Music

Structure & Content

First and Second Year Core Study

• Performance Studies includes individual tuition, keyboard skills, ensembles, rehearsing and directing.
• Composition Studies includes creative work alongside music theory and courses in harmony and arranging.
• Cultural & Historical Studies covers music from 900 to the end of the nineteenth century, aspects of contemporary musical culture, a survey of music in Scotland and art music from eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Third & Fourth Year (Honours)

Students continue with performance and composition. Other courses include New Directions: Revolution and Evolution in Music which examines a hypothesis that 1600 and 1900 both mark turning points in the history of music. Students are introduced to aesthetics of music and musical analysis in year three. Analysis is applied to a performance context in year four in a course that also covers performance practice. In both years three and four students also choose from a wide range of options reflecting the research interests of the staff.

In fourth year, students specialise, taking two of the following: dissertation on an aspect of music; portfolio of compositions; final performance recital. Students who excel in one area are able to specialise in one of these areas.

Teaching & Assessment

Teaching is by a mixture of lectures, seminar groups and tutorials. Assessment will usually be based on a mix of submitted work and examinations. During the programme emphasis is increasingly laid on students' own independent work.