Music & Journalism University Courses
If creativity runs through your veins, taking music and journalism university courses will provide essential stepping stones in your education and can lead to a very fulfilling career later in life. While many of these classes come with a degree, there are some you can take as standalone courses, as well.
-
Choosing a University
-
As of 2010, most major universities still offer plenty of courses related to both music and journalism and many offer a combination of the two. Technical colleges and smaller branches of these universities may not offer these courses due to budget restrictions that have been imposed over the past decade.
Both music and journalism courses can be taken online through either a physical university or an online school but you may reach a point with music classes where you will have to physically attend.
Choosing a Major
-
If your interests are music and journalism, you have a couple options for a major.
A music major often has to pass a proficiency or placement exam. If you were to go to the University of Columbia, for example, to major in music you have to have taken Fundamentals of Western Music and Introductory Ear-training. To keep this as your major, you need 40 points worth of music courses on your schedule. The points per class and points needed to remain a music major may change with each college, so it's a great idea to work with an advisor to make sure you meet or exceed the requirements.
A journalism major can be selected by most students during their first year of school. This usually happens during the second semester if you've taken the necessary pre-journalism classes. The University of Montana, for example, requires prospective journalism majors to take Media History and Literacy Reporting, Beginning Video Photography and Production and Beginning Photojournalism before they can choose journalism as a major.
A music journalism major isn't offered in a lot of schools; instead, a major in music and minor in journalism or vice versa is recommended.
-
Music Courses
-
Sheet music will be used very often if you play an instrument. Music courses span a very wide range of subject matter that isn't limited to participating in some kind of band, though you'll most likely do that also. Many schools let you choose a particular instrument field, such as brass or woodwinds, if your interests lie primarily with becoming a performer or teacher in the future, but the most popular music courses are in the areas of history and composition.
Some music courses you might take at a university are Studying Contemporary Popular Music, Music of the Middle Ages, Rhythm and Meter and Ethnomusicology. You don't have to be a major or minor in the music program to take music courses. They can be taken as electives at most schools.
Journalism Courses
-
Journalists are the backbone of media. Depending on your school choice, you could have the option of dozens of journalism courses such as photo journalism and print, broadcast and radio/television production.
Before you get into specialized courses, most journalism programs require a proficiency exam. You usually take classes such as English composition, creative writing and sociology or psychology for a few semesters first.
After you declare a journalism major, you'll take classes like Advanced Reporting, Writing for Mass Media and Broadcast News. You'll be able to specialize in a particular area, such as sports journalism.
Careers Available
-
Music, journalism or a combination of both can lead to a very rewarding career. Music lovers can go on to become performers or teachers and journalism lovers can work on television and radio or in all types of print media.
If you want to be a sportscaster, you will want a school that offers sports journalism and has a large sports program. You will probably have a chance to intern with the school's teams and cover their games and events in print, radio or other forms of media. If you are more focused on community events and want to work for a local paper, find a school with more emphasis on classes like Community Event Reporting and Public Affairs Reporting.
Music majors can find work with many different companies, such as studios that make movie soundtracks and television and radio production companies. Music majors can also graduate and continue their music education by becoming graduate students and earn a master's degree in a specific area of music like Jazz. This opens up even more opportunities to become a professional musician, professor or composer.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit university auditorium image by Earl Robbins from Fotolia.com music book. manuscript. music score image by L. Shat from Fotolia.com Journalism image by Zhanat Abylkassym from Fotolia.com
