New Undergraduate Students Choosing Courses

All degree programs require completion of a minimum of 20 credits. The breakdown of the individual program course requirements is outlined in the charts specific to the Program of Study (for those in the Bachelor of Music) and by Instrument (for those in the Bachelor of Music in Performance)

You must follow the program requirements in the Academic Calendar applicable to the year you enter the program. If you complete the Exploratory Year, you will will follow the specific program requirements of your chosen specialization according to the Academic Calendar of the year you entered the Faculty of Music.

Basic Music Courses indicated in bold must be taken in the year specified. 

Bachelor of Music

Composition | History, Culture & Theory | Interdisciplinary Music Studies | Music Education

Students admitted into Composition (Direct Entry), Interdisciplinary Music  Studies, Music Education begin their specialization in Year 1.

If you’re entering the Bachelor of Music in the Exploratory Year, you will declare your specialization upon successful completion of your first year. However, you are advised to choose courses from your intended area of study. These courses will count toward program requirements if you continue in that specialization, or will count as Music Electives should another area of study be chosen.

There is no direct-entry option for History, Culture & Theory; you can declare this specialization after year 1.

Bachelor of Music in Performance | Artist Diploma

Students admitted into the Bachelor of Music in Performance (Classical and Jazz) and the Artist Diploma begin their specialization in year 1.

Refer to your instrument specific chart for Bachelor of Music in Performance program requirements. 

See Artist Diploma program requirement charts by instrument.

Basic Music Courses are foundational courses that are required and must be taken in the year specified within your program chart and are listed in bold in the Academic Calendar. These courses are mandatory; you may not drop or defer them. 

Required Basic Music Courses by program:

For first year students, courses with an * have already been added to your enrolment. The sections assigned cannot be changed without permission from the Registrar’s Office. You will be required to enrol in all the other required Basic Music Courses during the first round of enrolment.

For all the Programs, excluding Jazz Performance, note that this does not include courses that are program specific.

+ Classical Keyboard majors enrol in a meeting section of TMU105Y1. Non-keyboard majors enrol in a meeting section of TMU107Y1. Non-keyboard majors who have RCM Grade 3 Piano proficiency are able to be exempted from the course by submitting an official transcript. For students who have required level of proficiency, but not the certification, exemption tests will be offered during the first class.

** Major Ensemble will be added to your enrolment by the Registrar’s Office in late September based on placement auditions.

 

Course descriptions

In the Calendar, each music course has a brief course description which includes a short summary of the course, any restrictions (prerequisites, co-requisites, exclusions), and credit weight assigned for the course. 

• Prerequisite: Course(s) that need to be completed before you can enrol in this course 

• Co-requisite: Course(s) that you need to enrol in at the same time 

• Exclusion: You cannot enrol in the course if you have completed or are enrolling in the exclusion

NOTE: Not every course listed in the Academic Calendar will be offered every term/academic year. Only the courses listed in the Timetable Builder are available for you to enrol in each academic year. 

Subdivisions of the Faculty of Music
 

Program specific courses will be listed in your program chart which are not in bold. You are required to complete these courses to meet your degree requirements, and it is recommended that you take them in the year of study indicated in the program chart (where a credit weight is indicated under the year of study). It is  important to also watch for prerequisite courses that may apply to your requirements as these can impact when you may take these courses.

Music Elective is any Faculty of Music course (excluding Basic Music Courses) that is not required for the specific program. Every program requires the completion of a specific number of music electives.

The distribution of Music Elective credits per academic year indicated in your program chart should be viewed as a recommended guideline; you are able to spread these out during your time of study as long as you meet the minimum requirements for the degree as indicated in your program chart. 

Learn about options to pursue a music minor or certificate with your music electives.

A Breadth Elective is a course offered by the Faculty of Arts & Science; however, up to one full credit of designated Music courses can be counted towards this requirement. Students have the opportunity to benefit from the diverse course offerings, that span different areas and traditions of music. Carefully review your program chart for the required number of credits

You are free to choose from any of the courses in the Arts & Science Calendar, provided prerequisites and corequisites are met, with the exception that Faculty of Music students are not permitted to take courses with the MUS prefix.

Faculty of Music students are also able to enrol in courses at U of T Mississauga and U of T Scarborough to complete breadth electives. Note that the enrolment dates may vary for courses on these campuses.

The distribution of Breadth Elective credits per academic year indicated in your program chart should be viewed as a recommended guideline; you are able to spread these out during your studies as long as you meet the minimum requirements for the degree as indicated in your program chart. Students also have the option of working towards their Breadth electives during the summer; however, additional fee charges will be incurred.

Note: the Breadth Elective requirement does not apply to the Artist Diploma programs

To ensure exposure to diverse musical traditions and perspectives, you will complete a 0.5-credit Genre/Style requirement within your 20 credits. This can be fulfilled through an academic course, focusing on repertoire outside of the Classical/Jazz idioms, or through enrolment in an ensemble that focuses on Music from other traditions. Eligible courses are listed in Academic Calendar.

Course Code

ABC: 3 letters denoting the division/department 
123: 3 numbers denoting the level (100, 200, 300, 400) 
H or Y: H = runs for one term only; Y = runs for both terms 
1: 1 number indicating the campus (1 = St. George Campus) 

Example: JMU100Y1 is a Jazz course at the 100-level that runs from September to April and is taught at the St. George campus.

Title

Abbreviated version of the full title of the course given in the Academic Calendar.

Credits

Music courses vary in weight, mostly from 0.17 - 1.0 credits. 
Arts & Science courses are worth either 0.5 (Half Course) or 1.0 (Full Course) credits.

Section Code

F = Fall session (September to December) 
S = Winter session (January to April) 
Y = Fall and Winter sessions (September to April)

Meeting Section

The letter indicates the nature of the course. 
LEC or L = Lecture 
PRA or P = Practical or Performance 
TUT or T = Tutorial 
A course may be offered at more than one time during the week, which will be indicated with different numbered meeting sections (e.g. P0101, P0201). Students have the option of choosing the meeting section that best fits the rest of their schedule.

Date

M = Monday
T = Tuesday
W = Wednesday 
R = Thursday 
F = Friday 
S = Saturday 

Where more than one letter is used for the day, classes meet on each day indicated.

Hours

The letter corresponds to the same legend used for meeting sections. The number refers to the number of hours this course meets a week. 
For instance, 2L means the course is a lecture and meets for a total of 2 hours each week.. 

Time

Classes begin at 10 minutes after the hour and finish on the hour. For example, a class with time of “TR10” meets on both Tuesday and Thursday, beginning at 10:10 and ending at 11:00. A class with a time of “M3-5” meets on Monday from 3:10 to 5:00. This is referred to "U of T Time".

Building / Room

All courses are in the Edward Johnson Building unless specified otherwise.

Room numbers are available on ACORN, and on the version of the timetable that is available on SharePoint. (New students gain access to SharePoint after the registration deadline).

Note that on Timetable Builder

• EJ = Edward Johnson Building
• JP = 90 Wellesley Building (Faculty of Music South)

See the campus map for building codes and locations.

Enrolment indicators are codes used for some courses which tell you if there are any special restrictions for enrolling in a course (known as enrolment controls). Not all courses have enrolment controls and some courses have multiple controls.

Courses without enrolment indicators and controls are open to all students, as long as students have the appropriate prerequisites listed in the Faculty of Music Academic Calendar. Courses with enrolment indicators and controls may or may not be open to students depending as follows:
 

• C (conditional): Students can enrol in the course; final confirmation will be based on an audition/interview during the first week of September. 
• P (Priority): Students enrolled in the specific program/year indicated will receive priority during the first round of enrolment. During the second round of enrolment, the remaining spaces, if any, will be available to all students. 
• R (Restricted): The course is restricted to students in the specific program/year indicated at all times. Enrolment for others is only an option by getting written permission from the instructor of the course. Instructors may require an audition/interview prior to giving permission. 
• E (Divisional Permission): The Registrar’s Office will add you to this course, once you have met the enrolment condition. This could include being enrolled in a certain program or year of study, a placement audition, or approval of a proposal.

Examples:

1. DMU111H1 - Intro to Computer Applications in Music | Enrolment Control = P - Composition and Engineering 

   This means during the first round of course enrolment, priority for this course is given to students enrolled in  a composition major, or in the engineering technology music certificate. Looking in the Composition program chart, we see this course is a program specific requirement and it’s recommended to be taken in year 2. 

   Students in other programs may add this course during the second round of enrolment, space permitting.

2. PMU163Y1 - Sight Reading | Enrolment Control = R - Performance Yr 1

   This means this course is restricted to students in the first-year performance program.

   Looking in the Course Description in the Academic Calendar, we can see that the prerequisite states the course is for Piano Performance Majors and this is a program specific requirement for these students that they should enrol in during their first year.

   Students in another program, instrument, or year are not eligible to take this course.

Enrolment for Arts & Science courses is available during the second round of enrolment from July 30 – September 15.

From July 30 - August 4 enrolment in these course is across all divisions on St. George Campus, including the Faculty of Music. 

There will be no Arts & Science course enrolment on August 5; when course enrolment resumes on August 6 it will be open to all students, including UTM and UTSC, at that time. We urge you to register early for these courses.

The Faculty of Arts & Science uses waiting lists for course enrolment to ensure a fair and transparent process. This system eliminates the need to repeatedly check ACORN for space in full courses. If a spot opens in a full lecture or enrolment category, the next student on the waiting list is automatically enrolled. Waiting lists are available for a limited time; see Sessional Dates for when the waiting lists will close.

Music students may join waiting lists for up to 3.0 credits. However, being on a waiting list does not guarantee a spot in the course.

There are NO waiting lists for Faculty of Music courses.

Students who have studied higher levels of theory/harmony are invited to participate in tests which may exempt them from some of the core 1st year Theory and/or Musical Skills courses. 

These tests will be offered by the Theory Division for first-year required theory courses: TMU130H1 Music Theory I, TMU131H1 Music Theory II, TMU132H1 Musical Skills I & TMU133H1 Musical Skills II. You are not required to sign up for these tests – just show up at the scheduled time and place found in the Next Steps Guide.

NON-KEYBOARD MAJORS who have successfully completed RCM Piano 3 or equivalent may be exempted from Keyboard Skills (TMU107Y). An official RCM transcript needs to be in your file by the end of July before an exemption will be granted. If you do not have the RCM certification but believe you are able to play at this level, you can do an exemption test during Orientation Week. See the Next Steps Guide for full details.

Keyboard Majors (piano/organ) who have successfully completed RCM Intermediate Keyboard Harmony or equivalent may be exempted from Keyboard Harmony (TMU105Y). An Official RCM transcript needs to be in your file by the end of July before an exemption will be granted. If you do not have the RCM certification but believe you are able to demonstrate equivalent proficiency, you can do an exemption test as scheduled in the Next Steps Guide.

We encourage you to double check the enrolment controls. Often, this issue arises when you’re trying to add a course that is restricted to a program or year of study different than yours, or you do not fall into the priority enrolment category and must wait until the second round of enrolment opens.

Enrolment controls are found on the timetable and in timetable builder. 

When you are assigned your Applied Teacher in August, you will connect with them directly to arrange a mutually convenient time for your weekly lesson. As this time varies for each student, it will not appear on your ACORN timetable

Typically, due to scheduling it’s only possible for students to participate in one major ensemble per year.

You may have been removed from a course if it was determined that you have not met the prerequisite course(s), or required year of study. Alternatively, you may have been enrolled in too many courses and have exceeded the permitted credit load.

In some courses, you will have the option to select the meeting section that best works with your schedule.

However, in some cases, such as for PMU105Y1 - Instrumental Performance, you must enrol in the section assigned to your instrument.

For some theory/skills courses, you may also be assigned a particular section based on your theory assessment and cannot change this required course.

Classical students who are keyboard majors are required to enrol in a meeting section of TMU105Y1. Those who are non-keyboard majors are required to enrol in a section of TMU107Y1. Note that this is a Basic Music course, that must be enrolled in first year.

You have two options; you may wish to enrol in a Music elective, or Breadth elective, to stay on track with core requirements. 

Learn more about performance transfers