Fountain School of Performing Arts Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

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Music Programs

Music Programs

There are many ways to tailor your Music studies at Dalhousie.

Undergraduate Studies

Our undergraduate options provide a variety of ways to study music—from dynamic and intensive training to prepare you for professional performance to interdisciplinary studies that allow you to explore music in the context of other fields.

Graduate Studies

The Fountain School of Performing Arts welcomes students interested in the study of Musicology at the graduate level, leading to a Master of Arts in Musicology.

Music elective classes

Even if music is not your major, the Fountain School of Performing Arts offers courses of interest to you—courses that can help you deepen your appreciation and understanding of music and the performing arts. Courses include Intro to Performance Studies, Writing about Music, The History of Jazz, The Rock 'n' Roll Era and Beyond, Electroacoustic Music, and a summer study abroad class in Baroque Culture. See a list of classes offered.

Instrument-specific programs

Dalhousie Guitar Program

Though the curriculum initially focuses on classical guitar technique, music students are gradually introduced to new ways of thinking about non-classical techniques (acoustic fingerstyle and plectrum). Students are encouraged to explore many styles of guitar from classical to jazz to progressive electric styles as well as traditional acoustic.

The Dalhousie Guitar Program is a four-year program with a core curriculum for the first two years and a selected concentration for the final two. The concentrations available are:

  • Classical guitar: This concentration focuses on mastering the more advanced pieces in the repertoire as well as on-going technical development. Performance majors will begin work on a major guitar concerto.

  • Guitar for the working musician (Modern Music): This concentration focuses on preparing guitarists for a freelance career in the non-classical world and will involve being acquainted with a range of guitar styles from jazz to popular to blues as well as a thorough grounding in classical fingerstyle technique.

 


For course requirements for music degree programs, see the Dalhousie Calendar.