Music (A Course) - W300 - leading to BMus (Hons)

Level 1

The first year subjects, listed below, will give you a thorough grounding in the principles of music plus the opportunity to choose a number of optional subject areas.

Core modules:

• Analysis - you will be introduced to various analytical techniques applicable to tonal music from the 18th and 19th centuries.
  
  
• Ensemble - you will receive coaching in chamber music and all aspects of ensemble playing. You will participate in orchestras, choirs, workshops and seminars.
  
  
• Harmony - this module covers a number of styles from the 18th century to the early 20th century. As well as composing pastiche exercises, you will also study the harmony and counterpoint of Bach, Schubert, Schumann and Mahler.
  
  
• Introduction to Orchestration - you will develop the skills involved in instrumental arrangement. Typical exercises include arranging a piano piece for a large ensemble.
  
  
• Keyboard Skills - in the first year all students receive individual and group piano lessons.
  
  
• Knowledge of Instruments - you will be taught all the basic musical characteristics of most instruments and how to write for them.
  
  
• Study Skills - this module is designed to equip you with the basic skills required for effective academic study of Music at tertiary level.
  
  
• Understanding Music 1 and 2 - these modules introduce the basic principles of, and ideologies behind, current approaches to the study of a wide range of musical styles. In addition to Western classical music from the Renaissance to the present day, these modules also cover film music, jazz, world music and popular music.
  

And three of the following options:

• Composition - you will study a wide range of styles of contemporary repertoire and be given a number of compositional tasks. The emphasis is on exploration and experimentation and you will be encouraged to pursue your own musical interests. All musical styles are perfectly acceptable.
  
  
• Careers with Music - this module gives students an overview of the range of career opportunities available in the music business.
  
  
• The Science of Sound - you will be introduced to some fundamental aspects of acoustics and technical subjects in order to provide a grounding for further study in music technology.
  
  
• Solo Performance - you will receive frequent and regular lessons in your first study instrument in order to help you develop your instrumental skills. You will have the opportunity to take full advantage of all the performing opportunities within in the department.
  

Level 2

In the second year you design your own programme of studies (with staff guidance), selecting a range of modules from the following list.

• 18th Century Harmony and Counterpoint - the module is designed to increase you technical understanding of 18th century harmony and counterpoint by working through a number of pastiche exercises.
  
  
• 19th Century Studies - you will explore a range of repertoire from the 19th century and address relevant historical, critical and stylistic issues. You will also consider the repertoire in relation to its cultural context.
  
  
• 20th Century Analysis - this module involves the close study of a number of important 20th century works in a variety of styles of genres.
  
  
• Composition - at level 2, students are expected to demonstrate an enhanced individual style and interact with confidence with performers of their music. The module assessment includes the rehearsing, performing and recording of compositions as well as the preparation of scores.
  
  
• Classical Studies - this module aims to help the student develop an understanding of the context, historical and practical, within which the classical symphony evolved. A number of classical symphonies will be analysed through the course.
  
  
• Early Modernism - this module focuses on the period c.1885-1920, placing the work of significant composers in the context of contemporaneous developments in art and wider thought of the period.
  
  
• Ensemble - at level 2, ensemble includes a course in conducting as well as performing in various chamber and large ensembles.
  
  
• Film Music - by studying and viewing nine set films, the student will develop an understanding of the different functions of music in film. The course also offers those interested the opportunity to compose a short score to a film extract.
  
  
• Historical Performance Practice - this module aims to develop understanding of issues in the historically-informed performance of music from the late 17th to the early 19th centuries.
  
  
• Music Technology 1: History, Repertoire and Aesthetics - this course covers the history and aesthetics of electroacoustic music in styles ranging from the post-war avant-garde to dance music of the 1990s. A close study is made of film scores that use electronic music and the module also covers technical information.
  
  
• Music Technology 2: Composing with Computers - this course aims to develop the students' understanding of the computer systems and software involved in generating, processing and editing musical material for acoustic and electroacoustic compositions.
  
  
• Opera Studies - by looking closely a number of European operas from the 19th and 20th century, this course aims to study the dramatic use of music and words in opera.
  
  
• Orchestration - as well as orchestrating in the style of composers from the 19th and 20th centuries, students will develop skills in arranging for unusual ensembles of mixed-ability players.
  
  
• Popular Song Analysis - during this module you will develop analytical strategies pertinent to a range of recorded popular music, and employ these in discovering how popular music works and what it means.
  
  
• Renaissance Studies - this modules covers the writing of pastiche 16th century counterpoint and the detailed analysis of a set work.
  
  
• Research Project - students are free to choose their own topic for a detailed study. The project will help develop your research and writing skills.
  
  
• Solo Performance - at level 2 you will receive intensive training on your first study instrument through a generous quota of individual lessons. You will be expected to take full advantage of all the performing opportunities within in the department and present a full and varied performance diary at the end of the year.
  
  
• Tonal Analysis - this module develops further the analytical techniques learnt in level 1 analysis. These are now applied to the expanded tonal styles of the late 19th and early 20th century.
  
  
• World Music - introduces the student to styles and genres of music outside the Western classical and popular traditions, and also to ways of thinking about such musics.
  

Level 3

The final year again allows you to design your own programme of studies. There is one core module and then you can choose from a wide range of optional modules.

Compulsory Module:

• Oral Presentation - for this module you will be expected to make an oral presentation on a topic of your choosing and offer summaries and critiques of departmental Research Seminars which are given by UniS staff and visiting speakers in aspects of composition, performance and musicology.

Options:

• 19th Century Musical Thought and Aesthetics - this module provides a detailed survey of changing perspectives in thought and aesthetics on music of the 19th century.
  
  
• 20th Century Studies 1: British Music from Elgar to Britten - explores a delimited repertory from the first half of the 20th century and addresses relevant historical, socio-political, and technical issues.
  
  
• 20th Century Studies 2: Serialism: Extensions and Reactions - is similar in structure and content to 20th Century Studies 1 except that it explores repertory from the second half of the 20th century.
  
  
• Analysis: Theory and Methodology - provides the student with an understanding of Schenkerian analytical methodologies and the theoretical foundations of which they are based.
  
  
• Baroque Studies 1 - this module focuses on two distinct areas of Baroque music, Italian opera and the concerto in Germany.
  
  
• Baroque Studies 2 - concentrates on fugal writing and covers the composition of fugal expositions and the detailed analysis of large- scale fugues.
  
  
• Early 19th Century Studies - this modules explores a delimited repertory from the late works of Beethoven and Schubert and addresses relevant historical, critical, analytical, and stylistic issues.
  
  
• Composition - in the final year, students present an extensive portfolio of compositions and recordings.
  
  
• Conducting - this module gives students the opportunity to take conducting to a high level. There are opportunities to conduct the University choirs and orchestras and intensive coaching is given on a weekly basis.
  
  
• Dissertation - writing a dissertation on a freely chosen topic allows in-depth scholarly treatment of a subject area which would not otherwise be covered, at this level, in the programme curriculum.
  
  
• Ensemble - as well as developing skills in ensemble performance this module also trains students' critical faculties. Students will be given the opportunity to write critiques of a wide range of professional performances.
  
  
• Jazz Studies - this module develops appreciation, understanding and knowledge of the main styles of Jazz as they evolved throughout the 20th century.
  
  
• Pluralism - develops the student's awareness of, and ability to critique, the representations of pluralist influences (such as popular musics, the music of other cultures and the music of the distant past) within 20th century Western music.
  
  
• Progressive Issues in Rock - investigates a discrete repertoire within popular music ('Progressive Rock') and locates it within wider stylistic and cultural tendencies.
  
  
• Recital - this module involves intensive high level training on an instrument or voice leading to a public recital in May. Students receive long weekly individual lessons and a programme of study that is ideally suited to students wishing to pursue a post-graduate course at one of the music conservatoires.
  
  
• Rock Track Poetics - aims to develop students' interpretive faculties with respect to a range of genres of popular music, and to increase the degree of subtlety of cultural location in students' understanding.

Assessment

You will be assessed by coursework and examinations throughout the course. The final degree award is based upon your overall performance in the second and final years.

Note: The course is under constant review, and not every option may be available in any particular year.

Related Pages:

• Undergraduate Courses
• Music Undergraduate Admissions Frequently Asked Questions