Brian K. Shepard Professor & Scholar Site Menu
Alex Miller with Brian K. Shepard
At USC Commencement with Alex Miller, one of our newly-minted DMAs in Composition. and former electro-acoustic music student of mine.
Teaching is one of my great passions. I love to teach! My very first job, at age 14, was teaching sailing in Chesapeake Bay. In high school, I started teaching private percussion lessons and have continued teaching music in one capacity or another ever since. Along the way, I have also been a SCUBA diving instructor and a helicopter flight instructor. It seems that in whatever activity I get involved, I find a way to teach it. I love the stimulating intellectual challenges that come from working with students and interacting with my fellow teachers.

I have been incredibly fortunate to have many great teachers throughout my education, and I consider my teaching efforts a chance to “pay it forward” to current and future generations. It is both an honor and a privilege to work with the fine young musicians at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music and every day I look forward to those interactions.

In my position as Assistant Professor of Pedagogical Technology and Composition, I have a multi-faceted teaching role. I teach Music Theory and Composition, and have taken a particular interest in working with music majors who are not composition majors, yet who wish to develop their compositional skills. Another role is helping to ensure our students are equipped for the technological demands of musical careers in the 21st century by teaching a variety of music technology classes. Thirdly, I work with my colleagues in the USC Thornton School of Music to help them understand the many musical uses of technology, and to develop new pedagogical techniques using technology to support and enhance the teaching, learning, and performing of music. To that end, I have been developing a number of interactive learning objects that students can use on their own computers to help clarify and demonstrate a variety of musical and acoustic concepts.

Prior to coming to USC, I was a Professor of Composition and Music Technology at the University of Oklahoma School of Music for 13 years and before that was the Director of Bands for 5 years in the Music Department of Oklahoma Christian University. Since arriving at USC in 2005, I have taught a number of courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level. In addition to the Music Technology and Music Theory and Composition courses I teach described below, I also work with students on an individual basis in composition and electronic music lessons.
USC Thornton School of Music
Music Technology Courses
  • MUIN 277x Introduction to Music Technology • Syllabus (pdf)
    Introduction to Music Technology is a survey of the technology used to create, prepare, perform, and distribute music. Topics include recording systems, MIDI and sound synthesis, live performance systems, methods of music production and mastering, and digital distribution of music through internet downloading and streaming.

  • MUSC 310 Computer Recording for the Performing Musician • Syllabus (pdf)
    Computer Recording for the Performing Musician provide students with a working knowledge of sound and digital audio as well as non-linear (computer-based) digital recording, editing and mixing techniques. The course is geared for the performing musician wishing to have a better understanding of the "live" recording process.

  • MUEA 474a Electronic Synthesizer Techniques I • Syllabus (pdf)
    Electronic Synthesizer Techniques I introduces the student to electronic synthesizers and the components of the synthesis process (oscillators, filters, envelope generators, etc.) for the creation, shaping, and design of sound.

  • MUEA 474b Electronic Synthesizer Techniques II
    Electronic Synthesizer Techniques II advances the concepts learned in MUEA 474a, and encourages the student to put these concepts into musical practice through individual projects and compositions.

  • MUED 599 Technology and the Collegiate Music Curriculum • Syllabus (pdf)
    Technology and the Collegiate Music Curriculum helps prepare the college-level music instructor for assuming a technological leadership role in his or her music department. The course examines the many ways technology may be used—both traditionally and experimentally—to create and infuse content, and augment the instruction of all areas of the typical music curriculum including: Music Theory and Composition, Music History, Music in General Studies, Applied Music, and Music Ensembles.
Music Theory and Composition Courses
  • MUCO 221a Composition for Non-Majors I • Syllabus (pdf)
    Composition for Non-Majors I aims to provide to each student a working knowledge of the basics of the compositional process for contemporary art music. Among the topics studied are pitch content, formal structure, rhythm, and instrumentation. In addition to listening to, and analyzing, works of contemporary classical composers, students will compose two works for performance in class.

  • MUCO 221b Composition for Non-Majors II • Syllabus (pdf)
    Composition for Non-Majors II continues the development of the student composer begun in MUCO 221a. In a combination of class meetings and private lessons, students work to develop their "voice" as a composer by listening to, and analyzing, works of other contemporary classical composers and synthesizing that knowledge into two compositions for performance in class.

  • MUCO 338x Elementary Orchestration • Syllabus (pdf)
    Elementary Orchestration helps students gain a working knowledge of the basic characteristics of the instruments used in the standard symphony orchestra. Among the characteristics learned are the ranges, timbral palettes, and technical idiosyncrasies of individual instruments, as well as techniques for combining the instruments within the orchestra.

  • MUCO 499 Percussion for Composers • Syllabus (pdf)
    Percussion for Composers is for composition students desiring to gain a working knowledge of practical, idiomatic writing for solo percussion instruments, percussion ensembles and percussion sections. Subjects studied include the range, nomenclature, timbral palette, and technical idiosyncrasies of all the standard, and many of the non-standard percussion instruments, as well as proper notational techniques for solo, ensemble and section writing.
Publications University Committees and Service
Home | Biography
Musician & Composer | Professor & Scholar | Music Technologist
Home