Music BA

Our Bachelor of Arts in Music degree is designed with flexibility in mind. Not only can the BA in Music be accelerated and completed in 3 years, it contains two distinct tracks that allow you to take on a secondary major outside of music OR concentrate your degree work in Music Technology. No matter what, you will enjoy all the benefits of a music degree including private lessons and ensembles while exploring areas of specialized interest as well as studies outside of music.

  • Customize your curriculum to target your own personal interests and align your studies with your desired outcomes. While Music Technology is an official concentration within the BA, you have the ability to craft your own specialized music focus with your Student Success Coach.
  • Earn a secondary major, minor, or certificate from another discipline within the College of Liberal Arts. View other majors.
  • Accelerate your pathway and move on to graduate studies in business or law as part of our 3+ programs.
  • Our GRAMMY Award-winning faculty are networked into the international music industry and know exactly what it takes to be successful in music careers from the practice room and performance hall to the recording studio, sound stage, or concert arena.
  • Our students benefit from master classes presented by internationally-recognized music experts and guest artists.
  • Our graduates succeed.

View the 2024–2025 Curriculum

Audition Overview

Admission to the Mary Pappert School of Music also includes a formal audition. Learn more about the audition process & guidelines.

Program Information

Accelerated Pathway Options: BA + One-Year MBA (3-year), BA + Juris Doctor (6-year)

Program Type

Major

Degree

Bachelor's

School

Mary Pappert School of Music

Academic Department

Musicianship

Duration

4-year (can be accelerated to complete in 3 years)

Required Credit Hours

120

Customize Your BA in Music

 
Faculty member instructs student at a mixing console.

Concentrate your BA with studies in music technology.

You can create your own music-making experience that balances your passion for music production with your desire to perform by choosing courses in music technology while taking lessons and participating in ensembles, such as:

Four people talking and drinking coffee.

Accelerate and combine your BA with business or law.

The accelerated pathway allows students to complete the BA in 3 years immediately followed by 1 year of graduate studies in the Palumbo-Donahue School of Business or 3 years in the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Â鶹ֱ²¥.

Two people garden.

Earn a Secondary Major, Minor, or Certificate

Build upon your music degree by adding a secondary major from the College of Liberal Arts. Choose from a full array of majors including Cybersecurity Studies, Digital Media Arts, International Relations, Multiplatform Journalism and many more!

 

Looking for More Options in Music Tech?

Dive deeper into the entertainment arts industry and explore pathways in composition for media and music production through our Bachelor of Music in Music Technology. Amplify your hands-on experiences in our production labs and recording studios while intensifying private instruction and strengthening performance skills.

BM Music Tech

Alumni Perspective

Student in graduation cap and gown stands in front of a city background.

I learned so much from my time at Duquesne! I’ve been able to take my skills abroad to work at the Duquesne in Rome campus as a Global Assistant Resident Coordinator.

Megan Dell B.A., 2022

Program Director

Benjamin Binder

Chair of Musicianship Department; Professor of Musicianship; Program Director of the Bachelor of Arts in Music

Headshot of Benjamin Binder in front of blurry leaves.

Hone Your Performing Skills

Regardless of degree path, each student benefits from one-on-one instruction with our world-class faculty.

Duquesne's ensembles will provide you with the finest university-level performing experiences available, preparing you for your career as a professional musician. As a member, you will perform on campus, as well as at some of the best venues for music in the city. Our students have performed at Heinz Hall, Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland, Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall, the August Wilson Center, the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall, and many more. 

LEARN ABOUT ENSEMBLES

In today's competitive commercial and studio music environment, versatility is of the utmost importance. Our unique jazz curriculum integrates foundational training in the classical tradition with private instruction and coursework in jazz idioms.

Find Out More Â鶹ֱ²¥ Studying Jazz at Duquesne

Learning Outcomes

In addition to the School of Music General Outcomes for all Undergraduate Degree Areas, students in the BA with a Major in Music will demonstrate the following general competencies:

  1. The ability to think, speak, and write clearly and effectively, and to communicate with precision, cogency, and rhetorical force.
  2. An informed acquaintance with the mathematical and experimental methods of the physical and biological sciences; with the main forms of analysis and the historical and quantitative techniques needed for investigating the workings and developments of modern society.
  3. The ability to address culture and history from a variety of perspectives.
  4. Understanding of, and experience in thinking about, moral and ethical problems.
  5. The ability to respect, understand, and evaluate work in a variety of disciplines.
  6. The capacity to explain and defend views effectively and rationally.
  7. Understanding of and experience in one or more art forms other than music.