1.  Is every music class offered every semester?
 2.  How may I contact my professor?
 3.  Is there a place for me to practice?
 4.  What is Recital Seminar, and do I have to take it?
 5.  How can I find out what's going on in the Music Department?
 6.  How can I do better in my music classes?
 7.  Am I required to take specific classes in order to graduate?
 8.  Can I take classes in any order I wish?
 9.  Where are the classrooms, offices, and buildings located?
10. What are juries?
11. Are Music Scholarships available?
12. What should I do if I have a disagreement?
13. Can I get discounted tickets to events?
14. May I take an applied music course in more than one area?
15. Will I have a chance to perform?

 1. Is every music class offered every semester?
   No. Most ensembles, for example, meet only Fall and Spring semesters, with a few exceptions. In general, fewer music classes are offered in the Summer A and B terms than in the Fall and Spring semesters. Careful scheduling of Music Theory and Sightsinging classes is especially important. Possible solutions for taking Music courses can be found at the Music Track link.

2. How may I contact my teachers other than immediately before or after my classes?
   Full-time faculty have on-campus offices, with office hours posted on schedules on or near their office doors (adjunct [part-time] faculty have no offices). All faculty members have message boxes in their division office. The office for the Humanities Division, which encompasses Art, Foreign Languages, Interior Design, EAP, Music and Theatre, is located in the Humanities Building, room HU-126 (first floor).  All full-time faculty members have office telephones, also.

3. Is there a place for me to practice?
   Absolutely! Several practice rooms, located around the first-floor central core of the Humanities Building, are available for your use. Most have pianos, although some do not and are dedicated instead for specific instruments or purposes, such as percussion or small-ensemble rehearsal. 

Sign-up sheets are posted on the doors to each practice room. Please sign up for a maximum of one hour per day, and arrive on time for your scheduled practice. Additional practice time is available if a given practice room is not reserved when you wish to practice, or even if it is reserved but the scheduled person is more than ten minutes late.

4. What is Recital Seminar, and do I have to take it?
   Recital Seminar is a class (MUS 0010) which meets once a week, on Wednesdays from 12:30 to 1:20, in either HU 121, Stage West or the Duncan Theatre, depending on the physical needs for the lecture or performance scheduled for that week. 

A typical semester includes lecture-recitals by national or international touring chamber ensembles or soloists, faculty lecture-presentations (often assisted by PBCC ensembles), performances by area musical professionals and three or four student recitals. In addition, the last Wednesday of each month is normally reserved for small group meetings of students and faculty according to their performance area (voice, winds, percussion, guitar and keyboard) to focus on matters of particular concern to that performance area.

Registration and attendance are required for all full-time music majors, and the class is also open to all students and the general public. The class offers zero (0) credit hours, and there is no cost to the student.

5. How can I find out what's going on in the Music Department and around the college?
 Attend class regularly--many announcements are made by your professors in class. Keep your eyes open--look daily at the several "musical interest" bulletin boards located on the first floor of the Humanities Building.

6. How can I do better in my music classes?
  Before you worry about tutoring or other expensive options, follow this checklist:

• Attend all class sessions. Be punctual, and don't leave early.

• Stay alert in class. Take good notes, but don't worry so much about writing down every word that you forget to think and listen critically.

• Read and keep the syllabus. It often lists dates for tests and gives detailed instructions for completing assigned projects.

• Read the textbook. Try reading ahead of assignments when possible.

• Complete assigned homework on time. Play or sing your work before finalizing your answers or turning in homework.

• Use the music tutorial software in HU 203. Assistance for students taking music courses is available. See Mr. Jones or Mr. Webber for further information regarding the software available to music students.

• Relate different courses to each other. If you're discussing key signatures in Music Theory, figure out the key for all the pieces in your Concert Band folder. Instrumentalists should sightsing each new applied lesson piece.

• Work with each other. Find a partner in your class and schedule times to meet with each other during the week to practice music for sightsinging classes or ensembles. Perform your applied music pieces for each other. Play your Class Piano assignments together, holding each other accountable for keeping up with assignments.

• See your teacher when you think you have it right, but you're not quite sure. Don't wait until you're hopelessly lost.

• Make a 24-hour, 7-day schedule showing everything you do, including work, eating, sleeping, cleaning, driving, television, socializing, etc. Try to schedule two hours of study (or practice) for every one hour of class time. If it doesn't work, maybe you need to eliminate or reduce some activities. Keep in mind that college is a temporary situation--you won't have to make these sacrifices forever.

7. Am I required to take specific classes in order to graduate?
   Yes and no. The Associate in Arts degree (A.A.), for instance, requires 36 hours of specified general education courses from five areas, with an additional unspecified 24 hours of electives. Although you could take these additional 24 hours by passing any courses you wish, it makes sense to take these electives in a specific area such as sociology or music to make it easier to be accepted into a specific program at a four-year institution (which generally does require discipline-specific coursework for graduation). Consult the catalog or a faculty advisor for guidance in planning your schedule.

8. Can I take classes in any order I wish?
   Yes and no. Greater flexibility exists in the order in which many required general education classes are taken, although it certainly makes sense to take the required English courses before other general education courses which require extensive research and writing. Courses followed by Roman numerals, such as College Composition I and II (ENC 1101 and ENC 1102), must be taken in proper sequence. Refer to the course descriptions in the back of the college catalog for courses with prerequisites (previous coursework required) or for courses with co-requisites (simultaneous coursework required).

9. Where are the classrooms, offices, and buildings I most need to know about? 

10. What are juries?
   "Juries" is the name traditionally given to examinations in applied performance areas. They are scheduled by your applied teacher during either the last week of classes or exam week, and count for 25% of your applied lesson grade. Juries are mandatory for all students in every semester (except Summer A and B) and every performance area in which they are taking applied lessons. 

Juries are very similar to auditions. You will complete an information sheet (available from your applied teacher) indicating repertoire, methods books, exercises, performances and technical weaknesses (with approaches you have used to address them). You will perform a piece or etude of your choice (from memory, if a vocalist), and possibly a portion of a second piece or etude (at the discretion of the music faculty). You may be asked to perform scales, chords or arpeggios as appropriate to your particular instrument, and you may be asked to respond to various questions regarding your applied studies or repertoire.

Each music faculty member present (except for your applied teacher) will, in writing, provide a critique and a grade. These grades are averaged to arrive at your jury grade. You may, after the jury is concluded, see all written comments by asking your applied teacher, to whom they are given.

11. Are Music Scholarships available?
   Yes. Music scholarships are based primarily on performance ability, although other considerations are often taken into account. The normal awards are for $200, $300, or $400 per semester. Audition/interviews are held regularly.

The eligibility requirements are as follows:

1. Be a full-time student (12 semester hrs. minimum) with  a specialization in music.

2. Register for and participate in at least one PBCC musical ensemble. Ensemble participation is required each subsequent semester for scholarship renewal. Pianists must take either Concert Chorus, Concert Band (percussion section, unless approved for other instrument by director), or Electronic Music Ensemble. Guitarists must take Guitar Ensemble (acoustic or jazz). Vocalists must take Concert Chorus. All other instrumentalists must take Concert Band.

3. Take private applied lessons in your major performance area, with a minimum grade of B required for scholarship renewal.

4. Register for and attend Recital Seminar (MUS 0010).

5. Perform in a student recital each semester (including the first) in which you are receiving a scholarship.

6. Achieve and maintain cumulative minimum grade point averages (GPAs) of 2.5 in overall coursework, and 3.0 in music coursework.

7. Meet with a music faculty member for advisement on scheduling, and receive that faculty member's signature of schedule approval on the scholarship renewal form or scholarship award application.

12. What should I do if I have disagreements about the way things are run? 
   We hope that your experience at Palm Beach Community College is a positive and enjoyable one. However, as you pursue your education, it is inevitable that misunderstandings and disagreements will arise from time to time. This is not necessarily a bad thing; many great innovations have come about as a result of an unwillingness to accept things the way they are. We welcome your ideas for improvement. In general, the procedure outlined below should be followed when you have a misunderstanding or disagreement about class or Music Department policy. Each step must be completed (in order) before the next one is to be implemented. The process should stop whenever a satisfactory agreement is reached.

1. Talk with the person with whom the disagreement most directly exists. This means you should talk to someone, not about someone.

2. If the person you spoke with in step #1 is not a faculty member, schedule a time for both of you to meet together with the faculty member in whose class the problem exists, for all three of you to discuss asolution. If the person you spoke with in step #1 is a faculty member, go on to step #3.

3. Schedule a time when everyone concerned in steps #1 and #2 can meet with the Music Department Chair (Allen Webber, HU 128) to discuss a solution.

4. If necessary, the Music Department Chair will schedule a meeting with the Humanities Division Associate Dean (Richard Holcomb) for all concerned parties to arrive at a solution.

13. Can I get discounted tickets to events?
   All full-time PBCC students are eligible for "student rush" tickets to Duncan Theatre professional guest artist series events and academic presentations. These special tickets cost $5 each and are available immediately prior to performances. Students with proof of full-time status may purchase up to two tickets. It is suggested that students inquire about the potential for rush ticket availability by calling or visiting the box office (868-3309) between noon and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday the week of the performance in which the student is interested.

14. May I take private lessons applied music in more than one area?
   Perhaps. Music majors wishing to take applied music in two areas (primary and secondary) in a given semester must meet the following criteria:

1. First-semester students may enroll in no more than one applied area.

2. Approval of primary applied teacher is required.

3. Must maintain a "B" average in the major applied area, and an overall GPA of 2.5 (C+)

4. Must be a full-time student.

5. Must take a PBCC music ensemble for each applied area (see question #11, part 2).

6. If secondary area will be voice, piano or guitar, students should take the corresponding class instruction rather than applied instruction, unless they pass a qualifying audition.

7. If the secondary area will be winds, percussion or strings, approval of secondary applied instructor is required.

8. Music majors studying in their primary applied areas receive priority for scheduling and selection of teachers.

15. Will I have a chance to perform?
   Yes. In fact, you will have a much greater opportunity to perform at Palm Beach Community College than if you were a freshman or sophomore at a large institution with baccalaureate or graduate programs. All students receiving Music Department scholarships are required to perform in Recital Seminar at least once each semester, as are all students who are taking applied lessons (students not on scholarship are exempted during their first semester of applied music study). Sophomores are required to perform in a Sophomore Recital, normally scheduled in late April.

In addition, our Music Department ensembles maintain an active but balanced performance schedule throughout the year, with most of them performing in the Central Campus Duncan Theatre at least once each semester.

If you have additional questions, please contact a music faculty member

David Gibble
Robert Jones
Michael MacMullen
Allen Webber