Programs & Courses

The Music Major and Minor

Our revised music major features one major with your choice of a performance or liberal arts concentration, and both our new major and minor require fewer credit hours and offer greater flexibility with theory and music history requirements. Specific course requirements for the music major and minor can be found in the Undergraduate Bulletin:

Undergraduate Bulletin: Music Program

How to Declare a Music Major or Minor via Virtual Campus

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: FALL 2023

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). Lessons are available to students of all levels, though a POI (permission of instructor) number is required for registration.

Registration takes place at the beginning of each semester, and interested students should stop by the music department office (M309, Scales Fine Arts Center) or contact the appropriate instructor listed below for more information.

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 Auditions for more information.

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