This dynamic one-year course allows you to develop strong technical bass skills, musical literacy and performance creativity in a short space of time, with the view to becoming a well-rounded professional portfolio musician. A highly tailored programme, you’ll focus intensely on the bass, while collaborating with peers who are studying guitar, drums, keyboards and vocals.
In a rapidly evolving and increasingly digital global music scene, there are more opportunities than ever before for performers and audiences to come together in innovative new ways. In addition to technical and creative abilities, this highly current performance CertHE allows you to build entrepreneurial business skills and digital proficiency that will set you up as a flexible and competent bass player and musician.
At the core of your CertHE is a focus on your principal instrument – bass – yet you’ll expand your musical literacy by studying with and playing alongside fellow CertHE guitar, keyboard, drum and vocal musicians. You’ll have regular opportunities to collaborate with these CertHE peers, as well as students across all other ICMP programmes.
Exploring a range of popular music repertoire, styles and genres, you’ll gain a firm understanding of theory, technique and technology for live, recorded and livestreamed performance scenarios. You’ll also cover topics including live performance skills, stylistic techniques, music theory, music technology and music business.
In addition to seminars and lectures, you’ll participate in regular skill sessions – both one-to-one with your ICMP bass tutor, and during collaborative workshops and ensemble practice with peers. A key focus at ICMP is collaboration and ‘A&R-style’ peer feedback, so you’ll frequently give and receive performance critiques to help you develop your unique identity as a bassist.
Across your year of learning, you’ll be taught in ICMP’s high-tech industry-standard facilities and guided by our expert tutors, who are all highly experienced music industry professionals, providing you with a deep understanding of the modern music industry. They’ll also arrange for you to attend regular industry events, networking opportunities, performances at London venues, and masterclasses hosted by special guest artists.
Upon completing the CertHE, you’ll have gained exceptional bass technical skills, combined with strong live, recorded and online performance know-how, allowing you to work successfully across multiple areas of today’s music business. If you’d prefer to continue with your studies, the programme offers a direct pathway to the second year of the BMus (Hons) Popular Music Performance and BA (Hons) Creative Musicianship degrees, where you can further establish your career as a professional bass player and portfolio musician.
To work as a teacher at a state school in England or Wales, you will need to achieve qualified teacher status (QTS). This is offered on this course for the following level:
This course is available in Clearing. If you have submitted an application, you can add this course. If you haven’t sent us an application yet, you can do this until 24th September 2026.
This is the equal consideration deadline. You can still apply after this date, but your application may not receive guaranteed consideration.
Institute of Contemporary Music Performance has participated in the Teaching Excellence Framework. These ratings were awarded in 2023, for four years.
See why these ratings were awarded
What does this TEF outcome mean?
The following entry points are available for this course:
This course may be available at alternative locations, please check if other course options are available.
Course optionsInternational students will typically hold a relevant equivalent qualification, please check your qualification with our Admissions team. In addition, you should hold a relevant English language qualification equivalent to CEFR Level B2.
ICMP are able to sponsor students that require a Student Route Visa to study in the UK. For more information on the application process contact enquiries@icmp.ac.uk.
This section shows the range of grades that students who received offers were previously accepted on to this course with (learn more).
It is designed to support your research but does not guarantee whether you will or won't get a place.
Admissions teams consider various factors, including interviews, subject requirements, and entrance tests. Check all course entry requirements for eligibility.
We are unable to show previous accepted grades for this course. This could be because the course is new, it's a postgraduate course, there isn't enough historical data, or the provider has opted out of sharing their entry grades data for this course - learn more.
This report uses your grades to show how students with similar results have done when applying to this course in the past. Sometimes, there isn’t data for every possible set of grades. When that happens, universities and colleges occasionally fill in the gaps for sets of grades that are typically accepted.
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Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website.
No additional fees or cost information has been supplied for this course, please contact the provider directly.
For students to be eligible for SLC funding, they must be studying a designated course. Courses at the ICMP are designated each year by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. We have developed together with valued partners several scholarships and bursaries which supplement our outreach and widening participation activities and enhance access to our courses. Please contact our admissions team for more information.
Email:enquiries@icmp.ac.uk
Phone:020 7328 0222
Email:enquiries@icmp.ac.uk
Phone:020 7328 0222
ICMP
1B Dyne Road
London
NW6 7XG
At Institute of Contemporary Music Performance
