Music BMus(Hons)

You will explore the building blocks of music in all its forms, developing an understanding of how music ‘works’ through the use of key theoretical principles such as melody, harmony, rhythm, form, timbre, and so on. This will allow you to investigate a number of key works from a wide range of musical styles and histories in detail, engaging with music in ways that will also develop your creativity as a performer or composer.

You will gain hands-on experience of a variety of key musical skills: improvisation; aural awareness; ensemble performance; and evaluating your own and others' performances. A wide range of styles and genres will be explored, and you will work with musicians relevant to your specialism as a pop, classical, or jazz performer.

The module is intended to enable you to develop your compositional abilities, through the exploration of a range of compositional techniques, with particular reference to acquiring a better understanding of rhythm, timbre, melody/contour, harmony, texture, form and notation. You will also explore the basics of instrumentation. Your creative aural imagination will be stimulated by studying and employing a variety of expressive musical languages.

You will work closely with an instrumental/vocal tutor throughout the year to develop your technical skills and musical insight to prepare you for solo and ensemble performance at intermediate and honours level. You will also be introduced to concepts of improvisation.

You will choose one practical option from an array of ensembles, bands, and approaches to performance. Options typically range from conducting, music theatre, and improvisation through to groups like orchestra, big band, brass band, classical and pop choirs, and a huge variety of pop, rock, soul, funk, and folk bands. Specialist performance tutors will coach you towards assessed performances that are open to the public.

As both a musical researcher and creative practitioner you will undertake an in-depth exploration of a particular area of music by choosing one specialist topic from a range on offer. Using musicological study to underpin and inspire artistic activity, you will engage with current issues in practice research, discover new repertoire and approaches to creativity, and reflect on research as an element of your own creative practice.

Further developing your skills as a researcher of music and musicianship, you will undertake an in-depth exploration of an area of music by choosing one specialist topic from a range on offer. Focusing on theoretical, analytical, and critical approaches to the study of music in society, you will engage with current debates within musicology, discover new repertoire and methodologies, and learn to approach music as a cultural text.

This module permits students to select an additional group performance activity to broaden their study alongside AIM2412 Performance Skills 2. Please view that module for further details.

You will explore a variety of techniques, resources, and notational skills to enhance and extend your work as a composer, including guidance on writing creatively for voices, mixed ensembles, percussion, invented instruments and electronics. With support provided by classes, tutorials, and workshops in a range of musical styles, you will work towards the production of a unique coursework portfolio of compositions.

Working towards a coursework portfolio of your own creative work, you will learn about a range of a range of approaches to orchestration from the Baroque to the present day. Classes will explore the characteristics of individual instruments and strategies for combining them, including issues of balance, voicing, doubling, and effective control of orchestral textures.

Building on the skills and knowledge acquired in Desktop Music Production 1 or AFM1208 Technology for Music, this module will provide further study of the techniques of computer-based music production. Techniques examined in-depth will include synthesis, sequencing, sampling, editing, processing and mixing techniques, as well as their creative application. Issues of pre/post production and arrangement will also be explored. You will also continue to study musical arrangement within a computer-based production context. You will explore these topics through practical technical and creative work that will improve your techno-fluency and abilities in detailed critical listening. Seminars will support the application of production techniques and ideas.

You will work individually, or in small groups (of normally no more than six), devising, managing, delivering and evaluating your project. You will be assigned an individual tutor, to whom the project proposal is submitted for approval and who is responsible for supporting your independent work through the module, and overseeing the assessment of your project outcomes.

You will choose one practical option from an array of ensembles, bands, and approaches to performance. Options typically range from conducting, music theatre, and improvisation through to groups like orchestra, big band, brass band, classical and pop choirs, and a huge variety of pop, rock, soul, funk, and folk bands. Specialist performance tutors will coach you towards assessed performances that are open to the public.

As an advanced and increasingly independent researcher of music and musicianship, you will undertake an in-depth exploration of a particular area of music by choosing one specialist topic from a range on offer. Focusing on theoretical, analytical, and critical approaches to the study of music in society, you will engage with current debates within musicology, discover new repertoire and methodologies, and learn to approach music as a cultural text.

As an advanced and increasingly independent musical researcher and creative practitioner, you will undertake an in-depth exploration of a particular area of music by choosing one specialist topic from a range on offer. Using musicological study to underpin and inspire artistic activity, you will engage with current issues in practice research, discover new repertoire and approaches to creativity, and reflect on research as an element of your own creative practice.

You will build on the experience you have gained previously in composition, production, and/or songwriting modules to produce a sophisticated piece (or small set of pieces) of music based on a set of staff-led options relevant to your compositional practice. Examples might include multichannel audio composition, instrumental composition, songwriting, music production, and audiovisual composition. Tutorial support for this creative work will be provided. You will be introduced to relevant techniques such as spatialisation, the use of complex orchestration/arrangements, advanced studio production, video, interactive or mixed media work. You will develop your ability to work with such techniques creatively.

Supported by individual lessons with one of our professional visiting instrumental and vocal teachers, you will continue to develop your technical skills and musical insight as an advanced solo performer. You will participate in a variety of masterclasses and workshops to increase your understanding of a range of musical performance contexts and issues, and will work towards two assessed solo recitals.

This module permits students to select an additional group performance activity and to broaden their study alongside the Performance Skills 3 module. Please view that description for further details.

This module permits students who are already taking the Independent Project module to produce a double-weighted, more extensive project in terms of size of the finished output. For further details see the description for Independent Project.