Music Graduate Office

Doctoral Programs

Degree Requirements

Below is a general list of common requirements for the Doctor of Music degree. Select the section heading to view specific information on that portion of the curriculum.

Though the Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Music Education degrees differ; much of the information for these degrees can be found in the chart below and by following the links to detailed information.

Students in a doctoral degree program must have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher to graduate.

Degree sheets for each major

Click on the program name below to have a list of requirements for that degree open in a new window.  These requirements are for the 2009-2011 Bulletin.  If you entered under the 2001-2003, 2003-2005, 2005-2007 or 2007-2009 Bulletin, click here for a list of program requirements. 

Minors

Students in most doctoral programs complete two minors, usually twelve credits in each minor. (Ph.D. students in Musicology complete one minor.) The first minor for a student in a performance area must be in music history and literature, music theory, or music education. The second minor may be within or outside the Jacobs School of Music. Performance students may not elect a second minor in performance, except that students may complete a minor in a related early instrument and vice versa. Detailed information on minors is available here.

Major field electives or course substitutions

Some doctoral degree have electives as part of the major field.  If your degree includes elective credits, please see here for information about how to have your elective choices formally approved.

If your degree includes a course that you have already taken in a previous program at IU, you may propose a substitute course to take its place. See here for more information.

Course Load

Students are ordinarily required to enroll full time during the fall and spring semesters.  The minimum semester course load is 8 credit hours; the maximum is 17. Most students take between 8 and 12 credit hours per semester.

Click here for more information about full-time and part-time enrollment options and requirements.

Click here for registration options for students who have complete all qualifying exams (during the Doctoral Candidacy period).

Residency Requirement and Transfer Credit

The doctoral degree requires completion of a least 90 credit hours of advanced study (including the master's degree). At least 30 credit hours beyond the master's degree must be completed at IU, with at least two consecutive semesters in residence. Up to 30 credit hours may be transferred from accredited institutions. Transfer credit for the D.M. and D.M.E. degrees is approved by the Director of Graduate Studies and the department in which the equivalent course is offered. Departmental practices vary; an interview or examination may be required. Performance lessons, chamber music coaching, ensemble, and review courses may not be transferred.

Time Limits

Before Qualifying Examinations

D.M. students must complete all course work (including those courses transferred from other schools, but not including those on the master's degree) and begin qualifying examinations within a period of seven calendar years from the date of matriculation in the doctoral program.

Ph.D. and D.M.E. students have 10 calendar years, including the master's degree.

Students who do not complete their course work within the prescribed time limit must be readmitted to the major field (through interview, submission of documents, or audition, as appropriate to the major), meet current requirements, and make any other curricular changes required by the director of graduate studies and the major field department. If a student is readmitted to the major, the term of readmission is three years. If the student has not completed course work by that time, he or she must once again meet the terms for readmission described above.

In addition, any doctoral course taken more than 10 calendar years earlier must be revalidated according to the procedures of the department offering the course. D.M. and D.M.E. students must receive permission to revalidate courses from the director of graduate studies. Ph.D. students must receive permission to revalidate courses from the director of graduate studies and from the dean of the University Graduate School.

Proficiencies (music history, music theory, keyboard, performance, language reading, language grammar, language diction, musical styles) more than 10 years old must be revalidated. Proficiencies must also be revalidated for students beginning a second degree more than 10 years after beginning a first.

Qualifying Examinations

Qualifying examinations, written and oral, must be completed within one calendar year of the first exam date.

After Qualifying Examinations

D.M. students must complete the degree within seven years after passing the qualifying examinations. After that time, students must be reinstated to candidacy. To be reinstated to candidacy, students must (1) obtain the permission of the department chairperson and the director of graduate studies, (2) fulfill any new departmental requirements in effect at the time of the application for reinstatement, (3) pass a written qualifying examination, the content and duration of which will be agreed upon by the student's examination committee and the director of graduate studies. If reinstatement is granted, it is valid for a period of three years. Revalidation of course work is not required.

Ph.D. students must follow the reinstatement procedure outlined in the bulletin of the University Graduate School.

Interruption of Study

Doctoral students who, prior to completion of the qualifying examinations, have interrupted their degree pursuits for a period of five years or more must meet current requirements for the degree, and make any other curricular changes required by the major field advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies.

Older time limits

Earlier Bulletins had slightly different limits, which are summarized here:

These time limits are suspended for student in active military service for the duration of that active service.

Recitals

All doctoral performance majors must perform a varying number of recitals depending on the degree program. D.M. Conducting and Composition majors are required to do one or more public performances depending on the program. For specific information on recital requirements, students should review the information for their degree in the Jacobs School of Music Bulletin and check with their department chair.

For more information regarding recital guidelines and scheduling, review the Recital Scheduling homepage, or contact the Recital Scheduling Office (recsched AT indiana.edu or 812-855-6000).

Location

Recitals must take place in public spaces in Bloomington, announced to and open to the public. Exceptionally, with the approval of a student’s doctoral advisory committee and the director of graduate studies, one doctoral recital may be performed out of town if attended in person, at the expense of the student, by the faculty member(s) who would ordinarily be present.

Date

Recitals ordinarily take place during the fall or spring semesters according to deadlines specified in the scheduling policies. Recitals may take place during the second summer session if a hearing can be arranged and if faculty members are available to attend the recital.

Hearing

A pre-recital hearing is required for all undergraduate, master's and performer diploma recitals, except for composition recitals. At the discretion of the faculty, other recitals (doctoral) may also be given a hearing. A hearing must be scheduled so that it can be completed and the recital performed within the published deadlines; it is the student's responsibility to arrange a hearing and to meet the deadlines. Students may perform a hearing in the summer with the approval of the department chair if faculty members are available. A hearing is valid for 60 days.

Repertory

Recital repertory is subject to approval by a student’s teacher or committee following any guidelines published by the department. Appropriate repertory for chamber music recitals is specified by departments. Recital repertory may not be repeated for degree credit.

Grading

Doctoral recitals are ordinarily attended and graded in person by the three members of a student’s doctoral advisory committee. The chair must hear the recital in person; exceptionally, in consultation beforehand with the committee chair and the student, a committee member may arrange for a departmental substitute, or to hear a recording of the recital. Recordings, when used, are available in the Music Library.

All recital grades are reported in writing to the director of graduate studies. The final grade is an average of the grades assigned by each committee member. The minimum grade for each doctoral recital is a "B."

Recording

Doctoral recitals must be recorded by the Department of Recording Arts for the Music Library when they take place in a Jacobs School of Music venue. A recording of equivalent quality must be provided to the Music Library by the student when a Doctoral recital is performed in a non-Music School venue.

Assisting performers

Recitals may include the participation of no more than 13 assisting performers and a conductor. All must be available for a hearing, if required. Participation by assisting performers must not interfere with their lessons, ensemble assignments or academic responsibilities. Chamber music credit is available to the assisting performers only if they have registered and arranged specifically for that credit. Special rules apply to conducting, composition, and jazz studies recitals that use Jacobs School of Music ensembles or specially-assembled groups; consult the appropriate department for information.

Length

Recitals have minimum and maximum lengths, which are displayed in the Jacobs School of Music Bulletin (p. 91), and in the Recital Scheduling Office.

Advisory Committee

After a student has been admitted to a degree program, he/she must submit a list of faculty members to serve on his/her Doctoral Advisory Committee. The Director of Graduate Studies appoints the committee based on the submitted list. This committee administers the qualifying examinations and approves and grades any required recitals or performances.

A Doctoral Advisory Committee normally consists of three major field and two minor field representatives. One of the major field representatives serves as the chair of the committee. For performance majors, the student's teacher is the chair of the committee.

Visiting faculty members may serve as committee members for recital grading. For qualifying exams, an advisory committee should include three permanent members of the student's department. If the student's teacher is a visiting faculty member, one of the other members from the permanent faculty should be asked to serve as chair.

Lecturers/senior lecturers will ordinarily not be appointed to doctoral committees, but their departments may petition the director of graduate studies to allow exceptions if they regularly teach doctoral students.

If one of the student's minor fields is Music History & Literature or Music Theory, the student must complete a form, (the Minor Field representative in Music History & Literature form, or the Minor Field representative in Music Theory form, also available in the Music Graduate Office), requesting a musicology or music theory faculty member be assigned as his/her minor field representative.  These forms require faculty signatures, and are then submitted first to the Music Theory and Musicology department office (in the Simon Center Building room M225H), and then to the Music Graduate Office.  Note: The guided electives option do not have a minor field representative.

There is no definite date by which the Advisory Committee should be established, but it should be done as early as possible. In general, performance majors should submit his/her list before arranging the first recital; theory, musicology, and music education majors should submit his/her list before arranging qualifying examinations.

To request your committee, submit the Doctoral Advisory Committee form. Signatures are not required, but the student must speak with each person on his or her list before submitting the form to the Graduate Office. To update changes to a previously established committee, click here.

Ph.D. students in Music Theory arrange their advisory committee in consultation with the department chair.

Research Committee

For D.M.students, the Research Committee is appointed by the Director of Graduate Studies from a list submitted by the student as part of the topic proposal approval process.  For Ph.D. students, the Research Committee is appointed by the dean of the University Graduate School (see the University Graduate School's bulletin for details). This committee approves the topic proposal, approves the dissertation or final project written component, conducts the defense or final project public presentation, and approves and grades the dissertation or final project; see here for details.

The Research Committee consists of three members from the student's major field, one of whom acts as chair, and one member from a minor or other outside field. In addition, one member serves as Research Director; this is generally the chair or the outside member, depending on the nature of the topic and the expertise required.  Piano and Composition majors have a slightly different type of Research Committee, see here for details.

A research committee should include three permanent members of the student's department. Lecturers/senior lecturers will ordinarily not be appointed to doctoral committees, but their departments may petition the director of graduate studies to allow exceptions if they regularly teach doctoral students.

Styles Examination

All doctoral students must pass an examination testing their ability to deal analytically and stylistically with music of various periods. Information on this exam may be found here.

Qualifying Examinations

All doctoral students take written and oral qualifying examinations after they have completed their course work. Detailed information on these exams may be found here.

Candidacy/In absentia registration

After successful completion of all doctoral qualifying exams, the student is admitted to candidacy. After admission to candidacy, the student must be enrolled each semester until graduation. In absentia registration is available for candidates not living in Bloomington.

Detailed information is available here.

Final projects, Dissertations and Defenses

Doctoral students write a dissertation or prepare a final project. Detailed information may be found here.