Music Performance Studies

Core modules:

Advanced Ensemble Performance Skills

This module aims to develop students' ensemble performance skills to an advanced level by taking a critical and reflective perspective on one's performance in an ensemble context, considering the role of musicians in accompaniment and chamber music settings, and by researching relevant aspects of ensemble performance related to repertoire, musical communication, and performance expression. This module has an extensive practical component with students working with other MA and UG students towards a 15-minute recital examination. There is also a 2000-word portfolio including a critical reflection on musical communication, the rehearsal process and the repertoire choices with reference to existing performances.

30 credits

Research and Communication Skills B

Research and Communication Skills A and B together comprise linked modules delivered in collaboration with the English Language Teaching Centre, directed at all students who wish to work on research and English communication skills - written and oral, in order to reach a variety of audiences interested in music and music research. Research and Communication Skills A runs through Semester 1 covering foundational research skills, including generating focussed research topics; literature search; academic reading; quotation, paraphrasing and summarising; citation; organising information and arguments; and structuring an essay. Research and Communication Skills B runs through Semester 2, and focusses on developing critical skills, using evidence, and written and oral communication in a variety of genres and styles. Assessments for these modules provide opportunities to improve academic research and writing skills, which can benefit performance in other modules. They also offer the opportunity to engage with a broad spectrum of written and oral communication, useful for academic and professional contexts.

15 credits

Piano pathway - you will take:

Historically-Informed Piano Performance

This module will introduce students to historically-informed performance practice as a core component of the performance of western classical music. By engaging with primary source material, scholarly research, recordings and live performances, students will approach piano performance as a research-informed discipline. The module will include a mixture of lectures and performance workshops, , and will culminate with a performance presentation of a programme and topic chosen by the student.

30 credits

Piano Recital

This unit constitutes a practical examination of a cross-section where each student will explore and investigate appropriate styles of interpretation and performance for a representative range of repertoire, from the baroque period to the present day, the whole informed by reference to recent musicological scholarship and current theories relating to piano performance practice. Work will be supported and supplemented by individual piano tuition. A 45-minute public piano recital demonstrating keen stylistic awareness, accomplished technical control, imaginative use of colour and texture and highly communicative. The student will engage with the audience in expressing their interpretations of chosen repertoire at a professional standard.

60 credits

Non-piano pathway - you will take:

Historically-Informed Performance

This module will introduce students to historically-informed performance practice as a core component of the performance of western classical music. By engaging with primary source material, scholarly research, recordings and live performances, students will approach performance as a research-informed discipline. The module will include a mixture of lectures and performance workshops and will culminate with a performance presentation of a programme and topic chosen by the student.

30 credits

Recital

This unit constitutes a practical examination of a cross-section where each student will explore and investigate appropriate styles of interpretation and performance for a representative range of repertoire, from the classical period to the present day, the whole informed by reference to recent musicological scholarship and current theories relating to performance practice. Work will be supported and supplemented by individual instrumental instituton. If preferred, a themed recital may be programmed. A 45-minute public recital demonstrating keen stylistic awareness, accomplished technical control, imaginative use of colour and texture and highly communicative. The student will engage with the audience in expressing their interpretations of chosen repertoire at a professional standard.

60 credits

Optional modules - both pathways:

Critical Listening and the Musical Work

Students will consider recordings across a range of genres from European and American music to develop their critical listening skills and understanding of musical works. Classes will cover broader questions in the first half of the module, giving way to focused case studies in the second.
Key issues may include:
what is a musical work?;
what is critical listening?;
scores and editions;
positionality;
types and values;
taste and recordings;
reception of recordings;
recording over time;
and other issues and ideas in musical listening.
Weekly listening and research tasks will contribute to an independent project, which will be assessed through a presentation and short essay.

15 credits

Critical Listening and the Musical Work

Students will consider recordings across a range of genres from European and American music to develop their critical listening skills and understanding of musical works. Classes will cover broader questions in the first half of the module, giving way to focused case studies in the second.
Key issues may include:
what is a musical work?;
what is critical listening?;
scores and editions;
positionality;
types and values;
taste and recordings;
reception of recordings;
recording over time;
and other issues and ideas in musical listening.

Weekly listening and research tasks will contribute to an independent project, which will be assessed through a presentation and short essay.

30 credits

Critical Musicology

This unit acts as an introduction to key trends and figures in musicology from the mid-twentieth century to the present day. Students will learn techniques and skills related to the literature in the field, and will employ them in an essay on a topic of their own choice.

30 credits

Topics in Musicology

This unit gives students the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge in a focused area of musicolgy. Students will explore the literature related to a specific topic in depth, and will write an essay that responds to the current state of the literature in this area. Topics offered will be in line with staff research interests, but the exact number and selection of topics will depend on student demand.

30 credits

Applied Music Psychology: Education, Community and Health

This module explores the psychology of music in a variety of settings, from the everyday uses of music to music in education and in therapeutic settings. The emphasis in this module lies in two related areas: the use of music psychology to help solve the practical problems of people's lives (in terms of wellbeing, therapy, education and development) and also to explore music as a social phenomenon, that is understanding the psychology of music as a social and interactive facet of human life. 

15 credits

Principles of Music Management

The module consists of weekly lectures and seminars, each of which is devoted to exploring key principles underpinning successful music management practice. Thus for example seminars will focus upon music policy, digital rights revenues and audience research and engagement. The module will give students the opportunity to investigate the principle(s) of most interest to them in the context of a specific management environment such as the grant-in-aid, independent and global music sectors. The intention of the module is to enable students to broadly identify multiple principles in context and specifically apply one to a chosen specialist area.

30 credits

Strategies for Funding Music and The Arts

This module provides a practical exploration of funding within the music and arts sectors, equipping students with the knowledge and skills to identify funding opportunities, create compelling grant applications, and understand the nuances of monitoring and evaluation. Through a series of lectures, students will dissect current market trends in arts funding, learn quantitative and qualitative research methods for evaluation, and master the art of report writing. The module aims to demystify the process of securing funding by offering step-by-step guidance on developing successful applications, from initial research to final submission. Emphasis will be placed on understanding funders' criteria, budgeting, and the critical skill of effectively presenting proposals, ensuring students are well-prepared to navigate the competitive landscape of arts funding.

15 credits

Performing South Asian Rhythm

The unit provides an opportunity to integrate practice in an unfamiliar musical genre. Taught in practical classes, the unit will focus on the music of one tradition hitherto unfamiliar to the class in question, requiring them to learn vocal or instrumental performance in that style. Students will back up their practice-based understanding of the world music tradition with an online learning diary and theoretical knowledge derived from the ethnomusicological literature. Their practical learning leads to a performance examination.

30 credits