Note: the Music minor requirements have changed effective Fall 2022. For students who declared the minor prior to Fall 2022, please refer to the pre-Fall 2022 Music minor requirements.
Students may choose to complete a minor in Music, which consists of a total of 7 courses (2 lower-division and 5 upper-division courses).
Lower Division Course Requirements
Select one course from:
- Music 20 (Introduction to Musicianship)
- Music 25 (Introduction to Music Theory, Analysis, and Notation)
- Music 57 (Introduction to Electronic Music Composition)
- Music 90 (Making Music)*
Select a second course from:
- Music 26AC (Music in American Culture)
- Music 27 (Introduction to Western Music)
- Music 29 (Music Now)
- Music 30 (Computational Creativity for Music and the Arts)
- Music 31 (Radical Listening)
- Music 70 (History of Music)*
- Music 80 (Studies of Musics of the World)*
* Music 70, 80, and 90 are requirements for the Music Major; enrollment in these three courses is highly competitive and declared/intended Music Majors are prioritized.
Exemption from Lower-Division Requirements
We do not accept course substitution by AP Music Theory or other examinations such as ABRSM or Certificate of Merit. There are no placement exams to waive the two required lower-division courses for the Music minor. Students with prior background in music theory may opt to take the Advanced Harmony Placement Exam if they wish to place into a higher level of harmony courses (Music 151A-B-C-D).
Upper Division Course Requirements
A minimum of 5 upper-division Music courses (Music 100-189), each of which must be two or more units.
- At least two courses must be a performance ensemble (Music 116, 140-149, or 164-165).
- At least one course must NOT be a performance ensemble.
- All performance ensemble courses must be taken at UC Berkeley.
General Program Policies:
- All courses applied to the Music Minor requirements must be taken for a letter grade. A letter grade of C- or higher must be received in all of your lower- and upper-division music minor courses. If a Music course is taken as Pass/No Pass, it cannot be accepted in satisfaction of the minor requirement and students must take an alternative course that fulfills the same requirement for a letter grade.
- A minimum 2.0 grade point average is required for courses included in the Music minor.
- At least three of the five upper-division courses must be completed at UC Berkeley.
- No more than one upper-division course may be included in both your minor and major program.
Procedure for Declaration and Confirmation of the Minor
Students should start taking required Music courses prior to declaring the minor. To declare the Music minor, please complete the Music Minor Application to indicate your intention to minor in Music AND schedule an appointment to meet the the Music Advisor. Once declared, the notation “Music UG” will appear under Minor on the My Academics tab in CalCentral, below the student’s photo.
DEADLINE: the Music Minor Application must be submitted by the Friday of RRR week in the semester prior to a student’s Expected Graduation Term (EGT). New minors cannot be added after this deadline.
To confirm completion of the minor: once enrolled in the final course(s) to complete the Music Minor, students should fill out the Completion of L&S Minor form, obtain the signature of their major adviser, and email the signed form to MusicAdvising@berkeley.edu. Regardless of the student’s major and whether there is a possibility of course overlap, the major advisor must sign off on the form.
The department will verify a student’s completion of minor requirements at the end of their Expected Graduation Term (EGT) using their unofficial transcript online, when all the listed courses receive a final grade. No further action by the student is needed unless otherwise notified. If a student does not successfully complete all minor requirements by the end of their last term, the department will not certify the completion of minor.
If approved, the completion of the Music Minor will be noted in the “memorandum” section on the transcript. It will not appear on the diploma.