Programs & Courses

The Music Major and Minor

Music major and minor opportunities exist for all WFU students no matter their musical background or experiences. Our music minor does not require an audition and offers students the flexibility to explore an array of performance and/or liberal arts music courses. Music majors expand on that rich coursework and either select a liberal arts concentration (no audition required), for which they complete a mentored senior project on a topic of their choice, or they audition for the performance concentration in their second year and present a senior recital. Most music majors successfully double major in areas as diverse as philosophy, political science, or engineering. For specific major and minor course requirements and offerings, please see the Undergraduate Bulletin:

Undergraduate Bulletin: Music Program

Students rehearse on gold and red gamelan instruments

Courses

The Department of Music offers everything from introductory courses for students with little or no musical background, to advanced specialized courses for the music major, as well as a variety of musical ensembles and performance opportunities open to all students (not just music majors and minors).

A full course listing can be found in the Bulletin:

Undergraduate Bulletin: Music Courses

You can also find current semester info about divisional courses and elective courses for ALL students here: SPRING 2025

Wind musicians

Individual Instruction

The Department of Music offers individual instruction to Wake Forest students in voice, piano, guitar, and all orchestral and jazz instruments. Students can receive course credit for weekly lessons of 30 minutes (MSC181) or 60 minutes (MSC182, and music major courses 282, 382 and 383).

Interested students can stop by the Department of Music office (M309, Scales Fine Arts Center) or contact the appropriate instructor listed below for more information. Lessons are available to students of all levels, though you must first get approval from your specific instructor via a Workday “Override request” before you can register. More info on the override request process here: Override Request info – PDF

First-time registrants for voice, guitar, and piano lessons will additionally need to interview or audition (depending on level of experience) at the start of each semester; see Current Ensemble/Lesson Registration or contact Drs. Larry Weng (piano), Bryon Grohman (voice) or Marco Sartor (guitar) for more info.

Like many liberal arts universities, Wake Forest assesses an additional individual instruction fee. Current rates are $325 per semester for 30 minute weekly lessons (MSC181) and $650 per semester for hour-long weekly lessons (MSC182 and music major courses 282, 382, and 383), and fees are billed to a student’s account by Financial Services. Need-based scholarships are available; please see the Applied Lesson Fee Scholarship Application.

If you are a beginning student in voice, guitar, or piano, you also have the option to register for class instruction in those areas (MSC161-164), for which there is no additional fee.

Voice and Keyboard

Strings

Winds, Brass, and Percussion

two violinists