• Introduction to Graduate Study in Music (MUS:5300), 2 semester hours

Students exempt from MUS:5200 through the advisory examination in music theory must complete 9 semester hours from the following:

• Counterpoint Before 1600 (MUS:4200), 3 semester hours
• Counterpoint After 1600 (MUS:4201), 3 semester hours
• Jazz Theory (MUS:4730), 3 semester hours
• Tonal Analysis (MUS:5235), 3 semester hours
• Non-Tonal Analysis (MUS:5236), 3 semester hours
• Analysis of Popular Music (MUS:5237), 3 semester hours
• Special Topics in Theory and Analysis (MUS:5240), 3 semester hours
• History of Ideas in Music (MUS:6210), 3 semester hours
• Theoretical Approaches to Music (MUS:6211), 3 semester hours
• Theory Pedagogy (MUS:6215), 3 semester hours
• Advanced Tonal Theory and Analysis (MUS:6250), 3 semester hours
• Advanced Non-Tonal Theory and Analysis (MUS:6251), 3 semester hours
• Advanced Theory and Analysis of Popular Music (MUS:6252), 3 semester hours

Only one 4000-level course (taken at the University of Iowa or equivalent transferred in from another institution) may count toward the 9 semester hours required. Up to 6 semester hours can be counted from the master's degree, upon written approval of the Director for Graduate Studies.

Select from the music history courses in the following list:

• Music and Gender (MUS:4320), 3 semester hours
• Medieval and Renaissance Music (MUS:4325), 3 semester hours
• Baroque Music (MUS:4330), 3 semester hours
• 18th-Century Music (MUS:4335), 3 semester hours
• 19th-Century Music (MUS:4340), 3 semester hours
• 20th-Century Music (MUS:4345), 3 semester hours
• Advanced Jazz History (MUS:4350), 3 semester hours
• American Music (MUS:4355), 3 semester hours
• Jazz Matters (MUS:4360), 3 semester hours
• Studies in Film and Music (MUS:4610), 3 semester hours
• Teaching Music, History, and Culture (MUS:6305), 3 semester hours
• Topics in Musicology (MUS:6310), 3 semester hours
• Historical Approaches to Music (MUS:6312), 3 semester hours
• Topics in Ethnomusicology (MUS:6314), 3 semester hours
• Foundations of Ethnomusicology (MUS:6315), 3 semester hours
• Renaissance Music Notations (MUS:6326), 3 semester hours
• Music Editing (MUS:6375), 3 semester hours

• Advanced Composition (MUS:5220), 2 semester hours
  • Note: Four semesters required
• Seminar in Composition (MUS:3230), 1 semester hour
  • Note: Four semesters required
• One of these:
  • Composition: Electronic Media I (MUS:4250), 3 semester hours
  • Electronic Music Production (MUS:5820), 3 semester hours
• One of these:
  • Composition: Electronic Media II (MUS:4251), 3 semester hours
  • Interactive Music (MUS:5800)
• Counterpoint Before 1600 (MUS:4200), 3 semester hours
• Orchestration (MUS:4220), 3 semester hours
• Composition PhD Thesis (MUS:7960), 1 to 4 semester hours

Choose 6 semester hours from the following:

• LOUi: Laptop Orchestra (MUS:3190:002), 1 semester hour
  • Note: Repeatable course
• Spectral Nature of Sound (MUS:3280), 3 semester hours
• Creating New Musical Instruments (MUS:3285), 3 semester hours
• Counterpoint After 1600 (MUS:4201), 3 semester hours
• Advanced Non-Tonal Theory and Analysis (MUS:6251), 3 semester hours

French, German or Italian proficiency (other languages must be approved by the composition area) or the substitution of relevant computer programming language proficiency. Students can satisfy the proficiency requirement in one of the following ways:

• Completion of the fourth semester of the language at the undergraduate level with at least a grade of B, within the last 10 years.
• Testing out of the fourth semester of the language at the University of Iowa. Placement exams in French, German, and Italian are offered each semester by the UI Examination Service, 300 Jefferson Building.
• Written examination administered by the composition faculty. The exam will consist of a short article in the designated language, about which the student will answer a series of questions and of which she or he will translate a short excerpt.
• Two semesters of one or more programming languages with a grade of B or above.
• A research project that employs one or more programming languages (C, Java, Pure Data, MAX, Csound, or SuperCollider, etc.) that produces compositionally, musically, or pedagogically useful source material. Students wishing to pursue such a project should discuss their ideas with their professor and the area head. The project is submitted as a short, written document with relevant examples.

Demonstrate basic keyboard ability in one of two ways:

• Take and pass Keyboard Harmony (MUS:4210) with a B or better
• Take and pass the final examination for MUS:4210, by arrangement with the organ faculty

Each student is required to sit for this exam no later than the end of the first year of study (end of the second semester). Its purpose is to test foundational knowledge of the western classical repertoire in three areas:

• Listening
• Score identification
• Theoretical knowledge

The exam has two components:

1. 4-hour written portion
2. 1-hour viva voce a week later, where the student meets with the faculty of the composition/theory area to review answers.

If the student fails, they can retake the exam no later than the end of the following semester. If they fail a second time, they are no longer considered a candidate for the PhD degree and must leave the program. If the student fails any portion of the exam, they must retake that section by the beginning of the following semester.

In order to prepare for this exam, the student is asked to generate a list of ten compositions that covers the breadth and depth of the western classical repertoire, starting with early medieval forms (Machaut) and running through the mid-twentieth century (mid-1950s, post WW2). The student must seek approval of their list by the faculty of the composition area early in the semester, because the purpose is to become acquainted so well with these works that they should be able to answer any question regarding form and content.

Two hours will be given over to analytical questions based on these 10 pieces. The exam also includes a listening portion of 10 compositions, where any work of the standard western classical repertoire would be played (1-minute on/1-minute off) in a “drop-the-needle” format. The student must identify composer, title, and date of composition. Finally, the exam includes a score ID, where 10 works are chosen and the student must identify composer, title, and date of composition based on a single sheet from within the piece.