Music

Discover who you are as a musician and develop the skills you need to thrive in your future career.

• Learn through making music every day: perform, workshop, improvise, devise, write, play, and discuss with your fellow students and your tutors.

• Make a difference: use music as a force for personal and social change in wellbeing, community, and education settings.

• Build a viable, sustainable, career: connect your musical skills with broad areas of the industry.

Starting with your own interests as a musician, our Music degree develops your core skills as an artist (singer, songwriter, performer or composer), and explores the many ways you can build a sustainable career in music.

This is a broad and hands-on course. Throughout your studies, you'll delve deeper into your own musical interests and explore various genres and styles. Our experienced staff will help you develop your own sound and become a confident performer.

Most of what you produce for assessment could be used beyond your studies in support of your future career. In other words, what you make for us you also make for you. You’ll learn new skills in areas such as:

• Performance, improvisation and ensemble musicianship

• Composition, arrangement and music for media

• Recording, documenting and music production

• Blogging, podcasting and online media

• Music teaching and coaching, including leading workshops

• Event management, marketing, freelancing and the business of music.

All this develops your key professional skills and experience and enables you to build an impressive CV of evidence that appeals to employers, preparing you for a range of careers in the music industry.

Course Modules

Year one
In your first year, our focus is almost exclusively on developing your musical skills: singing or playing on stage, creating your own music, and understanding the wider musical world.

During practical musicianship workshops, you’ll try new instruments, sing in choirs or join ensembles. Through this practical work, you’ll learn about music in relation to what’s going on in society and explore the ways your music can make a difference in people’s lives.

You’ll create a portfolio of your performances that showcases your skills as an artist. In the process, you’ll develop your ability to make recordings and videos and edit these for online contexts.

Year two
In your second year, you’ll continue to develop your practical music-making skills while considering how external factors such as collaborating with others or undertaking research can generate new ideas for your music.

Core modules focus on making music accessible to all and using it as a means of communication. Optional modules allow you to enhance your research or event planning abilities.

You'll also develop your ability to communicate ideas about music using different media, such as podcasts, video and social media.

Year three
This year is all about you, your musical interests and who you are as a musical entrepreneur.

You’ll get the chance to run a range of large-scale projects in areas that you choose, such as education, community music, wellbeing, and arts management. We help you plan and manage these projects, balancing creative, research and entrepreneurial decision-making to reach your goals.

You'll also gain valuable industry experience through a short, observational work placement, helping you to transition to the professional world and demonstrate your skills to potential employers.

Professional Placement Year

A Professional Placement Year (PPY), traditionally known as a sandwich year, is where you undertake a period of work with an external organisation for between 9-13 months. The placement occurs between your second and final years of undergraduate study. You can engage in multiple placements to make up the total time and are required to source the placement(s) yourself, with support from the Careers team.