Final year (Top-Up) (national level 6):
Core modules:
- Meaning in Music (20 credits)
Consider the ways in which music acquires and embodies meaning—how the elements of songs, performances and genres are encountered, represented and interpreted in the contemporary cultural environment. Seek to draw out music’s capacity to represent and connote, exploring in particular how musical attributes are variously implicated in constructions of (for instance) ideology, violence, identity, gender, sexuality and ethnicity.
Optional modules (choose 100 credits):
- Music for Performance A (20 credits)
Gain a specialised knowledge of musical styles, conventions and traditions, and the significance of this for your own music practice. Continue to develop musical awareness through working processes that extend skills within vocal/instrumental performance. Produce innovative individual/group-initiated work. Demonstrate a critical understanding of issues surrounding performer/audience relationships, the cultural contexts for music performance and the relevance of this for the independent and/or collaborative generation of distinctive ideas for creating and making music for performance. Use appropriate techniques, processes and working methods in making and creating music for performance. Work towards a live music performance and decide in consultation with the module leader the form that this will take.
- Music for Performance B (40 credits)
Take advantage of opportunities to further your study of music performance. Continue to develop musical awareness through working processes that extend skills within vocal and/or instrumental performance. Work towards a live music performance and decide in consultation with the module leader the form that this will take.
- Creative Sound A(20 credits)
Develop the technical and theoretical tools for creating audio works/artefacts. Gain an overview of creative sound practice(s) across a variety of sub-disciplines (focusing on Musique Concrète, sound design and cracked media) that will inform and contextualise the development of creative work and criticism. Cover content that will include an overview of key practitioners and works, relevant terminologies and writings that bear upon issues relating to audio as a creative medium and the deployment of associated technologies. Develop assignment materials that elaborate upon one theme, perspective or approach derived from the above content.
- Creative Sound B (40 credits)
Develop the technical and theoretical tools for creating audio works/artefacts. Gain an overview of creative sound practice(s) across a variety of sub-disciplines – including technology-based music composition, sound art, Musique Concrète, sound design, cracked media and acoustic ecology – that will inform and contextualise the development of individual and/or group creative work and criticism. Cover content that will include an overview of key practitioners and works, relevant terminologies and writings that bear upon issues relating to audio as a creative medium and the deployment of associated technologies. Develop assignment materials that elaborate upon two themes, perspectives or approaches derived from the above content.
- Independent Study (20 credits)
Gain an in depth understanding of particular historical, theoretical or contextual topic in the field of Dance, Drama, Music or Performing Arts through a written dissertation. Critically analyse, synthesise and communicate a range of in-depth research on a negotiated topic. Effectively present/communicate written or practical ideas and solutions appropriate to the course.
- Music-Image-Text (20 credits)
Explore the implications of “musical multimedia” for creative practice in music through examples drawn from a wide range of audio-visual material and case study examples. Practical examples in originating, composing, devising, and presenting new work will lead to outcomes in a variety of forms—e.g. live performance, music video, installation, recordings and/or other modes or combinations of output.
- Creative Enterprise (20 credits)
Gain a broad overview of developments in the creative industries, examine trends and developments in relation to the work of selected practitioners and theorists, and investigate current research, thinking and practice. Develop and apply specialist and transferable skills and knowledge working in a range of professional creative employment contexts. Plan and implement a small-scale project and experience a work placement aligning to a possible career outcome. Develop a professional online portfolio/digital CV which showcases some of your best work.
- Musical Theatre Performance (40 credits)
Study and rehearse a musical for public performance. Take on a high degree of responsibility for the planning, direction, and management of your own development as a performing artist and as the member of a creative production team. Work as a company to prepare and perform a musical within a professional context for an audience.
Please note, modules are subject to review. Some modules have prerequisites. Read more about what this means in our Help and Advice article.
