USC Upstate Commercial Music Program

Thursday night, featuring our guitar professor Zach Pruitt and alum ('24) Javi Alverson:

This meme perfectly represents the mutually exclusive two-part forms found in Black Sabbath songs such as "Symptom of the Universe" (1975). Check out University of South Carolina Upstate music professor Dr. Nolan Stolz's chapter about this song from in the new book The Routledge Handbook to Metal Music Composition, which arrived today!

Here is our third video for incoming students. In this one, we walk you through the Music Theory Placement Exam. Those who already have a good handle on basic music theory and aural skills might be placed into MUSC U115 this Spring. This is what you'll find on the MUSC U101 Fundamentals of Music Theory exam👇

Yesterday we posted a link to the written portion of the Aural Skills Placement Exam study guide, and today we are sharing with incoming students a self-test of the individual portion. Those who pass both won't have to take U101L this Fall! Check out the video below 👇

Incoming music majors might already be signed up for MUSC U101L, which is the aural skills lab for the U101 Fundamentals of Music Theory course. Those who already have a good handle on basic aural skills might be able to test out and jump right into U115/L in the Spring! To help those prepare for the placement exam, which is taken on the first day of class, here is a tutorial video for the aural skills written portion that we hope that you will find helpful 👇

University of South Carolina Upstate music professor Dr. Nolan Stolz recently sat down with High Plains Public Radio, a network of 17 NPR stations in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas to talk about his most recent travels on Route 66 for inspiration for his hour-long composition for symphony orchestra, the Route 66 Suite. HPPR posted the interview this morning 👇