Non-Major Piano Lessons

Elective piano lesson for university credit MUSC 101

Students in all departments of the University are eligible (subject to an audition) to take piano lessons for credit under the course MUSC 101. You will have a half-hour (30-minute) lesson each week, will complete two contrasting works, and will receive 2 hours credit per semester. Your teacher will be a graduate Teaching Assistant majoring in piano performance. TAs are selected by the piano faculty on the basis of performing and teaching ability and are highly qualified.

An Audition is required for initial registration in MUSC 101. If you have had at least a year or two of piano instruction you can probably pass this audition with some preparation. If you are a beginner on piano you are not eligible for MUSC 101; in this case you may wish to investigate the possibility of private piano lessons with an undergraduate or graduate piano major.

For the standard MUSC 101 audition you should prepare the following:

One piece by J.S. Bach (for example, a movement of a suite, a Prelude and Fugue, an Invention, or a short Minuet from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach)
One piece, or one movement of a sonata or sonatina, from the Classical period (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Clementi, etc)
One piece from the Romantic period or 20th century (Chopin, Schumann, Brahms, Debussy, Ravel, Bartok, etc.)
Major and harmonic minor scales, hands together, four (4) octaves up and down, at moderate tempo
Brief sight-reading excerpt

Memorization is not required for the standard MUSC 101 audition. The audition will last about 10 minutes. Auditions will be scheduled during the first and second weeks of the fall and spring semesters. Please note: Even if you have had extensive training, you must still prepare your audition according to the guidelines listed above.

If you do not have your own music on campus, you may check out music from the Music Library. Librarians will help you if you have difficulty finding what you need. If you are approved for MUSC 101 Section NM, you may enroll in the course as soon as space permits. If the course is full, you may have to be placed on a waiting list for subsequent semesters. In any case, you will not have to repeat the audition as long as you remain a student here. (For inquiries about the music minor audition, please consult the music minor audition sheet for separate audition requirements.)

For further information on MUSC 101 or to schedule an audition for the upcoming semester, please address all inquiries to Timothy Ehlen at 209 Smith Music Hall, 217-244-3336

You cannot register for this course in advance of the audition. All non-music students will be assessed a nonrefundable fee of $400.00. This fee will be added to your student account.