Bachelor of Music - Music Theory in College Park United States | University of Maryland, College Park

The Bachelor of Music (B.M.) program offers undergraduate students a specialized, career-oriented education in music. Students can focus on composition, jazz, piano, strings, theory, voice, or winds and percussion while learning from distinguished faculty, performing in premier ensembles, and engaging with cutting-edge music history and theory courses. Approximately 60% of the curriculum focuses on musical studies, combining rigorous professional training with an institutional emphasis on diversity, community involvement, and entrepreneurial skills. Graduates leave prepared for creative careers in music or admission to leading graduate programs. Though demanding, students can pursue the B.M. alongside another major—many combine it with a Bachelor of Music Education by extending their studies by one semester.

Music theory students explore interdisciplinary connections through collaborations with musicology, ethnomusicology, theatre, dance, and performance studies within our facility, as well as with departments like American studies, cognitive science, linguistics, philosophy, and psychology across campus. Core theory courses feature Critical Concepts in Musical Theory, alongside studies in Schenkerian analysis, post-tonal music analysis, and music theory pedagogy. Rotating seminar topics include Introduction to Choreomusical Analysis, Musical Movement and Analysis, Theory in Analysis (examining analytical philosophy), as well as specialized studies in 18th-century string quartets, Early Modernism, and Rhythm and Meter.