Music with Jazz Performance Bachelor of Music (with Honours) - MusB (Hon)

The BMus (Hons) Music with Jazz Performance is a three-year, full-time undergraduate programme for students who want to develop as confident, skilled and adaptable musicians while pursuing a distinctive and sustained focus on jazz performance. It is a linked award that draws substantially on the established BMus (Hons) Music curriculum, enabling students to benefit from the applied performance focus, creative and research-informed study, digital/industry development and collaborative musicianship of the parent programme, while developing specialist jazz musicianship, improvisational fluency and ensemble awareness. \
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The programme combines conservatoire-informed practical performance training with the wider benefits of a university music education. Students build secure technical foundations, creative confidence, critical thinking, collaborative capability and an informed understanding of contemporary musical practice and music industries. Alongside this, they engage progressively with jazz language, repertoire, improvisation, critical listening, arranging, analysis, ensemble interaction and the cultural and historical contexts of jazz as a living practice. \
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The curriculum is shaped around six connected programme areas: Performing Music; Understanding and Researching Music; Creating Music; Industry Readiness; Preparation and Reflection; and Professional Collaboration. The award remains a music degree first, sharing much of its foundational content with the parent BMus (Hons) Music, with jazz performance operating as a substantial and distinctive specialist strand. Students benefit from the broad musical, creative, critical and professional skills of the parent curriculum, while the three 40-credit Jazz Development modules provide a clear specialist spine across the degree: foundational jazz language and repertoire at Level 4, historically informed and creative jazz practice at Level 5, and advanced arranging, contemporary jazz enquiry and independent professional presentation at Level 6. \
At Level 4, students establish foundations in applied performance, musical grammar, and Jazz Development 1. At Level 5, they extend performance, creative, industry and specialist jazz practice through Applied Performance Practice 2, Creative Musicianship 2, and Jazz Development 2. At Level 6, they consolidate their learning through Major Creative Project, Industry Portfolio and Jazz Development 3, demonstrating increasing independence as jazz-informed performers, creative practitioners and emerging professionals. \
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The industry-readiness strand develops progressively across the degree. At Level 4, Digital Skills and Online Presence for Musicians supports students to acquire foundational digital, media and platform tools. At Level 5, Content Creation and Music Enterprise enables students to create prototype content and explore realistic enterprise thinking. At Level 6, Industry Portfolio supports students to curate, polish and activate launch-ready or professionally credible materials for external-facing contexts, including performance, improvisation, ensemble work, arranging, recording, creative practice or further study. \
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Employability is embedded from the outset through performance projects, ensemble work, jazz development, creative outputs, research-informed reflection, digital literacy, content creation, enterprise planning and professional portfolio materials. \
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Graduates are prepared for portfolio careers and further study in areas such as performance, jazz-related practice, ensemble and collaborative work, arranging, recording, digital content creation, postgraduate study and wider creative employment. The programme has been designed with reference to the OfS Sector Recognised Standards, FHEQ expectations and the QAA Subject Benchmark Statement for Music (2025).