Was it an elementary school teacher who turned you on to music? Or a middle or high school band director?  Or perhaps the choir director at your church?

No matter who influenced your passion for music, one thing is for sure – music teachers can change lives.

To join their ranks takes years of training and academic preparation, such as that provided through the Frost School’s Department of Music Education and Music Therapy. An undergraduate music education degree will prepare and qualify you to teach choral, instrumental, and general music at the elementary and secondary school levels.

The Department of Music Education and Music Therapy at the UM Frost School offers a long tradition of excellence in teacher preparation. This nationally recognized and accredited program, located within a Research 1 university and internationally renowned music school, prepares future teachers in a dynamic and diverse cultural environment.

Music Education students at the Frost School receive a great deal of individualized, personalized attention in a diverse learning environment. You’ll be amazed at the wide range of unique course offerings and experience opportunities that are available to enrich your study.

To help you develop your musicianship to the fullest extent possible, four years of study are required on your principal instrument as well as participation in Frost School of Music ensembles. The program emphasizes music theory, musicology, and conducting, along with music education methods and techniques courses, field experiences, and internships at elementary and secondary levels to enable you to develop skills teaching music in various settings. Through your study, you’ll also gain an understanding of the processes involved in musical development and learning, as well as the techniques and materials needed to facilitate music education.

To help you gain a broader understanding of the world in which you will teach, the Music Education curriculum is well-rounded, with courses in the humanities, natural world, people and society, psychology, mathematics, and professional education, all offered by distinguished University of Miami faculty.

Professional Education and Music Education courses require both observations of and active participation in elementary and secondary school classrooms. The undergraduate program culminates in a complete semester of full‑time teaching in a public school setting, with experience at both the elementary and secondary levels.

Students wishing to major in Music Education/Jazz Emphasis develop their skills in jazz performance, improvisation, and pedagogy in addition to traditional performance, while earning certification as a music teacher. The program, which may require one additional summer of study, combines the essential features of the Music Education Program with the Studio Music and Jazz Program.

Students admitted to this program must successfully complete both classical and jazz auditions.

Students may choose a double major in Music Education/Music Therapy. This program allows students to work toward certification as music teachers and board certification as music therapists. Two internships are required – one in music education and one in music therapy – making this a five-year program.

The connection between music and health can be traced back to prehistoric societies that used music to dispel evil spirits and access supernatural powers. Recent developments in technology now enable scientists to see even more precisely how the human brain and body respond to music and create music.

Using this knowledge, music therapists help people maintain, regain, or develop important life skills, such as speech intelligibility, attention and memory, mobility and other critical movements, plus emotional growth and social adaptation.

For more information please visit: http://www.umiamimusictherapy.com/

The Frost School’s Music Therapy Program offers several unique features that make it one of the most distinctive programs of its kind in the nation. First, the program is built upon the clinical paradigm known as Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT). This model utilizes scientific evidence regarding human perception and production of music to treat diseases of the human nervous system, such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, autism, stroke, mental illness, or cerebral palsy. This scientific model, which is becoming increasingly recognized and accepted by the medical community, is available at only a handful of universities nationwide.

Second, music therapy students at the Frost School engage in extensive amounts of clinical training that exceed national standards and that are not typically offered at other universities. Students complete six consecutive semesters of clinical practicum, in which they serve a variety of clinical populations within different community settings.

Practicum assignments frequently take place within the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center, a world-renowned center for medical research, treatment, and clinical care.

Finally, music therapy students benefit from the many resources available through other academic divisions of the university. For example, graduate students take courses in cognitive neuroscience, while undergraduate students have a psychology minor incorporated in to the curriculum.

To be accepted into the undergraduate program, students must first audition and receive positive ratings from the performance faculty. Final acceptance decisions are then made by music therapy faculty who consider each student’s musical skills, overall intelligence, and ability to work with others.

At the successful completion of Music Therapy coursework, undergraduate students begin a six-month clinical internship, after which they are eligible to sit for the board certification exam and begin practice as a clinician.

Upon graduation, music therapy students are eligible for a variety of employment opportunities. Recent graduates are serving as a rehabilitation therapist for adults receiving in-patient psychiatric are, a research associate for neonatal intensive care, and a pediatric outpatient therapist. Many graduates also pursue graduate studies either in music therapy or related fields, such as speech-language pathology, psychology, counseling, or social work.

The Frost School’s Music Therapy Program is approved by the American Music Therapy Association and the National Association for Schools of Music.

Department Chair:
Dr. Joyce Jordan
jjordan@miami.edu
305-284-2161, ext. 7604

Program Directors:

Music Education
Joyce Jordan

Music Therapy
Shannon de l'Etoile                                        sdel@miami.edu                                                             305-284-3943    

http://www.umiamimusictherapy.com/

Click on the programs below for complete course requirements.
Bachelor of Music in Music Education
Bachelor of Music in Music Education/Jazz Emphasis
Bachelor of Music in Music Education and Music Therapy (double major)
Bachelor of Music in Music Therapy

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Click here to read why students from near and far come to study at the University of Miami Frost School of Music!