MA
MA Music
The MA in Music embraces your passion for music, whether that’s performing, composing or analysing and researching its many forms and its impact on societies and cultures.
How to apply Apply via UCAS
Course details
Start date
Degree Type
MA
Program Code
W3K707
Course length
1 year full-time, 2 years part-time
Typical offer
Tuition Fees
- Home (Full-time): £12,500 per year
- Overseas (Full-time): £27,500 per year
Overview
The MA in Music embraces your passion for music, providing the guidance, opportunities, and tools you’ll need to flourish in your chosen field. Our course encourages you to draw critically from others’ work and develop your own specialisms, be they in performance, composition, musicology, ethnomusicology, music psychology or a combination of these. As a Masters student, you’ll enjoy studying within a close-knit community, encountering a wide range of interests relating to diverse musical forms from across the globe. Every Masters student takes a specialist core module, selected from a list of five options: musicology, ethnomusicology, composition, performance, and music psychology. This core module explores the various issues currently at the heart of the discipline while providing the skills and knowledge needed to carry out independent research at Masters level. Relating to your chosen specialism, you’ll also work closely with one of the Department’s experts to produce a major project in the form of a dissertation, portfolio of compositions, or performance. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to delve deeply into specific musical practices that you find particularly fascinating. Additionally, our Masters programme includes a Research Methods and Resources module (compulsory for all but the Performance specialists) while offering a wide range of elective modules to choose from. We pride ourselves on being one of the leading music departments in the UK, offering innovative courses and producing cutting-edge music research. As a postgraduate, you will have access to state-of-the-art facilities, including recording studios, practice and rehearsal rooms, our concert room, and an instrument collection. In addition, the University library contains a wide collection of books, scores, and CDs, and offers a rich range of online resources.
Course details
Start date
Degree Type
MA
Program Code
W3K707
Course length
1 year full-time, 2 years part-time
Typical offer
Tuition Fees
- Home (Full-time): £12,500 per year
- Overseas (Full-time): £27,500 per year
What you'll study
All the MA programmes offered by the Faculty of Arts & Humanities consist of three components: a Major Research Project to the value of at least 60 credits Core Modules to the value of 0-90 credits, depending on the programme Elective Modules, making up the total number of credits to 180; some of these modules will be defined as Recommended Electives for particular programmes. The MA in Music offers five specialisms each year as follows: Performance Musicology Ethnomusicology Composition Music Psychology For MA Music Students, the 60-credit Major Research Project is linked to your chosen specialism and will be one of the following: Dissertation in Music. To be taken if you are specialising in musicology, ethnomusicology, analysis or music psychology. Portfolio of Compositions. To be produced if you are specialising in composition. Performance Project. To be selected if you are specialising in music performance.
Core modules
-
60-credit
Additionally, you will be required to study a core module which, again, corresponds to your chosen specialism: Music PerformanceContemporary MusicologyEthnomusicology in Practice and TheoryTopics in Contemporary Compositional TechniquesAdvanced Topics in Music Psychology
-
Performance,
With the exception of those specialising in all MA Music students are additionally required to take this 30-credit module: Research Methods and Resources: an introduction to conducting music research. This module will encourage critical thinking around music research within a framework of the existing professional standards and conventions.
Optional modules
-
Remaining credits are taken from the following indicative list of 30-credit modules: Recorded Performance Project Audiovisual Media Creation for ResearchSpecial Topic in Music Contemporary Musicology Special Topic in Performance Advanced Projects in Stylistic Composition and ArrangingEthnomusicology in Practice and Theory Research Experience in Music
Learning
The course is delivered through a combination of seminars, practical sessions and one-to-one supervision. Seminars provide opportunities for you to discuss and debate particular issues, and to present your own original work. You will be expected to carry out independent study outside timetabled contact hours in order to be able to contribute to the sessions. The practical sessions in areas such as studio or field recording techniques will help to prepare you for your own independent work. Your contact hours may vary considerably as a result of the high degree of flexibility in the course. Individual supervision of dissertations, performance projects and composition portfolios are delivered over the second and third terms. Students are also supported by an Academic Advisor.Assessment
Assessment is thorough and is designed to demonstrate your progress through, and understanding of, the course material. Assessment methods, which vary depending on the pathway chosen, include essays, presentations, composition exercises, transcriptions, audiovisual productions, and performance recitals. You will also be assessed on your final independent project, which may be a dissertation, a composition portfolio or a performance, developed with the help of one-to-one expert supervision.Entry requirements
Fees & Funding
Choose which fees you want to see:
Home / Island students
£12,500 per year
International / EU Students
£27,500 per year
Home / Island students
Part Time - £6,900 per year
International / EU Students
Part Time - £15,200 per year
The tuition fees shown are for one complete academic year of study, are set according to the academic year of entry, and remain the same throughout the duration of the programme for that cohort (unless otherwise stated).
Find out moreDepartment Information
-
Our Department holds internationally recognised research expertise in a wide range of musical areas which enables us to offer a high level of tailored attention and support across both our taught and research postgraduate qualifications. Areas of expertise comprise musicology, music analysis, ethnomusicology, music psychology, performance, and acoustic and electroacoustic composition. We offer a flexible MA with guidance on choosing the subject that is in tune with personal interest and aspiration, and which can be studied on a part-time or full-time basis. Postgraduates benefit from, and contribute to, a wide range of activities in the Department, including a Research Forum featuring contributions from both Durham and visiting academics and a weekly Postgraduate Seminar run by the student community itself. Facilities are cutting-edge and regularly updated as technology in music develops at a fast pace. Postgraduates have a dedicated room for study and share departmental facilities such as our studios, multimedia room, concert room and instrument collection. One of the highlights of our taught MA programme is the joy in becoming part of a vibrant international music-loving postgraduate community and studying with scholars, composers, and performers who have achieved international recognition in their fields. For more information see our department pages.
Read moreFacilities
Our cutting-edge facilities include a beautiful concert room, four fully equipped practice rooms, three studios with production equipment offering analogue and digital technology. Our recording studio comprises a control room and up to three recording rooms, with state-of-the-art equipment. We also have an audio-visual documentation and analysis laboratory, a music and science lab and a fully equipped music technology workshop. Postgraduate students have access to a range of study spaces both within the Department and Faculty of Arts and Humanities. The Department is located at the heart of the city of Durham, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Find out more -
