Overview

The Music program of San Francisco State University provides broad liberal arts preparation with significant study in music. The structure of the degree program offers students several avenues to pursue individual interests in music as preparation for careers in music or music-related fields.  In consultation with an adviser, students complete an elective emphasis appropriately focused on their area of interest.

Program Learning Outcomes

• Musical Literacy. Students will demonstrate proficiency in reading, notating, and transcribing music by ear. Students will demonstrate critical listening abilities through describing, analyzing and articulating artistic and perceptual aspects of music.

• Performance. Students will demonstrate applied performance skills through accurate, and expressive instrumental or vocal performances.

• Creation. Students will be able to express compelling and/or original musical thought through arranging, composing and/or improvising in a variety of styles and for a variety of purposes.

• Critical Understanding of Historical, Cultural, and Aesthetic Contexts. Students will be able to apply historical and cultural knowledge and aesthetic judgement in order to articulate significance and meaning in music within diverse contexts.

• Communication and Teaching. Students will be able to express themselves articulately in writing and speech to fellow musicians and nonmusicians in a variety of contexts.Students will be able to teach musical concepts to others.

• Technology Literacy. Students will demonstrate proficiency in using technology to capture, create and manipulate sound in musically compelling ways.

• Career Skills. Students will be able to apply practical, organizational, and promotional skills to promote lifelong success in a breadth of music related careers.

Career paths

Career options for music majors are very diverse. The analytical, concentration and listening skills, collaborative experiences, and broad historical and cultural knowledge gained through the study of music prepare students to achieve in many professional arenas. Their individual achievements may lead them into specific professional fields of music, including performance, composition, scholarship, teaching, or into another profession that can benefit from the knowledge and skills gained in music study.

Graduates of SF State University music programs currently perform as soloists or as members of symphony orchestras, opera, chamber ensembles, choruses, rock groups, jazz combos, and a variety of intercultural consorts. They conduct Broadway musicals, church choirs, community choruses, commercial music, operas, and symphony orchestras. Some work as composers, arrangers, and producers in a wide variety of musical environments, write recording and program notes, serve as music librarians, design and work with music technology, and work as critics and lecturers. Others teach music at every educational level from pre-school through university in independent studios and public and private schools and colleges. They occupy key positions as music administrators and provide leadership for professional music organizations. School of Music graduates have also gone on to careers outside of music in fields as diverse as medicine, business, and law. Whatever their chosen career path, the education our graduates received has provided the educational foundation they needed to provide a life filled with meaning and professional accomplishment. Wherever their careers have taken them, they continue to create, perform, analyze, write about, lobby for, and listen to music both for profit and for pleasure.