Music MA

The MA in Music embraces your passion for music, providing the guidance, opportunities, and tools you’ll need to flourish in your chosen field. Our course encourages you to draw critically from others’ work and develop your own specialisms, be they in performance, composition, musicology, or a combination of these. As a Masters student, you’ll enjoy studying within a close-knit community, encountering a wide range of interests relating to diverse musical forms from across the globe.<br/><br/>Every Masters student takes a specialist core module, selected from a list of five options: musicology, ethnomusicology, composition, performance, and music psychology. This core module explores the various issues currently at the heart of the discipline while providing the skills and knowledge needed to carry out independent research at Masters level.<br/><br/>Relating to your chosen specialism, you’ll also work closely with one of the Department’s experts to produce a major project in the form of a dissertation, portfolio of compositions, or performance. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to delve deeply into specific musical practices that you find particularly fascinating. Additionally, our Masters programme includes a Research Methods and Resources module (compulsory for all but the Performance specialists) while offering a wide range of elective modules to choose from.<br/><br/>We pride ourselves on being one of the leading music departments in the UK, offering innovative courses and producing cutting-edge music research. As a postgraduate, you will have access to state-of-the-art facilities, including recording studios, practice and rehearsal rooms, our concert room, and an instrument collection. In addition, the University library contains a wide collection of books, scores, and CDs, and offers a rich range of online resources.<br/><br/>**Course structure**<br/><br/>All the MA programmes offered by the Faculty of Arts & Humanities consist of three components: <br/>- a Major Research Project to the value of at least 60 credits <br/><br/><br/>- Core Modules to the value of 0-90 credits, depending on the programme <br/><br/><br/>- Elective Modules, making up the total number of credits to 180; some of these modules will be defined as Recommended Electives for particular programmes. <br/><br/><br/>The MA in Music offers five specialisms each year as follows: <br/>- Performance <br/><br/><br/>- Musicology <br/><br/><br/>- Ethnomusicology <br/><br/><br/>- Composition <br/><br/><br/>- Music Psychology <br/><br/><br/>For MA Music Students, the 60-credit Major Research Project is linked to your chosen specialism and will be one of the following: <br/>- Dissertation in Music. To be taken if you are specialising in musicology, ethnomusicology or music psychology. <br/><br/><br/>- Portfolio of Compositions. To be produced if you are specialising in composition. <br/><br/><br/>- Performance Project. To be selected if you are specialising in music performance. <br/>