Program Overview

MA Music

Overview

This innovative new MA in Music puts your interests at the heart of your experience. Building on the success of our undergraduate Music programmes, this exciting new MA Music aims to provide a supportive and encouraging environment in which to develop your practice.

We have flipped the traditional structure of a Masters, where taught modules are followed by a final project or dissertation, by enabling you to work on and develop your major project from the outset. This programme is ideal for musicians, composers, producers and artists who want to develop their practice, and for scholars who wish to take an academic approach to their study. There is no requirement for undergraduate music study and we welcome practitioners and scholars from all disciplines.

Mode of Study:

• Full-time

Duration:

• 1 year

Start date:

• September

Course details

We believe that exploration and experimentation are central to the postgraduate experience. You will develop practices and ways of working that are at the intersection of practice, reflection and the transmission of ideas, findings and creative outputs.

This exciting new MA in music has been designed to foster and encourage:

• Exploration and experimentation
• Criticality and reflection
• Engagement with knowledge and practice

This programme will facilitate an individualised experience in which you will develop your practice, knowledge and understanding of your place in the world through the development of critical reflection abilities. You will be encouraged and supported as you develop a deep understanding of the context of your work/practice and the work of others in a scholarly/artistic context.

Five interrelated compulsory modules are specifically designed to allow students to achieve our programme aims which are to:

• Engage creatively with your chosen field(s), challenging yourself to explore and innovate within your chosen area(s) of practice.
• Develop and demonstrate your ability for critical and reflective thought and judgement.
• Develop understanding(s) of research/practical methodologies and the use and application of method(s).
• Explore/create a range of modes of artistic/scholarly communication.
• Interrogate and respond to the context(s) in which your practice is articulated.

Modules

• Doing (MUS11114) This module provides you with the opportunity to undertake a large-scale project in your chosen area of study. Your project may have a scholarly or a practice-led focus and you will be guided by a supervisor to develop your ideas, practice, and methods in a manner appropriate to your chosen field or area of study.
• Exploring (MUS11115) The purpose of this module is to give you the opportunity to do work on a project that will challenge your current practices and which may involve completely experimental and exploratory methods.
• Methodologies (MUS11118) This module will focus on the exploration, critique, and application of a range of methodologies that pertain to the chosen areas of investigation/practice of the student cohort.
• Thinking About (MUS11116) In this module, you will have the opportunity to develop ways in which you think about, contextualise, and critique your own work in your chosen practice field.
• Transmitting (MUS11117) This module provides you with the opportunity to discuss, explore, and engage in some of the scholarly/artistic transmission strategies associated with your chosen field.

Entry requirements

• Year 1 The entry requirement for this course is a Bachelor (Honours) Degree at 2:2 or above in any discipline.
• English language If your first language isn't English, you'll normally need to undertake an approved English language test. The English Language requirements for this programme are IELTS (Academic) with an overall score of 6.5 with no individual component score of less than 6.0.
• International students We welcome applications from students studying a wide range of international qualifications.
• Admissions policies We’re committed to admitting students who have the potential to succeed and benefit from our programmes of study.

Fees & funding

• Tuition fees for 2024/25
  • Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Republic of Ireland: £7,280
  • Overseas and EU: £18,800
• Tuition fees for 2025/26
  • Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Republic of Ireland: £7,650
  • Overseas and EU: £19,750
• The University offers a 20% discount on Postgraduate Taught Masters programmes to its alumni.

Careers

This programme has been designed to develop practical, scholarly, and critical skills, preparing students for a wide range of career opportunities. This programme is also the ideal springboard for doctoral study.

Potential opportunities include:

• Doctoral study (research or practice-based)
• Performance
• Composition/Songwriting
• Production
• Audio Engineering
• Musicology
• Music Education
• Arts Administration
• Sound Design
• Music Management or Promotion