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Music Programs

This is where musicians become everything they’ve dreamed.

Our degrees and minors span all realms of music, from education to performance to therapy.

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B.S.M. in Popular Music

If you’re a musically accomplished student looking for intensive study of an instrument or voice in popular and commercial musical style and genres, this is the degree for you. You’ll get to take advantage of the close partnership our university has with Sweetwater as you study at the Purdue Fort Wayne Sweetwater Music Center, which features collaboration spaces and top-notch music-recording facilities.

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Program Highlights

  • The creation, performance, and production of music
  • Access to the latest technology
  • Interaction with industry leaders
  • Real-world experience with the Gold Top Music Group
  • A prestigious Purdue degree

Accreditation

Purdue University Fort Wayne is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Music and the American Music Therapy Association.

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Scholarships

 

Looking for ways to make paying for college a little easier? ScholarshipUniverse is a tool for current and admitted Purdue Fort Wayne students that allows you to create an academic profile and connect with scholarship opportunities.

For more information about all the scholarships available at Purdue Fort Wayne—including opportunities for specific programs—you can visit the Office of Financial Aid or contact us at [email protected].

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Requirements and Curriculum Overview

Our comprehensive curriculum and diverse requirements will challenge you to go further than you ever imagined. Check out what you can expect as you advance through our program.

Popular Music (B.S.M.)

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this degree, students will be able to demonstrate the following learning outcomes:

  • Knowledge of popular music theory sufficient to analyze musical forms, structures, and styles; to create within basic musical structures; and to relate theoretical concepts to sound
  • Performance ability as ensemble members and as soloists on both a primary instrument and a secondary instrument
  • Knowledge of popular music styles, with an understanding of the social, political and cultural impacts that shaped musical development
  • Proficiency in utilizing appropriate technology to notate and create music, to investigate and report scholarly research, and to support the specific demands of their professional degrees

Upon completion of this degree, students (songwriting and performance concentration) will be able to demonstrate the following learning outcomes:

  • Competency in commercial songwriting, with focus on composing music and lyrics within various popular music genres
  • Declare primary and secondary instruments in either (1) primary instrument, voice with secondary instrument in keyboard or guitar or (2) primary instrument, keyboard, or guitar, with secondary instrument in voice

Upon completion of this degree, students (recording and production concentration) will be able to demonstrate the following learning outcomes:

  • Competency in the recording and production of music, including live sound and the interface between music and video

Upon completion of this degree, all School of Music students will be able to demonstrate the following learning outcomes:

  • Knowledge of music theory sufficient to analyze musical forms, structures, and styles to create within basic musical structures; and to relate theoretical concepts to sound
  • Performance ability as ensemble members, as conductors, and as soloists on both a primary instrument and a secondary instrument
  • Knowledge of history and literature of Western and non-Western music, with an understanding of the social, political, and cultural impacts that shaped music history
  • Proficiency in utilizing appropriate technology to notate and create music, to investigate and report scholarly research, and to support the specific demands of the professional degrees

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