Contemporary and Popular Music BA Honours (W301)

Our degrees are divided into Stages. Each Stage lasts for an academic year and you need to complete modules totalling 120 credits by the end of each Stage.

Applicants who have an HND or approved Foundation Degree in any form of popular or contemporary musical practice may be considered for direct entry at Stage 2. See the Entry Requirements section for details.

Programme modules do change and therefore may differ for your year of entry.

• MUS1010 Music Theory: Technique and Practice in Studio Production
• MUS1014 Introduction to Popular Music Studies
• MUS1058 Performance Studies 1

You will take two modules from the following list:

• MUS1011 Understanding World Music
• MUS1012 Understanding Music History
• MUS1096 The Traditions of These Islands

You will take one module from the following:

• MUS1020 Music Theory: Technique and Textures in Common Practice
• MUS1050 Folk and Traditional Textures and Techniques

You choose at least one module from the following list:

• MUS2019 Case Studies in Music Analysis
• MUS2018 Contemporary Musical Materials
• MUS2050 Music Theory 2: Stylistic Analysis and Composition in Folk and Modal Musics

You choose at least two modules from the following list:

• MUS2004 Themes in Musical Modernism
• MUS2081 Music of the Southern States
• MUS2065 Issues in Popular Music Culture
• MUS2088 Folk Music Studies: Resources and Research Materials
• MUS2054 Music and Cultural Theory
• MUS2060 Ethnomusicology
• MUS2075 Baroque Music

You choose at least one module from the following list:

• MUS2058 Performance Studies 2
• MUS2073 New Music in Practice
• MUS2007 Early Music in Practice
• MUS2045 Indian Music in Practice
• MUS2017 Historic Techniques of Composition
• MUS2041 Approaches to Notated Contemporary Composition
• MUS2067 Postvernacular Composition: Commercial Recording as Critical Practice
• MUS2094 Additional Performance Studies (Folk and Traditional Music) 2
• MUS2092 Ensemble 2

You then choose any other two modules from the lists above to make your credits total 120.

You will take one of the following Major Specialist Study modules:

• MUS3012 Major Specialist Study: Composition
• MUS3013 Major Specialist Study: Dissertation
• MUS3014 Major Specialist Study: Performance
• MUS3015 Major Specialist Study: Project

You may also opt for a Minor Specialist Study, which must be in a subject area that is substantially different to your Major Specialist Study. You may wish to further develop the various "in Practice" ensemble options from stage 2 as either a specialist study performance or project.

• MUS3016 Minor Specialist Study: Composition
• MUS3017 Minor Specialist Study: Dissertation
• MUS3018 Minor Specialist Study: Performance
• MUS3019 Minor Specialist Study: Project

You choose further optional modules from the list below, totalling 120 credits.

• MUS3028 Songs and Struggle
• MUS3030 Twentieth Century Musics and Nationalisms
• MUS3029 Popular Music, Politics and Policy
• MUS3033 Advanced Studies in Salsa Performance
• MUS3026 Music in Early Modern England
• MUS3024 Music and AIDS
• MUS3093 Folk Ensemble 3
• MUS3095 Music Enterprise
• MUS3111 Teaching Music in Schools; Socio-Cultural Contexts and Approaches to Practice

Studying music at university is both intellectually and musically demanding, and it is one of the most varied and diverse degree subjects available. It requires you to engage in a broad range of practical and intellectual activities including performance, composition, improvisation, data analysis, research, and critical intellectual enquiry.

Music graduates therefore develop a wide range of key skills through both the academic and practical content of their degree, which opens a wide variety of opportunities.

Teamwork and initiative are fostered through participation in music ensembles, and communication skills through performance, presentations and written work.

Flexibility, self-discipline and good time management are all required to attain high technical standards and to balance the demands of study, practice and performance. This wide range of transferable skills means that music graduates can easily move into the career or training pathways that are open to graduates of any discipline; for example:

• management
• accountancy
• law
• events management
• journalism
• IT

Graduates who want to use their music degree in their work often progress to become self-employed musicians, performers, composers, teachers, academics, music therapists, studio managers or sound engineers.

Other opportunities include specialist magazine journalism, music librarianship or music publishing.

Many musicians enter careers that seek graduates of any discipline but offer the opportunity to use the specific skills developed in their studies. Possible occupations include arts administrator, community arts worker, museum curator or film/video production.

Find out more about the career options for Music from Prospects: The UK's Official Careers Website.