Music (BMus)

Our BMus degree provides our students with four categories of professional skills, all of which are necessary for a successful career in any area of music.

1. Core practical and theoretical skills for the professional musician.
   • The first two years of the degree revolve around each student’s Primary Study (or principle instrument), which includes 4 hours of weekly instruction: 1 hour individual instruction, 1 hour group instruction, and 2 hours of ensemble instruction. Parallel to this intensive study on their primary instruments, our students receive professional training in keyboard and aural skills, harmony and theory, music history, and choral singing.
2. A specialised qualification in a particular area of music.
3. During their final two years of study, our students must complete seven courses in one of the four following concentrations:
   • Classical Performance: this consists of two more years of Advanced Primary Study, as well as courses in performance practice, analysis, and composition.
   • Jazz Performance: this also consists of two more years of Advanced Primary Study, along with courses in applied jazz harmony, improvisation, and jazz composition.
   • Music Education: students in this course gain practical and theoretical knowledge of various methodologies for teaching music to children, including actual teaching experience in local schools.
   • Creative Music Technology: this concentration trains students to compose and create new musical works with the aid of the latest advances in computers and music technology.
4. Flexibility to develop one’s individual interests and talents.
5. In addition to the seven courses in their concentration, music students also take an additional five courses in any area of music they wish, making the program highly adaptive to each student’s individual needs and interests.
6. A well-rounded general education that prepares students to succeed in a variety of professional contexts.

All music students take between six and eight courses in the area of general studies. General education courses improve the students’ vitally important skills in written and oral communication, and develop the students’ sense of the interconnectedness of their musical training to other professional and academic fields. The choice of general education courses is largely up to the individual student.

Career Prospects

On successful completion of the programme, graduates will be able to pursue a variety of professional musical activities and/or continue their studies a the post-graduate level.

Potential employment opportunities include:

• • Performing musician
  • Studio music instructor
  • Public or private school music teacher
  • Music and arts-related administration, including entrepreneurial careers.

Access to Further Studies

Upon graduation, students may have direct access to further postgraduate (MA or MMus) studies.