Undergraduate Guitar
Undergraduate Guitar
As a student in the undergraduate guitar degree program at University of North Carolina School of the Arts, you will build the foundations for a professional life in the world of music. You will be surrounded by a thriving community of musicians, where you can rise to your full potential, achieve your musical goals and express your artistic voice.
Bachelor of Music
You will be part of a robust group of committed guitarists with divergent musical interests, each receiving weekly private lessons, studio performance and guitar skills classes, ensemble opportunities and academic courses – all aimed at giving you a viable career path after graduation. Your private lessons are with a faculty member who is an acclaimed, active musician, with one-on-one attention that gives you a highly individualized course of study. Weekly studio master classes will give you the opportunity to perform in front of your peers in the guitar program, building confidence and stage skills.
Performance opportunities on and off campus abound. Your participation in ensembles will allow you to explore styles beyond classical, as will guest artists who present broad musical and professional perspectives. Your time at UNCSA will help you grow into a dynamic musician ready to perform fearlessly on stage and in the professional world.
First–Second Years
In your first two years of undergraduate guitar program study, you will begin private
lessons, master classes and ensemble participation, while studying the foundations
of music theory, aural and keyboard skills, and musical styles. You will pursue liberal arts courses in English, math or science, and the humanities. In your freshman through junior years,
you are also required to attend a weekly Performance Hour, where you will perform
for your peers throughout the School of Music.
Third–Fourth Years
Your studies in the foundational courses will continue in your third and fourth years,
which include additional liberal arts courses, music history and career development
classes. To prepare you for the possibility of teaching professionally and operating
a teaching business, your junior year will include a year-long course in pedagogy
with registered instruction in the Suzuki method. In your senior year, you will fulfill
your capstone graduation requirement, a full recital at both a juried recital hearing
and a public performance.
Careers
UNCSA graduates consistently rank among the most successful guitarists in the country, earning prizes in guitar competitions, appearing on international concert stages and serving as teachers in higher education and community schools.
