Master of Music Education Courses

MME 801. Philosophy of Music Education. A consideration of philosophical and historical issues in music education and their implications for developing curricular and instructional approaches to the field as well as greater advocacy in the field of music education as a whole. This course meets a music education core requirement.  Fulfills general education requirement: 3 credits.

MME 830. Private Applied. This course meets a supportive studies requirement.  Up to a maximum of 3 elective credits in the program (including MME 840). Fulfills general education requirement: 1 credit.

MME 834. Orchestration and Arranging. This course introduces students to the instruments and vocal parts commonly used in public school music education settings. Topics include tuning, ranges, playing techniques, timbres, text/dramatic elements, and idiomatic utilization by composers/arrangers in relevant repertoire. This broad introduction is conveyed through readings on individual instruments and their families, listening and analysis, and arranging assignments. This then serves as the basic knowledge necessary for the student to creatively write and arrange for these voices, instruments, alone and in combination.  Fulfills general education requirement: 2 credits.

MME 835. Musician and Educator Wellness. This course normalizes psychological and physical wellness issues facing musicians and music educators and removes the stigma associated with performance pressure and injuries caused by inefficient practice. The course helps students develop clear strategies to form a positive outlook on performing, equipping students with awareness to prevent music-related injuries along with the knowledge of how to recover and promote innovative and creative problem-solving solutions safely. Students will gain an understanding in proactively addressing issues experienced by students and musicians concerning mental health and physical care associated with performing and practicing music.  Fulfills general education requirement: 2 credits.

MME 836. Ensemble Programming for the Educator. This course will be a survey of musical literature. Students will gain a broader understanding of music through its historical development. Students will also gain the ability to discern quality literature as a part of the music criticism component. Additionally, students will examine and be presented with new literature that is being written by contemporary composers who have traditionally been globally underrepresented. Students will discover new initiatives being created for these composers to create a more diverse and equitable range of works for performance ensembles.  Fulfills general education requirement: 2 credits.

MME 837. Organizational Leadership for Ensemble Directors. In this course, we will examine several categories of leadership within organizations: education, business, government, military, medicine, and even the home. Students will learn the history of leadership and how philosophies have changed over the years. The purpose is to identify a framework that may help integrate independent approaches from these various disciplines to the understanding of human behavior and management theory. The focus for the class is on the behavior within organizations and not between organizations. The concentration is on the interaction of people, motivation, and leadership. Finally, we will determine how to apply this understanding to our music classroom and ensemble rehearsals.  Fulfills general education requirement: 3 credits.

MME 838. Conducting Symposium. The conducting symposium will be the culminating, in-person course for the Leadership in Large Ensembles Certificate for the Master of Music Education program at LVC. Depending on the needs of the cohort, the course will address instrumental and choral-focused conducting, which includes score study, one-on-one lessons, conducting an ensemble, and applying leadership skills and rehearsal techniques learned in previous classes. Instructors will use literature that is both challenging and applicable to working educators.  Fulfills general education requirement: Co-Requisite or Pre-requisite: MME 837. 3 credits.

MME 840. Private Applied. This course meets a supportive studies requirement.  Up to a maximum of 3 elective credits in the program (including MME 830). Fulfills general education requirement: 2 credits.

MME 850. Ethnomusicology. This course is designed to explore musical dimensions across a variety of the world's musical cultures. This course meets a music education core requirement.  Fulfills general education requirement: 3 credits.

MME 860. Modern Band Pedagogy. This course will introduce students to the concepts, tenets, and methodologies of popular music education and modern band. This course will cover topics such as approximation, arranging, student-centered learning, composition and improvisation, and alternative methods to teaching music to non-traditional students. Other areas of study include iconic notation, sound before sight methodologies, informal learning, and culturally responsive teaching. This course meets a modern band concentration requirement.  Fulfills general education requirement: 1 credit.

MME 861. Music of Modern Band. Students will enhance their knowledge of repertoire performance from various popular styles, and learn rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic practices associated with each genre. This course meets a modern band concentration requirement.  Fulfills general education requirement: 1 credit.

MME 862. Beginning Pedagogy and Methods for Guitar. Students will learn the skills necessary to teach guitar for modern band through the lens of popular music education. Students are required to meet a minimum proficiency on the guitar. This course meets a modern band concentration requirement.  Fulfills general education requirement: Prerequisite or Corequisite: Take MME-860. 1/2 credit.

MME 863. Beginning Pedagogy and Methods for Drums. Students will learn the skills necessary to teach drums for modern band through the lens of popular music education. Students are required to meet a minimum proficiency on each instrument. This course meets a modern band concentration requirement.  Fulfills general education requirement: Prerequisite or Corequisite: Take MME-860. 1/2 credit.

MME 864. Beginning Pedagogy and Methods for Electric Bass. Students will learn the skills necessary to teach electric bass for modern band through the lens of popular music education. Students are required to meet a minimum proficiency on each instrument. This course meets a modern band concentration requirement.  Fulfills general education requirement: Prerequisite or Corequisite: MME-860. 1/2 credit.

MME 865. Beginning Pedagogy and Methods for Keyboard. Students will learn the skills necessary to teach keyboard for modern band through the lens of popular music education. Students are required to meet a minimum proficiency on each instrument. This course meets a modern band concentration requirement.  Fulfills general education requirement: Prerequisite or Corequisite: MME-860. 1/2 credit.

MME 866. Beginning Pedagogy and Methods for Contemporary Vocal Styles. Students will learn the skills necessary to teach the voice techniques in modern band through the lens of popular music education. Students are required to meet a minimum proficiency singing in a contemporary genre. This course meets a modern band concentration requirement.  Fulfills general education requirement: Prerequisite: Take MME-860 and MME-861. 1 credit.

MME 867. Creative Experiences in Modern Band. The course is designed to give students the opportunity to analyze and create music in popular music styles and then apply appropriate strategies that will enable them to design creative experiences for students in K-12 settings. Students will be introduced to compositional strategies for creative experiences appropriate for upper-elementary and secondary aged students and design a series of creative experiences for this purpose. This course meets a modern band concentration requirement.  Fulfills general education requirement: Prerequisite or Corequisite: MME 862, 863, 864, 865, 866. 1 credit.

MME 870. Music for All: Teaching Music to Students with Exceptionalities. This course will cover a range of topics pertaining to the teaching of music to K-12 learners with exceptionalities (special needs). Topics include the study of the exceptionalities currently recognized by law for special services, IDEA, Individualized Education Plan (IEP), Section 504, assistive technology, inclusion, self-determination, universal design, least restrictive environment (LRE), accommodations and curriculum modifications, Response to Intervention (RTI), and the history of special education. This course meets a music education core requirement.  Fulfills general education requirement: 3 credits.

MME 872. Contemporary Musicianship Pedagogies. This course is designed to aid music educators in preparing, implementing, and effectively running music theory and ear training programs. In addition to creating the overall structure for these courses, emphasis will be placed on theory and ear training pedagogy, with particular emphasis on assembling resources and creating activities geared for meaningful learning outcomes. This course meets a music education core requirement.  Fulfills general education requirement: 3 credits.

MME 887. Recording for the Music Educator. Whether you are trying to record your spring concert, grab a quick recording of a rehearsal for instant feedback, or help your students produce their own songs, we will spend lots of time exploring the various aspects of making a recording. The use of microphones, room acoustics, and equipment setup will be covered by...get this...actually recording. A lot! This course meets a music education core requirement.  Fulfills general education requirement: 3 credits.

MME 888. Modern Band: Composition and Performance Ensemble. This course serves as the capstone to the Modern Band Certificate. Students will expand upon the proficiencies and methods learned in an ensemble setting through collaborative composition and improvisation. The cumulating experience will be a live concert promoting the pedagogies for a modern band curriculum. This course meets a modern band concentration requirement.  Fulfills general education requirement: Prerequisites: MME 867. 3 credits.

MME 890. Special Topics. Elective courses will be offered as special topics courses, (e.g., Teaching Choral Music, Teaching General Music, Teaching Instrumental Music, Theory for Teaching, Graduate Music History Seminar, Music in Early Childhood, Music and the Exceptional Child, Statistics for the Music Researcher, Conducting, Arranging [band scoring, choral arranging, jazz arranging]).  This course may be repeated for credit as topic changes. Fulfills general education requirement: 3 credits.