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Two Reed students are seated, playing guitar. One is playing an acoustic guitar, the other is playing an electric guitar.

What You’ll Study in the Bachelor’s Degree in Music

At Reed College, we believe that music enriches the life of the mind, body, and soul. As a music major at Reed College, hone your performance skills through private lessons—including with a wide range of instruments, from the accordion or the bassoon to the oud or the sitar—and public performances for both voice and instrument. Delve into courses that focus on music theory, music history, and ethnomusicology.

Roadmap to the BA in Music at Reed

Develop a broad range of skills for the interpretation and understanding of music, participate in performance activities, and learn in an academic community that believes all music is valuable.

Year One

Begin Your Reed Journey

Start your music studies by taking a beginning music course or auditioning for one of Reed’s performance groups. Explore the breadth of Reed’s offerings by taking a course outside of your major. And, of course, participate in the great tradition of Humanities 110, Reed’s yearlong first-year course aimed at introducing you to a variety of histories and academic fields while helping you to build your writing and critical thinking skills.

Discover Humanities 110

Why Study Music at Reed College?

Excellent Practice and Performance Spaces

The Performing Arts Building houses the music, dance, and theatre departments. The practice room suite boasts 14 soundproofed practice rooms containing 10 grand pianos, 3 studio uprights, 2 harpsichords, and a percussion room; the music rehearsal hall seats 120 for lectures, master classes, and film screenings; and the performing arts resource center houses music scores and media.

Tango at Reed College

Reed College hosts North America’s leading tango workshops for musicians, providing the immersive learning environment needed to play, arrange, compose, improvise, and teach tango music. The program attracts participants from throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and beyond who are eager to learn, explore, and experiment with tango music in meaningful ways.

Fellowship and Grant Opportunities

Enrich your understanding of music through funded opportunities to dive into musical performance and composition. Apply for Reed grants, such as the Kahan Music Performance Summer Fellowship, the Kaufman Music Achievement Award, or the Rothchild Summer Stipend, which can help fund your work.

Our Music Courses

Music Course Catalog

Careers for Music BA Graduates

Graduates of the music major pursue a variety of careers:

  • Audio Visual Technician, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI)
  • Caseworker, Australian Red Cross
  • Professor of Media Arts, Film, Animation, University of the Arts
  • Professor of Music & MacVicar Faculty Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Orchestra Librarian, The Women’s Philharmonic
  • Violinist, Oregon Symphony Orchestra

    Learn More About Career Paths and Possibilities

Graduate Program Placement for Music Majors

Graduates of Reed’s music department continue their studies at many renowned universities, including these:

  • Brandeis University
  • California Institute of the Arts
  • Cornell University
  • Juilliard
  • University of Oregon
  • University of Tennessee-Memphis

Explore Graduate Programs

Portrait photo of Bora Yoon, professor of music

Our Music Department Faculty

Meet our dedicated music department professors who are experts in topics from music history to ethnomusicology to electroacoustic music. Perform, learn, and compose as you study multiple perspectives on the impacts of music.

Meet Our Faculty

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