Music, BMus at University of Aberdeen

Aberdeen is the ideal environment and location to study music, with 500 years of musical history and heritage and a vibrant cultural identity, which celebrates the traditional while embracing the modern.

When you enter our highly-regarded BMus programme you might already have specific career aspirations including editing, writing and presenting music, composing and performing. If you are still considering your music career however, our degrees are specifically designed to give you the time to explore and develop your interests with a broad foundation in music before choosing your specific programme. You will study performance, composition and theory, musicianship and a broad overview of music history which serves as the foundation for future study and specialising in subsequent years.

You may wish to continue honing your skills as a musician and specialising in composition, performance and musicology, especially in your final year. Alternatively, you can specialise in teaching in the BMus (Education) programme, or the BMus (Music and Communities) opening opportunities for working in community education and music.

Your studies will prepare you for a wide variety of careers, not only in music but applying your skills in education, in the media and in business and there are Aberdeen graduates working in music agencies and in the management of London and Scottish orchestras.

How You'll Study

Teaching is delivered through a mixture of lectures, seminar groups, tutorials and individual instrumental and vocal tuition. Methods of assessment take the form of submitted coursework (essays and compositions).

Learning Methods

• GROUP PROJECTS
• INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS
• LECTURES
• TUTORIALS

Why Study Music?

• Academic staff who are internationally recognised experts in composition, performance, musicology, music in schools and community music, including royal composer Paul Mealor and many rising student stars.
• Within the BMus (Hons) Community Music programme provides the opportunity to work with local and national organisations, recent examples include: Aberdeen Performing Arts (APA), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (BBCSSO), Drake Music Scotland, Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO), Scottish Culture and Traditions (SCAT), Scottish opera (SO), Sistema Scotland.
• The flexibility to study music alongside a wide range of other subjects at Honours level.
• Specialist facilities including three state-of-the-art Electroacoustic Composition studios as well as Music Technology workstations.
• Wonderful collection of historic instruments including a 1771 Kirkman harpsichord, also full Balinese Gamelan, Steel Pans and Samba/Salsa instruments.
• Instrumental/vocal courses available in all years of the programme, with tuition costs normally covered by the University.
• University Symphony Orchestra, Chamber and Chapel choirs with growing international reputations, Choral Society, String Ensemble, Viol Consort, Recorder Consort, New Music Group, Baroque Ensemble, Concert Band, Big Band, Opera Society, chamber groups and many more.
• Excellent performance opportunities with the early sixteenth-century Chapel often used for services and performances of sacred and concert music.

Careers

Our music programme is specifically designed to enable students to pursue a career in music or a related field. The performance and composition skills, coupled with the deep knowledge and understanding that you will gain of the subject, will help you prepare for a variety of careers. Previous graduates of our Music programme now work in teaching, community music, editing, writing and presenting music, composing and performing.