach such a course independently. When the assistant prepares presentations of new material for the whole class, virtually the entire process is understood as training. At first, not only the topic, but the outline and principal examples as well, will be provided by the professor, and the presentation rehearsed in some detail; and the presentation may occupy only part of a class meeting. Over the course of the semester, these training wheels are removed. Feedback is offered by the professor.

Responsibilities of the Teaching Fellows:

1. Teaching Fellows teach one section of Fundamentals of Music per semester, prepare a full syllabus for it, and hold regular office hours.
2. Attendance at any pre-term Organizational Meeting and any subsequent meetings is mandatory.
3. Grading shall be done within a reasonable time and in a responsible and judicious manner.
4. The final examination shall be given during the final exam period assigned by the Registrar.
5. Training of the TA, if assigned one, meet regularly, observe teaching, hold meetings, give feedback candidly and constructively; obtain draft questions from the TA for Midterm and Final Examinations regarding works or topics that he/she has taught.

Appointment Procedures:

The Director of Undergraduate Music Theory will interview candidates for the Music Theory teaching assistant and teaching fellowship positions, and make recommendations to the Committee on Admissions and Financial Aid.  Students who interview and are not offered Theory positions are welcome to interview again in subsequent years, but are not required to do so. Whether they do so or not, an effort is made by the faculty interviewer to make a teaching session of the interview, by offering feedback and suggestions, either immediately afterward or at a later appointment. The successful candidate will be informed by a letter of appointment from the Chair of the Department of Music.

Evaluation:

1. The professor visits the laboratory sessions—not too frequently, it should be noted, because a visit to a meeting so small and intimate as one of these laboratories is bound to be more intrusive than a visit to a larger class.
2. The Department's questionnaire for student opinion of teaching includes sections of questions specifically about laboratories and about teaching assistants/teaching fellows.  Therefore, it is easy to gather information about these subjects from the completed forms and discuss it with the teaching assistants/teaching fellows.

Computer Music

The following courses have teaching assistants, when offered in an academic year: Intro to Digital Music (UN2205), Interactive Sound & Video and Sonic and Visual Representation of Data (GR6601 & GR6602), Sound: Advanced Topics I & II (GR6610 & GR6611) and Sound: Foundations & Building Sound (GU4810 & GR6249). Most of our classes are project-oriented, and students need to explore specific questions relating to their particular project with our teaching staff. The classes are run as class-plus- lab/individual contact. Teaching assistants do not grade or test at the CMC, but we usually offer TAs at least 4-5 lectures sprinkled throughout the term, in order to develop teaching skills for future jobs, etc. A minimum of 3 hours each week is necessary, and a maximum of 10.

General Qualifications:

1. High degree of technical proficiency with the tools we use (both hardware and software).
2. Great familiarity with our particular setup.  We generally don't consider student for TAships unless they have been through our two graduate courses (the MIDI class being undergrad-only).  We waive this requirement if the student comes with a substantial technical background and has done a fair amount of work already at the CMC (i.e. the student knows our systems).
3. Strong interpersonal skills—not necessarily lecture skills so much as the ability to work one-on-one with other students.  Individual attention is critically important to learning computer music techniques.
4. Able to become an integral part of the “CMC team.”  Many of the larger initiatives we undertake draw upon the entire CMC staff, and we work hard to maintain a spirit of cooperation among all of us working at the Center.

Qualifications for Intro to Digital Music (UN2205):

1. Solid understanding of the MIDI specification.
2. Background in the specific hardware and software we use in the class (Digital Performer, Peak, Metasynth, Unity/Retro, etc.).
3. Ability to administer and maintain a Macintosh-based digital audio system.
4. A fairly “open” musical aesthetic (the class generally encompasses wide range of musical styles).

Qualifications for Interactive Sound & Video and Visual Representation of Data fka Programming & Electronics (GR6601 & GR6602):

1. Strong basic understanding of the software used: RTcmix, AX/MSP, etc.
2. Ability to work well in both Unix and Macintosh computer environments.
3. Ability to organize and run “lab” sessions (3-4 students in each lab) reinforcing the techniques discussed in lectures.
4. Solid grasp of the theoretical foundations of acoustics and digital audio.
5. Basic familiarity with most of the CMC technologies.

Qualifications for Sound: Advanced Topics I & II (GR6610 & GR6611):

1. Programming experience (C/C++/lisp/java).
2. Good understanding of advanced digital audio techniques.
3. Familiarity with interface design (hardware and software).
4. Advanced knowledge of RTcmix, CSOUND, MAX/MSP.
5. Strong Unix skills.
6. Solid experience with CMC technologies.

Appointment Procedures:

For these positions, the Director of the CMC makes recommendations to the Committee on Admissions and Financial Aid.  The successful candidate will be informed by a letter of appointment from the Chair of the Department of Music.

Evaluation:

After each of the assigned lectures, the instructor of record meets with each TA to discuss how the lecture went, ways to improve, etc.

Undergraduate Composition

The focus of Undergraduate Composition (UN3241 & UN3239) is to enable students to devise their own compositional projects, loosely constrained by the instrumentation available for the final reading and concert, but otherwise independently.  The students work closely with the teaching assistants.  The students’ assignments to teachers change midstream, or when projects are completed, and the professor sees all the students periodically.

Responsibilities of the Teaching Assistants:

1. The teaching assistants meet half of the students weekly for lessons, help them with their projects by responding to what they have written, suggests directions and options, and refers them to works that might shed light on issues raised in their projects.
2. The teaching assistants also attend all class meetings, in which students present work to one another or analyze relevant works by others.
3. The teaching assistants do a good deal of concert-managerial work at the end of the semester in making sure the final projects are performed.

Appointment Procedures:

There are two teaching assistant positions available each semester.  For this position, the faculty member overseeing Composition makes recommendations to the Committee on Admissions and Financial Aid. The successful candidates will be informed by a letter of appointment from the Chair of the Department of Music.

Evaluation:

Evaluation is built into the course, since the professor sees the students’ progress. Ordinarily the lessons are not observed.  However, the questionnaires in the survey of student opinion have sections that ask about the teaching assistant.

Asian Music Humanities

These guidelines outline basic expectations for the collaboration between the instructors of record and TAs. At the beginning of every semester, the coordinator of Asian Music Humanities will contact the assigned TA to arrange a meeting to discuss general and specific information germane to the course.

Responsibilities of the Teaching Assistants:

1. TAs are required to work a total of no more than 20 hours per week.
2. TAs are expected to assist no more than two sections and should arrange their workload and participation with the faculty ahead of time.
3. TAs are required to attend each section in which they are assisting.
4. TAs are not graders. They should not be asked to grade exams or quizzes, although instructors are encouraged to involve TAs in the preparation and evaluations of exams.
5. The instructors of record have the sole responsibilities for preparing syllabi, assignments, readings, exams, etc., but they should involve TAs in as much hands-on activity as possible, so that TAs learn all aspects of teaching Asian Music Humanities.
6. TAs assist in photocopying, scanning, and placing reading and listening material onto Courseworks and on reserve. TAs will also update information onto the website of Asian Music Humanities hosted through the web page of the Music Library.
7. TAs assist in the arranging of live performances as an integral part of the course.
8. TAs are encouraged but not required to hold weekly office hours or help students outside of the classroom.
9. TAs are required to teach a maximum of 180 minutes in the semester and should be observed by the instructor of record. Teaching schedule and subject matter should be worked out with the instructor of record ahead of time according to the experience and capability of TAs.
10. TAs may not register for courses that will conflict with their responsibility to regular attend sections of Asian Music Humanities.
11. TAs are observed in the classroom and evaluated by those who have taught the course.
12. Please remember that TAs are an integral part of the teaching team and that instructors value and welcome TA’s presence, ideas, and suggestions in class and outside of class.

Responsibilities of the Teaching Fellows:

1. Teaching Fellows teach one section of Asian Music Hum per semester, prepare a full syllabus for it, and hold regular office hours. 
2. Attendance at any pre-term Organizational Meeting and any subsequent meetings is mandatory.
3. Grading shall be done within a reasonable time and in a responsible and judicious manner.
4. The final examination shall be given during the final exam period assigned by the Registrar.
5. Training of the TA, if assigned one, meet regularly, observe teaching, hold meetings, give feedback candidly and constructively; obtain draft questions from the TA for Midterm and Final Examinations regarding works or topics that he/she has taught.

Qualifications:

1. Familiarity with the basic area literature, major musical traditions, and applicable theoretical literature covered in the course.
2. Basic general teaching skills, including technical skills, for an undergraduate lecture course and ability to field student questions.

Appointment Procedures:

For this position, the faculty member overseeing Asian Music Hum makes recommendations to the Committee on Admissions and Financial Aid. The successful candidate will be informed by a letter of appointment from the Chair of the Department of Music.

Evaluation:

TAs & TFs are observed in the classroom and evaluated by those who have taught the course.

Columbia University Orchestra (CUO)

The Columbia University Orchestra (CUO) is a performing group of undergraduate musicians.

Responsibilities of the Teaching Assistant/Assistant Conductor:

1. Acts as a liaison between players, conductor, orchestra manager, librarian, office assistant.
2. Conducts sectional rehearsals and occasional tutti rehearsals.
3. Distributes parts at each rehearsal.
4. Distributes photocopied practice parts to each member of the ensemble.
5. Assists Librarian and Conductor in marking bowings in the orchestral parts.
6. Handles preparation for auditions and seating.
7. Monitors Concerto competition.
8. Prepares for the concert (ordering programs, planning the reception).
9. Listens for orchestral balances during rehearsal in the Auditorium.
10. Attends all Orchestra rehearsals.
11. Conducts a chamber group which holds a rehearsal two hours per week and concert (as a part of the Music Performance Program).

Appointment Procedures:

The conductor of the Columbia University Orchestra will interview candidates for the position of Teaching Assistant/Assistant Conductor, and make recommendations to the Committee on Admissions and Financial Aid. The successful candidate will be informed by a letter of appointment from the Chair of the Department of Music.

Evaluation:

The teaching assistant/assistant conductor will be evaluated by the conductor.

Collegium Musicum

The Collegium Musicum is a performing group dedicated primarily to the study and performance of early music, broadly defined. It may consist of singers or singers plus instrumentalists, depending on the repertory explored.

Responsibilities of the Teaching Fellow/Director:

1. Plans, publicizes, and administers auditions for new participants at the beginning of each semester.
2. Plans the programs for Collegium concerts each semester, selects the repertories and the pieces to be prepared, marshals the performance forces needed, procures or prepares suitable editions for the musicians, and provides copies of the music to be rehearsed and presented. Copyright permission may have to be arranged.
3. Schedules at least one on-campus concert per semester, as well as semi-weekly rehearsals and the dress rehearsal.
4. Arranges for publicity for the Collegium concerts: poster, announcements, and information for the relevant media.
5. Provides the research needed to prepare the concert and the accompanying program notes: texts, translations (when required by the repertory), and information concerning the relevant musical genres, traditions, and composers.
6. Prepares and conducts rehearsals, including at least two two-hour sessions per week with additional time for small and/or specialized ensembles from within the larger group.
7. Trains members of the Collegium in the special performance conventions needed for the repertory under rehearsal, including help with specialized vocal techniques, sight reading, pronunciation, and unusual notational practices.
8. Prepares ensembles for visits to classes of Music Humanities, coordinates schedules and presents the groups as they perform.
9. Is an advocate for “early music” performance in the Department and the university community at large.

Qualifications:

1. Knowledge of the history of music during the Middle Ages and Renaissance and of a fair amount of repertory from these periods.
2. Knowledge of historically informed performance practices and conventions for these earlier repertories.
3. Experience as a director/conductor of small ensembles involving voices and instruments.
4. Familiarity with the Columbia Collegium and involvement in its activities during the preceding year.
5. Good interpersonal skills.

Training:

Adequate preparation the Teaching Fellowship/Director of Collegium must begin several years earlier. Because the group is entirely student run, the only form of preparation thus far has been participation in the group for one or more years preceding the student’s application. In some instances, however, previous experience elsewhere may be deemed sufficient.

Appointment Procedures:

For this position, the faculty adviser makes recommendations to the Committee on Admissions and Financial Aid. The successful candidate will be informed by a letter of appointment from the Chair of the Department of Music.

Music Major Requirements/Electives Teaching Assistants

Each semester the Department of Music creates a curriculum with a variety of required courses and electives for undergraduate music majors and concentrators.  A sampling of some of those courses is Topics in Music & Society, History of Western Music, The American Musical, Jazz, The Opera, History & Practice of Electronic Music, Multicultural Roots of U.S. Popular Music, Beethoven, etc.  These course vary in size from 20 student courses to 200 student courses.  Offering teaching assistant appointments will allow graduate students a variety of teaching experiences in different topics.

Responsibilities of Teaching Assistants:

1. TAs are required to attend each section in which they are assisting.
2. The instructors of record have the sole responsibilities for preparing syllabi, assignments, readings, exams, etc., but they should involve TAs in as much hands-on activity as possible, so that TAs learn all aspects of teaching the course.
3. TAs assist in photocopying, scanning, and placing reading and listening material onto Courseworks and on reserve.
4. TAs assist in the arranging of live performances, if that is part of the course.
5. TAs are encouraged but not required to hold weekly office hours or help students outside of the classroom.
6. TAs may be asked to grade quizzes, exams, and papers. The instructor of record will go over the material to be graded and give clear guidelines about the philosophy, methodology, and expected content of the written work.
7. TAs are required to teach a maximum of 180 minutes in the semester and should be observed by the instructor of record. Teaching schedule and subject matter should be worked out with the instructor of record ahead of time according to the experience and capability of TAs.
8. TAs are observed in the classroom and evaluated by those who have taught the course.

Appointment Procedures:

For these positions, the Committee on Admissions and Financial Aid will discuss and make appropriate assignments. The successful candidate will be informed by a letter of appointment from the Chair of the Department of Music.

Evaluation:

Done by Instructor of Record for the course.

Colloquia

At frequent intervals during the year, guests on campus are invited to give colloquia in the department. Colloquia are given in all areas of interest to the Music Department. All graduate students are expected to attend these colloquia.

Professional Strategies & Skills Course

The Department now has a dedicated one-semester graduate course, GR6000, Professional Strategies and Skills, offered on Fridays in the Fall. All students are required to take Professional Strategies and Skills in the Fall of the second year.The course consolidates  two components of the systematic professional training and pedagogical formation of graduate students in the Department of Music. GR6000 is taught by the chair of the Core Curriculum course, Masterpieces of Western Music (Music Humanities). The course streamlines the process by which students in the four different doctoral degree programs (historical musicology, ethnomusicology, theory, and composition) are trained to teach their own sections of Music Humanities. Students also learn about applying for academic positions, preparing cvs, submitting journal articles, preparing book proposals, and other professional skills. This course does not count toward the credit totals for the MA, MPhil, DMA or PhD.

Professional Journals

The Gabe Wiener Music & Arts Library subscribes to most major journals in music. You are expected to follow them regularly, reading many of the important articles. You are expected to remain current with your discipline in this manner. Both the general examination and the proposal defense will test this knowledge.

Current Musicology

Current Musicology is a scholarly journal that has appeared semi-annually since 1965. It is managed and edited by graduate students at Columbia and is published under the aegis of the Department of Music. The oldest periodical of its kind in the world, it offers a unique opportunity for graduate students who join its staff to acquire and develop their skills in editing, writing, bibliography, translating, reviewing, and researching (not to mention business, finance, and advertising), and also to become acquainted with scholars, both in this country and abroad. All graduate students intending to continue to the PhD are expected to work for the journal.

Collegium Musicum

Collegium Musicum is a specialist music performance group. Its purpose is to explore -- by sight-reading, rehearsal, and concert -- vocal and instrumental music of a relatively unfamiliar nature: music which has perhaps been neglected and deserves revived attention. It offers opportunities for students to examine the music of their research and other interests and to actualize it in sound rather than solely to study it in score. It can thus function as a "laboratory" of musicological inquiry.

The group meets weekly and gives concerts at least once a semester. The repertory consists largely but not exclusively of early music. More recent music is sometimes included. The directorship of the Collegium Musicum is held each year by a graduate student. The group is open to members of the University beyond the confines of the Music Department. Graduate students in music are urged to participate. They will find it a rewarding and absorbing activity.