Winter Term Junior Year

Register for Music Major Colloquium (398) offered Spring Term.

Spring Term Junior Year

All majors should be enrolled in Music Major Colloquium (398) regardless of comps plans.

Students should register for three credits of Integrative Exercise (400) for the following Fall Term.

Fall Term Senior Year

During Fall Term, students will complete the bulk of the work on their comps, that is, drafting their paper (paper track), composing their piece (composition track), or preparing their repertoire (lecture/performance track). Seniors usually meet with their advisers (and, if relevant, applied instructors) weekly until their project is complete.

On the Friday of the eighth week of Fall Term, students must demonstrate that their projects are on track for a timely completion. Paper track students must turn in a complete draft requiring little or no substantive revision. Composition track students must turn in a complete draft of their composition (full score; parts may be copied/generated later). Similarly, for Lecture/Performance track students, there will be a screening before two or more full-time music faculty (and relevant adjunct faculty, if appropriate) of selections (chosen at the discretion of the faculty) of the music to be performed at the Lecture/Performance. The papers and compositions will be reviewed by the comps committee the following week. Lecture/Performance and Composition track students must turn in rough drafts of their papers by the end of the term.

Students should register for one credit of Integrative Exercise (400) for the following Winter Term.

Winter Term Senior Year

For students in the Paper track, the final version of their paper must be turned in to the Department Administrative Assistant no later than Noon one week after the start of Winter Term classes. Similarly, for students in the Composition track, a final draft of their scores is due at the same time. For students in the Composition and Lecture/Performance tracks, the paper portion of their comps is due by Noon on Friday of the third week of the term.

Comps presentations will begin in the third week of the term for students in the Paper track, and in the sixth week of the term for students in the Lecture/Performance and Composition tracks. All presentations and performances will take place during common time whenever possible; some performances may require evening or weekend scheduling. All presentations and performances must be completed by the end of the term.

Spring Term Senior Year

Students are required to submit their comps papers at the end of Spring Term to the Gould Library for archiving. (Audio recordings are submitted directly by the Department.)

Grading and Alternative Schedules

Students must receive an "S" in order to pass the comprehensive exercise.

Alternative schedule and/or credit arrangements will be considered only in unusual circumstances (to accommodate the particular needs of a student with a double major, for example). Any alternative comps schedule must be worked out well in advance (at least by the end of the Junior year) and approved by the Department Chair.

Comps Presentations

An important goal of the comps process is that it should foster a sense of intellectual and musical community amongst the majors in the Music Department. Senior majors are required to attend all comps presentations; Junior majors are strongly encouraged to do so.

Seniors doing a research paper will give a 20-30 minute oral presentation about their research. Students in the Lecture/Performance or Composition tracks will give a 20-30 minute oral presentation about their music; their presentations will also include the performance portion of their comps, which should not exceed 15 minutes (i.e. their total presentation should not run longer than 45 minutes). Time limits on presentation length will be enforced.

At the beginning of Spring Term, students who will be giving comps presentations should consult with the comps committee to discuss the protocols for their presentations, such as use of A/V equipment, appropriate topics for discussion, how to ask and answer questions, and so forth.

Distinction in Comps

Distinction in comps is occasionally awarded by the Department; students in all tracks may be considered for Distinction. Such an award takes into consideration a student's performance in all aspects of the comps process. Students who fail to meet the deadlines indicated above will be ineligible for Distinction. In making its decision, the faculty will consider not only the achievements of students in the current year, but also the standards applied to students in previous years, both those who were and were not awarded Distinction.