A comparison of three of the top music colleges in the United States reveals some similarities about the classes needed for a music degree at the bachelor's degree level. The Juilliard School in New York City, the New England Conservatory (NEC) in Boston and Oberlin Conservatory in Oberlin, Ohio, all offer bachelor's degree programs in music with similar emphases. Classes vary according to the specific areas of emphasis. Areas of similar emphasis include voice, composition, or a specific instrument such as piano or guitar. Some programs like the NEC offer music history majors as well. Examples of composition classes include courses such as introduction to composition, materials and literature, and choral and orchestral conducting. Those generally taking an emphasis in a particular instrument will take a number of performance courses in that instrument in addition to basic theory and composition courses. Voice majors will also take courses in voice training, opera and performance.
Master's degree courses generally build on the foundational courses at the bachelor's degree level. Areas of study are generally very similar to those found at the bachelor's degree level, although some schools will generally add additional opportunities for research in the student's chosen field. For instance, the NEC offers degree tracks leading to master's degrees in the fields of theoretical studies, intercultural studies, and music history and musicology. Music history courses cover various musical styles either in one introductory course or through a series of courses focused on specific styles. For example, students at Oberlin Conservatory can study the historical performance of instruments such as the piano or the more obscure instruments such as the oboe or harpsichord. Most master's programs will, at the very least, require advanced composition and advanced orchestration studies for those studying some aspect of music performance.
Schools offering a doctoral degree in music will generally require students to take even more advanced courses than those taken at the master's degree level. At Juilliard, for example, students still take courses in an instrument or composition, but they also take doctoral-level courses in areas such as music research, scholarly music editing, analytical methods and a number of historical topics. Some of these include the study of certain periods like those of the Baroque Age, the Renaissance or even more modern periods like the Jazz Age of the 1920s.