<p>Students/alums: how would you describe the music department at Swarthmore? The school isn't exactly known for its sports teams, but I've never really heard anything about the vocal or instrumental departments.</p>
<p>How are the teachers? What is the caliber of those majoring in music? What are the most popular instruments played? Etc, etc, etc.</p>
<p>swarthmore's music department is not very big, it is not a conservatory but it offers great opportunites to get lessons from good teachers
one reason i applied to swarthmore was because of its Garrigues Scholar Program for people wanted to take music lessons
you should go to the music department site of swat and check out the links</p>
<p>lang lang hall looks pretty cool but my cousin who goes there said it's a bit small from her point of view</p>
<p>anyways im going to ride the tide so i will update u on what it's like</p>
<p>I am S of momof3sons and a Swat alum (Class of '07). While I was not a music major, I was somewhat involved in the music dept. while there. For a school of its size, Swarthmore has a great music department. Prof. Levinson teaches composition and generally teaches third and fourth semester music theory and is a great resource for people interested in composition. The private lessons program is very good for vocalists/instrumentalists; virtually everybody gets 1/3 support for private lessons in their first semester (the most talented will usually get 2/3). After a semester, most people get upgraded to 2/3 or a Garrigues scholarship (which provides full funding for cost of lessons, plus transportation if necessary).</p>
<p>The most common instruments, not surprisingly are piano, voice, and strings (violin, cello, viola), i.e. people likely to be performing in the large groups (chorus, orchestra) plus pianists. People who are studying the more common instruments seem to be happier with the lessons than those who play more obscure instruments. Many wind players have to take lessons off campus, which can be a hassle.</p>
<p>There are usually half a dozen music majors per year or so and about the same number of music minors. About half are primarily instrumentalists and half are more interested in theory or musicology. I took four semesters of the theory sequence and found the teaching to be very good; the professors are very supportive and underclassmen can get a lot of assistance from juniors and seniors in the dept.</p>
<p>Lang is a great performance space. Seats about 450 at full capacity, which is plenty big for a school the size of swat; it also has great views of the crum woods behind the building. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>Just to be clear, son of momof3sons is talking about the Lang Music Building and its recital hall overlooking the Crum Woods:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/myelectricsheep/45916875/%5B/url%5D">http://www.flickr.com/photos/myelectricsheep/45916875/</a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/eawb/455417867/%5B/url%5D">http://www.flickr.com/photos/eawb/455417867/</a></p>
<p>There's a larger Lang Performing Arts Center which seats 800 or so and can be configured in several different ways:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.swarthmore.edu/Admin/lpac/%5B/url%5D">http://www.swarthmore.edu/Admin/lpac/</a></p>
<p>The music department is good. Very focused on classical/Western music for the most part (with the notable exception of the full Gamelan orchestra), but that is probably true of most music departments anywhere. Being a music major is a lot of work--probably also true anywhere. But I hear mostly good things about the faculty (I'm a freshman, somewhat involved in the department--taking pre-theory and Chorus right now). There are definitely lots of resources and opportunities to do things--somewhat subsidized private lessons, department ensembles, funding for coaches for chamber groups, etc. There are instrument lockers for anyone who wants, the practice rooms are open to anyone at any time without reservations (and there are typically plenty of them), the music/dance library is really nice, the building is gorgeous inside. </p>
<p>In terms of negatives, my personal pet peeve is that they use numbers for scale degrees instead of solfege, and many people who come in with a lot of theory end up having to start from Theory 1 because they insist on knowledge of species counterpoint to skip ahead in the sequence. But honestly, if those are the biggest complaints I have, that's a generally positive review. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Numbers instead of solfege? I didn't even know schools did that. Very weird...</p>
<p>So if you send in supplemental material (i.e. two contrasting pieces on an instrument) and it's not fantastic, would that weaken an otherwise strong application?</p>
<p>Yeah, numbers instead of solfege. I mean, I guess they want you to be thinking about the theory while you're singing...but the system just falls apart when you get to chromatic pitches (I mean, come on...singing "raised" for both raised 6 and raised 7?). Also, I don't like do-based minor. But that's just personal preference...it ends up not being that big of a deal in theory classes.</p>
<p>From what I've heard about supplemental materials, they are sent straight to the department, who reviews them all, then lets the admissions office know who they're really enthusiastic about. So it's not like a note would go in your file, "sucks at playing violin"--but if the music department is really impressed the admissions office will know that. In general I don't think it'll hurt you.</p>
<p>Well I was taught do-based minor so that's permanently drilled into my brain. I've taken theory classes for five or more years now, so that would stink to have to go back to theory 1. Hmm...</p>
<p>Wow, that's different from other schools, where sending in extra material can to more harm than good. That system seems more fair and better for applicants...maybe I'll send in a flute CD if I decide to apply there then.</p>