The Bachelor of Music program prepares students for a wide variety of professional careers in music, and for post-graduate study in a chosen area of specialization. 

The required core component of the program provides students with a solid foundation in musicology, theory, musicianship and applied study. Through their selection of music option courses, students may focus on one or more of the main areas of study: musicology, ethnomusicology, theory, composition, education, or applied study (performance). Although the majority of the core courses fall into the first two years of the program, students may start to focus their music option choices on a special area as early as their first year of study. Students are strongly encouraged to seek academic advising to assist them in planning a program of study that best suits their strengths and needs.

Students who meet higher standards of performing ability, including those entering their first year, may audition in September for acceptance into the "double credit" Applied Study (performance). In addition to their private lessons, students in these courses perform a public recital at the end of the year, and receive 12 units instead of the 6 units associated with other Applied Study courses.