Overview
The Equivalency in Music Therapy at Appalachian is designed for students who hold a Bachelor's degree and are interested in becoming board certified music therapists. In pursuing the Equivalency, the student completes those courses required to sit for the national examination administered by the Certification Board for Music Therapists. The student who enters the Equivalency program as an undergraduate transfer student will be awarded the Bachelor of Music degree upon satisfactory completion of internship. Those admitted as graduate students to the combined Equivalency/Master of Music Therapy degree program are eligible to take the examination administered by the Certification Board for Music Therapists at the completion of of the internship. They will be awarded the Master of Music Therapy degree following completion of the advanced courses and advanced clinical work for that degree.
Entrance Requirements
- Bachelor's degree
- An audition on the student's principal instrument before the applied music area faculty is required of all applicants for undergraduate admission to the Equivalency. Applicants for graduate admission who hold a degree in music are required to submit a video recording demonstrating proficiency on the principal instrument, unless the applicant holds the Bachelor of Music degree from an NASM-accredited music program.
- Basic skills on piano and singing demonstrated through video recording
- An interview (live or by web cam) with the Music Therapy Admissions Committee
Requirements for the Music Therapy Equivalency
Students in the combined Equivalency/Master's program take only equivalency courses in the first year of enrollment and must complete all Equivalency requirements including the internship prior to enrolling in MUS 5050, MUS 5051, MUS 5061 or MUS 5900. Continuation in the MMT program requires a grade of at least a "B" (3.0) in music therapy courses taken in each of the first two semesters of the Equivalency program and a cumulative Equivalency GPA of 3.0. Completion of both the Equivalency and the MMT is likely to require 3.5-4 years of full-time study, including completion of clinical training.
Music Therapy and Clinical Music Skills (Minimum 27 semester hours)
- MUS 1052-MUS 1053 (1-1) Functional Guitar I & II
- MUS 2050 (2) Introduction to Music Therapy
- MUS 2051 (1) Music Therapy Clinical Skills
- MUS 2070 (2) Music in Special Education
- MUS 2071 (2) Music, the Brain, and Neurological Disorders
- MUS 3060 (1) Functional Piano
- MUS 3061 (1) Functional Music Therapy Techniques
- MUS 3070 (2) Developmental Music Therapy
- MUS 3072 (2) Models of Music Therapy in Mental Health
- MUS 3073 (2) Music Therapy Practice in Mental Health
- MUS 3900 (5) Music Therapy Practicum
- MUS 4060 (1) Piano Improvisation for Music Therapy
- MUS 4061 (1) Group Improvisation for Music Therapy
- MUS 4071 (2) Music Therapy in Health Care
- MUS 4800 (1) Clinical Research Project
- MUS 4901 (0) Internship
Music Foundations
- Music Theory & Arranging (4 semesters theory and aural skills through Form and Analysis)
- Music History & Lit. (3-4 semesters of World Music & Western Music History from antiquity to the present)
- Performance on Principal Instrument/Voice (with competency equivalent to Level III)
- Proficiency in secondary applied music – Class Piano (3-4 semesters), Voice (1), Conducting (1)
- Traditional Ensembles (minimum 4 semesters)
Clinical Foundations
- Psychology (9 semester hours, including Abnormal Psychology and Developmental Psychology)
- Music Therapy Elective (6 semester hours)
- Human Biology or Human Anatomy (1 course that covers all systems of the body is required)
- Statistics (1 course required)
- Quantitative Research Methods (1 course beyond statistics required)
- Dance/Movement (1 course required to address professional competencies)