Programs offered
- Music (major, minor, and concentrations)
- Music Therapy (major)
When you choose an academic major or minor in the Music Department, you will find the music program:
- Provides opportunities for all students to study music as an essential part of a liberal arts education in a comprehensive university.
- Encourages you to develop your fundamental musical talent and performance skills along with 21st century musicianship skills;
- Recognizes the interrelationship between music, our communities, and the other creative arts.
- Challenges you to become a socially-conscious artist dedicated to creating positive change in our communities.
Additionally, Seattle Pacific’s Music program is a fully accredited member of the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM). It also maintains membership with the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) and the Washington University Music Administrators Association (WUMA). The Music Therapy program is accredited by the American Music Therapy Association.
Find out more about this program’s mission, vision, and learning outcomes.
Our BA in Music degree has been completely reimagined to encourage lifelong growth and talent development and to address a wide range of vocational skills as a reality of working musicians in the 21st Century. We have created a student-driven and project-focused curriculum that reflects and engages with the professional music-making culture in Seattle and across the nation.
- In this program, you will learn to recognize the interrelationship between music and the other creative arts.
- You can choose from five areas within the BA in Music degree — Education, Composition, Performance, Recording, or Research.
- A minimum 83–86 credits are required for the project-based options within this major, including 37 upper-division credits.
- Student completing the Performance Project (Vocal version) must complete MUS 2261 the Singer's Art II, for 86 credits total in the major.
- The Music Education option, which includes all courses needed toward P-12 teacher certification in Washington State, requires 119 credits, including 37 upper-division.
- Piano proficiency is required for graduation for all Music majors.
- If you are enrolled in “Music Theory I-III” or any Creative Engagement course, you may be required to enroll in MUS 1254, 1255, or 2200 until you can pass the Keyboard Proficiency Exam.
The SPU Music Therapy Program’s rigorous, multidisciplinary curriculum is designed to prepare you for the six-month clinical internship, and, ultimately, pass the national examination to earn your Board Certified Music Therapist (MT-BC) designation.
Music therapists are first and foremost strong musicians. Taking private lessons on your primary instrument is essential. Music therapy majors must pass proficiency exams in voice, guitar, and keyboard before graduation. Having experience with one or more of these instruments, especially piano, will be extremely helpful to your studies and clinical work.
- A minimum 114 credits is required for this major, including 29 upper-division credits.
- Pass proficiency exams on piano, guitar, and voice.
- Fulfill the requirements for the Music degree, including a junior recital on your major instrument.
- Your classes will be in core music therapy, psychology, special education, and biology/physical education, as well as the required SPU courses.
- You will also have the opportunity for practicum experiences within diverse health care and educational institutions in the Seattle area.
- You will have the close supervision by board-certified music therapists in an educational climate.
- You will fulfill 180 hours of practicum experience during your undergraduate training.
As a Music minor, you will follow an integrative approach to advancing your musical skills. You will study music theory, aural skills, and the history of music, and will participate in context courses that further your knowledge of music, people, and culture.
A minor in Music and Worship Arts will train you to use your musical gifts — whether as a worship leader, a performer, a composer, a conductor, or a teacher. It will also provide you with advanced study in music theory and literature.
- The Music minor requires a minimum 30 credits, including 15 upper-division credits.
- The Music and Worship Arts minor requires a minimum 40 credits, including 15 upper-division credits.
- Depending on the minor chosen, courses include Core requirements, Theological and Historical Foundations, contemporary performance practice, and ensemble participation.
Apply to a major or minor
- If you are an incoming freshman, you may apply to a Music major after you have completed your freshman year at SPU.
- If you are a transfer student, you may apply to a Music major after one academic quarter.
- You must have a minimum 3.0 GPA for admission to the Music major, Music Therapy major, or Music minor.
- Apply for a major or minor using the online Major or Minor Application form and obtain the signatures of your music department advisor and private lesson instructor.
- You must complete the major or minor requirements in effect when you are admitted to the major or minor. Admission to this program is competitive.
Note: Music Therapy is a competitive program. Post-baccalaureate and transfer students, in particular, should carefully review admission requirements for the program on the Music Therapy website.