Carnegie Mellon University

School of Music

Where artistry and innovation share center stage

Congratulations on your acceptance to Carnegie Mellon University and the School of Music! Visiting the campus and seeing the School of Music facilities are important steps in deciding where you intend to study and so we have created several special visit opportunities specifically for accepted students.

Undergraduates


Each week day the Office of Undergraduate Admission has a program of events for Accepted Student.  Please contact them here for details and registration or look for more information on your CMU Where Am I portal.

The School of Music offers a Tour and Q&A with School of Music Staff and Students each weekday at 11:00 AM. Register here for the daily tour.

We also have a Virtual Visit on Tuesday and Thursday at 1:00 PM (EST). Register here for a Virtual Visit.

If you would like to meet our faculty and have a sample lesson please contact the faculty directly to request a meeting or lesson.

We also have several classes available for you to observe while you are here visiting. See below for descriptions.

Please email music-admissions@andrew.cmu.edu at least 24 hours in advance of your visit to request a class observation.  Additional details will be provided in the confirmation email.  You should plan to arrive at least 5 – 10 minutes before the class time begins. We cannot guarantee the availability of all class observations but will do our best to accommodate all requests.

You are also welcome to attend any of the Upcoming Concerts and Events.  Many events are free of charge.  Contact music-admissions@andrew.cmu.edu to request complimentary tickets for ticketed events.

Monday, Wednesday, Friday – 9:00 – 9:50 or 10:00 – 10:50

This course gives an overview of music technology through practical information and several hands-on projects. Concepts such as MIDI and digital audio are introduced and specific topics are covered in detail including sequencing, music notation, digital recording, mixing, and production. 

Monday, Wednesday, Friday – 9:00 – 9:50 or 10:00 – 10:50

Eurhythmics II introduces combinations of binary and ternary metric units, mixed meters, changing meters, and notation and performance of cross-rhythms.

Monday, Wednesday 12:30 - 1:50 PM

This class will be an in-depth analytical study of music of the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque Periods. It will emphasize selected genres and forms by representative composers in order to trace the evolution of musical style and to clarify the main characteristics of these periods, to set the musical developments in broader cultural contexts, and to apply this knowledge to practical decisions made by todays musician.

Monday, Wednesday 1:00 - 1:50 PM

Come and explore the rich musical heritage of Black America. This course will survey the music of Black America beginning with the African legacy and continuing through the music of the Twentieth Century. Class sessions will involve discussions, listening, viewing of films, and reports by students on topics of individual interest. Discussions will involve, historical, cultural and political perspective, as well as the music and composers themselves.

Monday – 2:00 – 3:20

The raw recording is just the first step in the process of creating a professional finished audio product. Editing is the art of piecing together different takes to make one final good take. Mastering is the art of polishing the good take to perfection--balancing all the instruments and tracks, adding special effects, setting final levels. If recording seems like an high-energy activity--involving engineers, musicians, producers--editing and mastering are the necessary counterparts--long tedious hours of solitary confinement honing the skills of the mastering engineer. Those taking this course are expected to have significant music skills: actively playing a musical instrument (or composition), and/or the ability to read a piano score at the least, and a full orchestra score from any recent century, including our own, at the most.

Wednesday, 12:00 – 1:50

This is an historical survey of (a) aesthetic theories about music and human agency--music’s affects and effects, thus its significance and even its very existence--and of (b) actual utilizations of music. Theories range from Aristotle’s catharsis to trauma theory and neuromusicology in our time. The applications range from the biblical David’s therapeutic harp playing in the court of King Saul (11th C. BCE) to U.S. interrogators in Iraq (21st C. CE); from Vodun and exorcisms in other cultures to MUZAK in our own. In short, its a chronological survey of what peoples have believed about music’s powers and, consequently, how music has been used and abused. 

Tuesday, Thursday 10:00 – 10:50

What is your message? Who is your audience? How do you reach them? These are among the topics well explore in this course. Group projects and case studies help us identify the key aspects of one of the most important aspects of any music career. Being a great musician won’t do you any good if no one knows you exist. By the end of the semester, students should be able to understand such concepts as branding, marketing, reach and advertising; identify audience segments and target messages to those segments; create compelling marketing materials, including bios, group and program descriptions, websites and flyers; work with teams to try out a variety of marketing strategies in real-world circumstances; learn to capitalize on social media and use it to effectively build and communicate to an audience; learn to write effective and powerful marketing copy (bios, sales pieces, etc.); examine competitors and market leaders to look for opportunities and best practices.

Graduates

The weekday 11:00 tours and Q&A sessions are focused mainly on Undergraduate students but you are welcome to attend.  If you would like a more individualized experience please contact music-admissions@andrew.cmu.edu to request an individual appointment with a member of the Recruitment and Enrollment staff.  In-person and virtual appointments are available Monday – Friday 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM.