The various MM degree plans follow different guidelines regarding comprehensive examinations (see below), but in every case an oral exam is compulsory, and it should last at least 45 minutes.
If the supervisory committee wishes to defer the grade of the oral examination, the student has two weeks in which to re-take the portion which was not passed. If the re-take is not passed, the student is required to repeat the entire oral examination during the subsequent semester. If the supervisory committee decides that a student failed the oral examination, a re-examination may not be scheduled until the following semester.
The Final Oral Examination Report Form must be filed in the Office of Graduate Studies at least four weeks before the oral examination. Prior to this time, the candidate must obtain approval from the chair of the supervisory committee to take the oral examination and notify the Enrollment Specialist.
MUSIC THEORY AND MUSIC HISTORY SPECIALIZATIONS
The MM comprehensive examination for these specializations is the defense of the student’s thesis. The candidate may be asked to summarize the thesis and/or its genesis, to answer questions about specific elements of the project, to contextualize the project in a larger scholarly, musical, or historical context, or to speculate about additional research or compositional avenues suggested by the project.
MUSIC COMPOSITION SPECIALIZATION
The exam for Composition students is in two parts: the written examination and the oral examination.
Composition Specialization students are eligible to take their written examination no earlier than their third semester of study. Students will work with their supervisory committee chair to identify a five-day period for their comprehensive exam. No later than three weeks prior to the first day of the examination, the supervisory committee chair shall inform the supervisory committee of the beginning date.
The written examination consists of responses to three questions or prompts and a suggested response format. These questions will be developed by the three members of the student’s Supervisory Committee, in a manner directed by the Supervisory Committee Chair. The form and content of the questions will be determined according to the student’s scholarly and artistic interests.
At the Chair’s discretion, members of the committee may consult with the student to determine the content and nature of the questions and required responses. In addition to prose answers, questions requiring response in the form of composition and/or musical analysis are acceptable if approved by the Supervisory Committee Chair; length/page limits for these types of responses will be provided as a part of these questions. The three questions may assess the student’s knowledge of theory, history, and/or musicology from any period of Western music, non-Western music, and other musical styles/genres as appropriate; however, at least one question must require the student in part to write prose about their own compositions and/or artistic philosophy. The chair will forward the questions to the graduate secretary no less than 3 business days before the exam’s beginning date.
On the selected beginning date, the Enrollment Specialist will email students their three questions/prompts. Students may develop their responses using devices and resources of their own choosing, in compliance with the desired response format and relevant UNL/GKSOM policies. Each response may be no longer than five pages in length, unless otherwise specified in the question. All responses are due via email to the GKSOM Enrollment Specialist no later than 4:00 pm on the fifth calendar day of the examination period. Failure to submit all responses by this deadline will result an automatic grade of no pass for the exam. All exam responses may be subject to plagiarism checks using methods the supervisory committee sees fit, and any responses found to be in violation of the UNL student code of conduct will subject the student to discipline from the school, college and/or university.
Responses are assessed using the following scale: 1) Pass; 2) Defer (students retake the written exam with similar question[s] in the current semester), or 3) No Pass (students must retake the written exam with new question[s] in a subsequent semester). Students will not be eligible to take the Oral Examination until successfully receiving a grade of Pass on all elements of their Comprehensive Written Exam. Students who fail the written exam and fail a retake in the following semester will be placed on academic probation.
ALL NON-THESIS SPECIALIZATIONS (EXCEPT MUSIC EDUCATION)
The MM comprehensive examination for these students is an oral exam before the supervisory committee. This exam covers the major applied area (pedagogy, literature, etc.) and the graduate recital. The exam is informed by an essay, prepared and submitted electronically in pdf format by the student to each individual member of the student’s Supervisory Committee no less than one week prior to the oral exam. The essay should provide detailed historical, stylistic, and analytical perspectives of the compositions performed on the student’s recital. Scholarly citation is required if external sources are consulted. The candidate brings the scores of the recital works performed to the examination and should be prepared to demonstrate intellectual mastery of the music in the discussion which would typically consider the theoretical, biographical, historical, stylistic, and pedagogical background of the pieces. The discussion then may expand to probe more broadly and deeply into relevant history and repertoire of the applied area. The candidate should plan to demonstrate fluency with the applied area of study that ranges well beyond the music from the recital.
MUSIC EDUCATION (THESIS AND NON-THESIS SPECIALIZATIONS)
All candidates are required to pass a 90-minute oral examination before completing the requirements for the Master of Music degree. Students may schedule the examination in the semester during, but not before, the semester in which the course work is to be completed. A Final Examination Report Form must be filed in the Office of Graduate Studies at least four weeks before the examination (three weeks in the summer). Prior to this time, the student must obtain approval from the chair of the supervisory committee to take the exam and notify the Enrollment Specialist in the Music Office.
The process for scheduling the oral examination will be completed during the semester in which the student is registered for MUED 928 Capstone: Impacting the Future of Music Education course. Prior to completion of the oral exam, students will submit a portfolio containing:
- a 10-15 minute video file demonstrating the application of knowledge and skills learned in the Masters program to a K-12 teaching setting;
- a written 1-to-3 page statement of the student’s philosophy of music education; and
- a final research-based practice project.
The examination is graded as follows: Pass, Deferred with a re-take of a portion of the exam during the current semester, or No Pass with a re-take of the entire exam during a subsequent semester or summer session. If during the subsequent semester a candidate re-takes the examination and it is again graded No Pass, the candidate will be asked to take one or more additional courses. After completing that course work, the candidate may re-take the exam a final time.
In addition, students pursuing the Music Education Specialization with Thesis must defend their thesis in a public online forum. The candidate may be asked to summarize the thesis and/or its genesis, to answer questions about specific elements of the project, to contextualize the project in a larger scholarly, musical, or historical context, or to speculate about additional research suggested by the project.