Why study Music at a UK University?

There are numerous very good reasons for choosing to study Music at a UK university:

· Studying Music at a UK university will give you access to the best quality education available, with UK universities consistently ranking in the world top 100.

· Students can complete a Bachelors degree in three years and a Masters degree in one year.

Which careers can a degree in Music lead to?

After graduating from a Music course at a UK university you will have a range of employment opportunities depending on your area of specialism. In the music industry itself, technicians, sound engineers and producers are always in demand and often work on a freelance basis. Skills acquired in musical production are also transferable to other media areas such as broadcasting and film-making. Graduates in Music who specialise in performance may pursue their own careers as recording artists or find employment with orchestras and/or as session musicians. There are also employment opportunities in specialist fields such as ethnomusicology and psychotherapy. Finally, Music graduates from a UK university can work in education where their skills are highly prized and contribute to the enjoyment of music by future generations. In any profession, an employer will value an UK university Music graduate’s technical expertise and production skills.

Do you have a passion for Music? Have you decided to look into studying Music at University? Not sure which Music course is best for you? Not sure what you need to take that next step?

Studying music at university is a truly enriching experience as well as a challenging educational one. University-trained musicians are expected to have much knowledge of their art. Perhaps not surprisingly, the expectations of our Universities are high and the better prepared you are, the more likely you are to be successful.

What kinds of preparation should you be thinking of? Below, we offer just some guidelines and suggestions in a number of areas that we consider important. We recommend that you choose your course VERY carefully and really think through what it is that you wish to do with your qualification after you have Graduated. Not all Music courses are the same, some are more traditional and some are aimed more at the Popular Music Industry. All Music students also enter a University Music course having come from different backgrounds and you may find that your knowledge of the areas detailed below is already far advanced, or you may be just beginning to explore some of these areas. Either way, these guidelines must not be seen as hurdles to be overcome, but as encouragement to further your musical experience.

Music theory

You should know about the foundations of music, and you may well have taken ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal School of Music) Graded examinations. Grade 5 Theory and a practical instrument or voice qualification of Grade 5 or above are very desirable.

Some of the Foundations of Music are listed below:

· Notation. Fluency in reading music in treble and bass clefs; accidentals; note and rest values; duplets, triplets, and other "tuplets"; simple and compound time signatures and normal groupings of note values.

· Intervals. The ability to name by sight, and to notate, all intervals from the unison to the octave in all qualities (major, minor, perfect, diminished, augmented); the inversion of intervals.

· Scales and keys. All major and minor (harmonic and melodic) scales; the names of scale degrees (tonic, supertonic, etc.); all major and minor key signatures.

· Chords. The structure of triads and seventh chords; triad qualities (major, minor, diminished, augmented); roots; inversions of triads and seventh chords and their figured-bass symbols.

· Harmony. The functions of diatonic chords and their roman-numeral symbols (I, II, III, etc.); types of cadences.

Aural musicianship skills

The ability to really listen to Music is key and the following abilities can be very important to a student beginning their university study in music.

· Intervals. The ability to recognise all diatonic intervals, from the unison to the octave, in both melodic (ascending and descending) and harmonic form.

· Rhythm. The ability to recognise rhythmic patterns of up to two measures in length, in 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, and 6/8 metres, containing regular division and subdivision of the beat as well as duplets and triplets.

· Melodic patterns. The ability to recognise a diatonic melody of up to two measures in length involving steps and leaps of no more than an octave.

· Chords. The ability to recognise the quality (major, minor, and diminished) of triads played in four parts, close or open position.

· Keyboard skills . Even if you are not a pianist or organist, your study of music will benefit a great deal from having some ability at the keyboard. If you do not yet play keyboard at all, you should consider taking some beginning lessons.

Musical terminology

How familiar are you with the following?

Musical concepts

• melody, range, phrase, cadence, climax
• rhythm, beat, accent, metre (duple, triple, quadruple, simple, compound), syncopation
• pitch, interval, consonance, dissonance, octave, scale, diatonic, chromatic
• harmony, chord, triad,
• tonality, tonic, major mode, minor mode, key
• texture, monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic, imitation, timbre
• form, variation, binary, ternary, theme, sequence, motive

Italian terms

• tempo, grave, largo, adagio, andante, moderato, allegro, vivace, presto, prestissimo, accelerando, rallentando, ritardando, a tempo, tempo rubato, tempo primo, meno mosso, più mosso
• pianissimo, piano, mezzo piano, mezzo forte, forte, fortissimo, crescendo, decrescendo, diminuendo
• legato, staccato, tenuto, sforzando, fermata, arco, pizzicato, con sordino
• agitato, animato, cantabile, con brio, con espressione, dolce, espressivo, giocoso, grazioso, leggiero, maestoso, marcato, pesante, scherzando, tranquillo,
• da capo, dal segno, fine, attacca
• alla, assai, ben, col/colla/con, e/ed, ma, meno, molto, non, più, poco, poco a poco, primo, quasi, secondo, sempre, senza, subito, troppo

The history of western art ("classical") music

Music also has a rich stylistic history, and the study of music's evolution will be a core part of your university training. The GCSE and A level Music courses here at Kingdown include an introduction to notable composers and important music genres. Developing this knowledge base can also be a very valuable preparation for your university study.

A listener's knowledge of art music

This may be the most important point of all. For a musician, there is simply no substitute for having some music "in the ears." The more music you are familiar with, the more meaning musical concepts will take on, and the better you will be able to play, listen to, and enjoy other music.

The Entrance Assessment

Universities offering Music will look to set some form of Entrance Assessment in addition to you’re A Levels (and ABRSM grades where applicable), which usually comes in the form of a written exam, testing some of the above aspects of your knowledge and understanding, an audition and an interview.

The idea of the examination is not to look at whether you have passed or failed, but to look at your strengths and areas for development. Some Universities also award bursaries or Scholarships to particularly promising candidates.

And finally….

Make sure you research courses carefully. Is it a traditional course or a more ‘popular culture’ based course that you’re looking for? What would it be like to live there?

Actually go and visit the places on your short list as the most fantastic course could be offered and you might actually arrive and take an immediate disliking to the location! Trust your gut instincts!