06.03.12 DMA – Major in Jazz Studies & Contemporary Media
Students who enrolled in their current DMA degree program prior to summer 2009 are not affected by the updates indicated below. Please click here for degree requirements for students who enrolled in spring 2009 or earlier.
Prerequisites: Prerequisites for the DMA in Jazz Studies and Contemporary Media include a master’s degree in jazz or a related field.
Upon entry to the program, students take placement exams in music theory and history. If remediation is required, the appropriate courses are taken, but their credit does not count towards the degree. The same is true of any English-language instruction that is required and any instruction in bibliography that is needed.
Placement Exams: In addition to the music theory and music history placement exams taken by all graduate students (see section 05.03 (Placement Examinations and Remediation) for more information), doctoral students majoring in jazz will also take a separate placement exam in jazz theory. This additional exam is administered and graded by the jazz faculty.
The jazz music theory test consists of two parts:
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- an aural skills examination focusing on melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic dictation; and
- a written test including chord/scale relationships, modal application, dominant chord application, minor variants, re-harmonization, and linear structure.
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Students whose skills are lacking in jazz theory will be required to take JCM 119 (Basic Jazz Theory & Aural Skills). Students assigned to this class must enroll in the fall semester of their initial year of study. The student who earns a grade of B+ or better in JCM 119 will be considered to have passed the JCM skills requirement.
If any review courses are required, they will not count toward any other degree requirements and may not be used as elective credit. Such courses will, however, count toward full-time student status during the semester that they are taken.
Residency: At least one year of full-time study is required. See section 05.01 (Residency) for more information.
Requirements for students who enroll in fall 2009 or later:
| Requirement | Credits |
Applied Lessons Choose from any combination of the following options :
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20-24 |
| Research and Writing Seminars – Consisting of one of the following: (A) four MHS 594s and/or JCM 590s (B) three MHS 594s and/or JCM 594s plus one of the following: JCM 523, JCM 524, TH 481, TH 482, TH 525, TH 526, TH 581, TH 582, TH 590, MUY 400- or 500-level course or independent study at the 500 level (major document required (C) two MHS 594s (6 credits) plus a doctoral research project 1(6 credits) (D) Dissertation 1 (12 credits) | 12 |
| Jazz Composition/Arranging Courses to be determined based on background and experience of the student. May include JCM 224-225 (Jazz Composition and Arranging II & III), and JCM 485 & 486 (Advanced Studies in Jazz Composition). | 6 |
| Theory Six credits as determined by the student, his/her advisor and the result of placement tests. At least one course must be an analysis course (TH 401, 402, 511, 513, or 531). JCM 523 or 524, or any 400- or 500- level theory course may serve as the second course. TH 400 may not be used. | 6 |
| Minor/Electives2 Students are encouraged to develop a minor field (normally at least three courses, ca. 8-12 credit hours) in consultation with their advisor. See section 06.03.05 (Program of Study) for more information. | 12-16 |
| Remedial courses If required by placement exams, these courses do not count toward total credits for the degree. See section 06.03.04 (Remedial Courses – DMA) and section 05.03 (Placement Examinations and Remediation) for further information. | – |
| Total Credits | 60 |
1 If option C or D is chosen, the student must submit a proposal to the Graduate Professional Committee. The Graduate Committee will vote on the proposal. At least one member of this faculty committee will be from the music education, musicology, or music theory departments. In addition, if option C or D is chosen and the doctoral research project/dissertation does not involve work in music history, then students will be required to take a total of 9 credits of MHS 590 courses, 6 credits of which will count within their research and writing component of the degree, and 3 credits of which will count in the elective category. See section 06.03.08 (Doctoral Dissertation/Research Project) for additional information.
2 See section 06.03.05 (Program of Study) for additional restrictions on DMA minors and electives. It is expected that a student in this major would not normally minor in music history, since that level of interest would probably direct the student to major in performance and literature with a jazz minor.
Additional Requirements
Jury: Normally, all DMA JCM students are expected to take a departmental jury during their first year of residency at Eastman. See section 06.01.03 (Graduate Juries) for additional information.
Recitals: Students majoring in Jazz Studies and Contemporary Media will present three recitals. The proportion between lecture and solo recitals will vary according to individual needs and students are expected to use different repertory for solo recitals from that used in the lecture recital(s). Students are encouraged to complete/pass at least two of these three recitals by the end of their second year of study. Students will register for each recital during the semester that it occurs, as follows:
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- ESM 501 (First Doctoral Recital)
- ESM 502 (Second Doctoral Recital)
- ESM 503 (Doctoral Lecture Recital- see section 06.03.06 (Lecture Recital) for more information.
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Foreign Language: There is no foreign language requirement for this major, except in those instances where the knowledge of a foreign language is essential to research or other work in a specific field.
Comprehensive Examinations: Required. The comprehensive examinations will consist of a written examination in the fields of music history, literature, and theory, and an oral examination of a broad nature covering the student’s major and minor fields of study. Please see section 06.03.07 (Comprehensive Examinations – DMA) for additional information and policy regarding these exams.
For Jazz Studies and Contemporary Media majors, the written examination will include jazz history, theory, and literature questions in addition to non-jazz questions, and will be designed in such a way that the jazz student will be on equal footing with the non-jazz student. DMA JCM students take a jazz skills and analysis Part III of the exam in lieu of the Part III (Skills and Analysis for students who matriculated before fall 2009; Analysis (only) for students who matriculated in fall 2009 or thereafter) required of all other DMA students.
Jazz Studies and Contemporary Media majors who plan to submit a full dissertation to satisfy the requirements of the degree must pass the comprehensive examinations at least six months before the final examination. Students not writing a dissertation or doctoral research project will sit for the comprehensive examinations after all academic requirements (i.e., coursework) of the degree, two of the performance requirements, plus the departmental jury have been completed. (Revised 6/24/09).
