BA Music
Entry requirements
A level: A*AA IB: 41-42 points, with 776 at Higher Level . To apply to any of our Colleges for Music, you will need: • A level/IB Higher Level (or the equivalent) in Music or • ABRSM Grade 8 Theory at Merit or above
About this course
BA (Hons) in Music, a music degree centred on historical traditions, composition, performance and cultural analysis. Core topics include Research Methods. Lectures and research activities take place in a faculty featuring a professional concert hall, a specialized library and recording studios. The first year covers foundational historical and critical studies, tonal skills and general musicianship, and music analysis, alongside options such as performance or composition. The second year introduces subjects such as popular music and media, ethnomusicology, notation, keyboard skills, music and science, and performance studies alongside a dissertation. The final year allows further specialization through advanced performance, composition, notation and source studies, advanced tonal skills, and options including Exploring Music Psychology, Beginnings of Western Polyphony, Global Popular Musics, Issues in African American Music, Planetary Listening, Prokofiev and his Three Worlds, and Modernist Music Aesthetics.
Modules
- historical and critical studies – 2 papers covering issues involved in understanding music and its relationship to society and culture. These include studying historical topics in Western music and thinking broadly about the place of music in contemporary societies (world music, popular music, new music)
- tonal skills and general musicianship – one and a half papers giving you a thorough technical grounding in music of the Western tonal tradition, through writing music in a range of historical styles, aural work, and the acquisition of basic practical skills
- music analysis – a paper that gives you an understanding of what makes music work. You will study different approaches to analysing a broad range of music
- 2 half papers chosen from the following: extended essay, performance, composition, history workshop
- in-depth historical topics
- popular music and media
- ethnomusicology
- notation
- keyboard skills
- music and science
- performance studies, including recital
- composition
- a dissertation of 5,000 to 7,000 words
- advanced performance
- advanced performance skills (keyboard or choral)
- a dissertation of 7,000 to 10,000 words
- composition
- advanced tonal skills (including film score)
- portfolio of analytical essays
- notation and source studies
- Fugue
- Exploring Music Psychology
- Beginnings of Western Polyphony
- Operas of Da Ponte and Mozart
- Global Popular Musics
- Issues in African American Music
- Planetary Listening
- Prokofiev and his Three Worlds
- Modernist Music Aesthetics