Music and Music Psychology BA

The University of Leeds offers a unique BA Music and Music Psychology degree, which is the only course of its type in the country. This program balances modules focused on music psychology with those drawing on music from a range of genres, styles, cultural and social contexts, and geographic locations to explore key concepts, theories, and approaches.

Course Overview

The core of the BA in Music and Music Psychology balances modules focused on music psychology with those drawing on music from a range of genres, styles, cultural and social contexts, and geographic locations to explore key concepts, theories, and approaches. You'll develop your skills as a creative, critical, and reflective thinker, gaining the tools and experience needed to be an independent worker, musician, and music psychologist, ready for life after university.

Course Structure

The course is structured to give you a strong grounding in music and music psychology, while also enabling you to develop your other interests through the selection of optional modules in various areas of music.

Year 1

• Introduction to the Psychology of Music (20 credits): This module provides you with a foundation in the subject of the psychology of music.
• Music Psychology and Society (20 credits): Understanding the social functions of music reveals much about its value in a variety of contexts.
• Music and Society (20 credits): This module supports the development of research and practice-research skills and sets you on the way to being a critical and creative thinker.
• Materials of Music (20 credits): This module brings music theory into the twenty-first century.
• Optional module in an area of music such as:
  • Collaborative Performance
  • Contemporary Composition
  • Film Music
  • Music Business
  • Music Technology
  • Performance
  • Popular Music

Year 2

• Psychology of Listening and Performance (20 credits): On this module, you'll explore how psychological research data, models, and theories have been used to explain a range of behaviors associated with performing and listening to music.
• Therapeutic Applications of Music (20 credits): Music has a rich history of improving mental and physical health.
• Researching Music (20 credits): Music is a multi-disciplinary subject, and musical research employs a diverse range of methods.
• Towards the Future: Skills in Context (20 credits): This module aims to provide you with an opportunity to think about the ways in which your knowledge and expertise can be applied outside your university studies.
• Optional module in an area of music such as:
  • Aesthetics
  • Collaborative Performance
  • Contemporary Composition
  • Film Music
  • Music Business
  • Music Technology
  • Musicology
  • Notation Studies
  • Performance

Year 3

• Independent Research Project (40 credits): This module gives you the chance to explore an area of music or music psychology of your own choosing.
• Advancing Music Psychology (20 credits): This module considers the ways in which research and researchers can and/or should be advancing music psychology as a discipline.
• Music Psychology Beyond Graduation (20 credits): This module provides you with an opportunity to examine the ways in which expertise in music can be applied beyond your studies and to apply techniques from the field of music psychology.
• Optional module in an area of music such as:
  • Collaborative Performance
  • Contemporary Composition
  • Critical Theory
  • Music Analysis
  • Music Business
  • Musicology
  • Music Technology
  • Performance

Learning and Teaching

Academics in the School of Music are experts in their fields, and their activities inform their teaching directly. We use a range of inclusive, active, and student-centered approaches to learning and teaching to engage you in your course and support you to develop your knowledge, understanding, and skills.

Assessment

We use a variety of assessment methods, each of which is chosen to best measure your achievement of a module's learning outcomes and associated skills, so you and we can understand and support your progress and development.

Entry Requirements

• A-level: AAB. We also welcome BTEC applicants with DDD.
• If A levels or equivalent qualifications do not include Music, we would normally expect a discursive subject and evidence of musical literacy.
• Practical grades in music are not a requirement for this programme. However, if you want to study solo performance modules, you will need a minimum of ABRSM, Trinity Guildhall or Rockschool Grade 7 (or demonstrate that you are of equivalent standard by the time you arrive in Leeds).

Fees

• UK: £9,790
• International: £28,750 (per year)

Career Opportunities

A degree in Music and Music Psychology from the University of Leeds equips you with valuable subject knowledge, cultural and social awareness, and a strong balance of musical, psychological, and transferable skills. Our courses equip our graduates to work in a wide range of areas within the music industry, including performing, composing, teaching, lecturing, and coaching, as well as in other sectors such as business, healthcare, law, management, and media.

Study Abroad and Work Placements

During your second year, you'll have the opportunity to apply to transfer onto our BA Music and Music Psychology (International) variant and extend your degree by a year, spending your third year studying at one of our many partner universities worldwide. You also have the option to apply to take a placement year module with organizations across the public, private, and voluntary sectors in the UK, or overseas.

Related Courses

• Music BA
• Music with Enterprise BA
• Mathematics and Music BSc
• Music and Music Technology BA

University of Leeds

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Overview:

The University of Leeds is a public research university located in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is a large and prestigious institution with a strong reputation for academic excellence and a vibrant campus life.

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Academic Programs:

The University of Leeds offers a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate programs across various faculties, including:

• Arts, Humanities and Cultures
• Biological Sciences
• Business School
• Engineering and Physical Sciences
• Environment
• Medicine and Health
• Social Sciences