String Policy

For Violin, Viola, Cello and Double Bass

(Effective January 1, 1999)

All violin, viola, cello and double bass majors, with the exception of DMA candidates, and those students with a declared minor in these instruments, shall play for the string faculty (a "jury") during final exam week at the end of each semester of study. Non-majors have the option of playing a jury at the end of each semester of study, and individual instructors have the option of requiring non-majors to play juries at the end of each semester. Under extenuating circumstances, such as serious illness or death in the immediate family, a student may be excused from playing a jury with the understanding that a special jury will be held for the at student early in the immediately succeeding semester in which the student is enrolled for lessons. Students unable to complete a jury at the end of a semester shall be given the grade of "incomplete" until such time as the jury is successfully completed. Students who have already reached their level requirement for completion of their degree shall still be required to play a jury at the end of each semester of enrolment.

The jury serves to evaluate each student as to his progress for the semester, and a level number is assigned by the faculty after each jury which serves to advise the student as to his standing relative to possible graduation. The individual instructor of each student has sole discretion of determining the student's letter grade for each semester.

Levels are numbers given by the jury which correspond to expectations of achievement after similar years of serious study of the instrument. Thus a level "1" represents a level of accomplishment of one year of serious study of the instrument. Therefore, a student is expected to progress at the rate of 1/2-level per semester. This includes not only demonstrated technical achievement but completion of sufficient repertoire as well. Levels may be increased or decreased at each jury depending upon the student's skills as exhibited at the jury. The jury's decision on each student's level is final.

The jury for each student majoring in applied music shall last approximately 20 minutes. The student and his teacher shall prepare selected movements, pieces, etudes, scales and excepts from the student's studies of the semester for 20 minutes of playing. All other juries shall be of about 10 minutes in duration, again with similar selections being made by the student and teacher from representative studies of the semester.

Requirements for each basic degree offered by the University are as follows:

BA; Level 5 : The student should exhibit the ability to produce a solid sound characteristic of his instrument, including a full legato tone, rhythmic security and various fundamental bowings. He should be versatile in the lower half of the strings and be beginning to explore the higher positions. He should have good intonation in the lower positions, and he should be able to fluently perform solo repertoire of moderate difficulty that stays in the lower 1/2 of the strings.
BM in Music Education; Level 7 : In addition to requirements listed above for the BA degree, a student should exhibit a much higher degree of accuracy in higher positions, and he should be performing repertoire of intermediate difficulty from the teaching concertos, sonatas and etudes.
He must be able to perform publicly from the repertoire of moderate difficulty in a professional manner. The student must also have an established record of experience of having performed in public in accordance with degree requirements.
BM in Performance; Level 10 : In addition to the requirements listed for the BA and BM in Music Education degrees, the student should exhibit sufficient mastery of the instrument to be qualified for admission to a Master of Music degree program. He should be performing fluently on the instrument from the concert repertoire, and he should be capable of fluent performance of moderately difficult major concertos, sonatas and other works from the various historical periods for the instrument. He must have an established record of significant successful public performance including the completion of a full recital in his senior year. The student's major teacher is the sole judge of the success of the Senior Recital, although the full string faculty should be present at this recital and make input to the teacher as to its relative merits.
MM in Performance : Performance skills indicative of a high level of professional competency are required. The student must be able to perform in proper style and artistry from the major repertoire of all historical periods for his instrument. He must exhibit skills necessary for possible employment as a professional orchestral performer or college teacher, and he must have a record of significant successful public performance. It is expected that MM candidates perform a jury after each semester of study with the purpose of the jury advising as to potential problems in meetingthe MM requirements.
DMA in Performance : As DMA candidates have stringent admission and recital requirements, no jury appearance is required. DMA candidates wishing to try repertoire for comments from the string faculty at jury time may do so if they wish, but there shall be a limit of 20 minutes of time for such requests.

Normally, all of the full-time string faculty will be present at all juries, and part-time faculty will be present for juries of their own students. However, a minimum of two of the full-time string faculty should be present at all juries, and part-time string faculty are welcomed to be present at all juries. Normally, the teacher should be present at his students' juries, although in extenuating circumstances this may not be possible. In the event that a student's teacher cannot be present at his student's jury and it is agreeable by all concerned that the jury should go ahead, the faculty member shall supply recommendations to the jury as to how he feels his student(s) has progressed during the semester. If a faculty member cannot be present for a student's jury and the student or faculty member wishes the teacher to be present, the jury will be rescheduled to a time mutually acceptable to all concerned.

Constructive comments of the jury shall be recorded on the jury forms, and each teacher shall be responsible for providing his students with a copy of the jury form along with explanations from the teacher as to the evaluation of the student by the jury. Each jury member shall also be available to any student who may wish to discuss the jury evaluation.

The student's level shall be determined by consensus of the jury members. In the event that a consensus cannot be reached, the student's teacher shall have the final say as to the student's level.

Individual faculty may establish further requirements pertaining to juries applicable to their students at their own individual discretion.