Track 1 MA in Music Education program:

• Undergraduate degree in music education (or Post-Baccalaureate Licensure)
• Undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher
• One year of fulltime music teaching experience
• Intermediate computer skills (internet usage, saving, printing, copying, word processing); Reliable internet access, Internet Browser version 4.0 or higher.

Track 2 MA in Music Education program:

• Undergraduate degree in music (BA or BM)
• Undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher

See the following pages for application information:

• Application Procedures for Graduate Studies
• University of Hawai‘i, Graduate Division

Send the following to Graduate Division:

• One (1) official transcript for each post-secondary institution attended. Note: Photocopies are not acceptable. Transcripts must be mailed directly from the institution to the University of Hawaii.

Send the following to the Music Department:

• Graduate Program Statement of Objectives Form
• Three (3) letters of recommendation of which one (1) must be from a current or former supervisor, principal or administrator.
• Track 1 Each applicant must submit a video demonstrating current (within last two years) classroom teaching expertise before the application deadline. Suggested minimum length of the videotape/DVD is 20–30 minutes. Applicants may include segments from more than one class session or rehearsal. A lesson or rehearsal plan must be included with the demonstration video. This video serves as the general examination (part 3) for music education applicants. The video must be uploaded on Makalei.Decisions concerning both requirements and evaluations are made by the music education faculty. For more information, contact Dr. Chet-Yeng Loong.Track 2
  No video is needed.

Please allow approximately two (2) months for your application to be reviewed once all materials have been submitted. Fall admissions are usually notified by the end of April. Spring admissions are usually notified by the end of November.

Students whose applications are pending may register for classes as a “Post Baccalaureate Unclassified Student.” A maximum of nine (9) credits, taken as an unclassified graduate student may be applied toward the Master’s degree program.

• Click here to learn more about our various faculty
  • Music Education
  • Musicology
  • Ethnomusicology

Course of Study

All students must complete 18 credits of coursework at the 600 level or above, including one course designated as a seminar (excluding 699 and 700).

Course of Study

Students pursuing the Track 2 program are classified both as post-baccalaureate and graduate students. Prior to admission to the Track 2 program, students must meet the requirements of the COE Post-Baccalaureate Music Certificate in Secondary Education program, listed on this page. Students should meet with Music Education faculty members to discuss expectations and requirements. The fulfillment of the Post-Baccalaureate Music Certificate in Secondary Education is the student’s responsibility.

Track 2 Program Proficiencies:
Students must meet the proficiencies for the following areas prior to admission.

1. Keyboard Proficiency Exam
   • may enroll in and pass the assigned piano course
2. Conducting Proficiency
   • may enroll in and pass the assigned conducting class(es); or commensurate experience, as approved by faculty
3. Instrumental techniques Proficiency (Instrumentalists)
   • may enroll in and pass the assigned technique classes; or commensurate experience, as approved by faculty
4. Performance Proficiency
   3 options
   1. audition
   2. completion of recital in undergraduate program
   3. two semesters of performance study

In case of proficiencies are not met, additional course work may be required as advised.

** More applied lessons and/or performance ensembles may be advised for further musical development.

All students must complete 18 credits of coursework at the 600 level or above, including one course designated as a seminar (excluding 699 and 700).

Download the Guide for MA in Music, Education concentration degrees, Plan-B project.

All master’s students in music education must submit their Plan B projects in a hard copy and as a digital file to their Music Department adviser. Students must include a completed Plan B Non-Exclusive Distribution License with submission of the final form of the project. Upon receipt of that form and of the completed study, we will arrange to post the Plan B project at Scholar Space, Collections in the Music Department.

Any student who graduated prior to Spring 2011 but is willing to fill out and submit the Plan B Non-Exclusive Distribution License may also give permission for his/her project to be posted at the Scholar Space site. These students must send the completed form to the Department Secretary. Once the digitization process has taken place, the Graduate Chair will send a PDF file of the project to its author provided the Music Department has a current email address.

Download the Plan B Non-Exclusive Distribution License.

Music Schools and Departments accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) must administer a “graduate student diagnostic examination” in music theory and music history. These exams are administered AFTER you have been accepted into the Master of Arts degree program.

These exams will include questions and skills at approximately a college sophomore level in theory and history. Should you fail any portion of the exams, you will need to enroll in remedial coursework and/or take the exam again (see Graduate Diagnostic Examination).

Helpful study websites

• Music Theory Web Tutorials
• Practica Musica (music theory tutorial software you can buy)
• Online Interactive Music Theory Practice (Java)
• Music Theory & History Online (requires Sibelius Scorch viewer plugin – free download)
• Good Ear (online listening practice: intervals, scales, chords, cadences)
• Ear Training Software Megalist (shareware, demo and for sale)