Music BA(Hons) Degree

Course outline

We are continually updating our programme of modules, based upon the needs of our students. The following gives a sample of the types of modules we run.

Stage 1

In the first year, you'll be encouraged to broaden and challenge your perceptions of what music can be. You'll explore new ideas and new music, and you'll learn about the practicalities of being a professional musician.

• Making Music
• Music at the Cutting Edge
• Music in Society
• Ways of Listening
• The Changing Artist

Stage 2

As you progress into Stage 2, you'll be given increasing freedom to choose what and how you want to study; we will support your development as individuals. You will continue your one-to-one lessons, and you will apply the skills learnt in Stage 1 by choosing from a menu of options modules. Modules that give you the opportunity to work with students on other courses play a particularly prominent role. Typical options on offer include:

• Film Music
• Music & Dance
• Music Theatre
• Working the Context
• Performance Studies
• Composition Studies
• Exploring Timbre
• Voice Text Machine(s)

Stage 3

In Stage 3, you'll be given maximum flexibility to design and undertake your own areas of study. You will undertake independent research, off-campus work, and plenty of music making, all within your chosen field(s) of specialism.

• Practice in Context
• Professional Practice Project
• Dissertation

Tell me more about the BA(Hons) Music course

Out of the recent merger between University College Falmouth and Dartington College of Arts has grown a music course like few others in the country. Shared ideals of individual creativity, collaboration, and professional preparation underpin everything we do. Place that blend into our new, state-of-the-art Performance Centre, populate with a highly diverse group of students, lecturers and professional musicians, and you have all the ingredients for one of the most exciting music courses in the UK.

Individual creativity: our programme of one-to-one tuition

At a time when many universities are cutting back on their provision of one-to-one tuition, we have just increased ours. We believe in the value of tailor-made learning, so we are leading the way in making sure you receive a generous allocation of instrumental, composition, dissertation, and music technology lessons, all on a one-to-one basis, all designed to enable you to develop your own unique musical language.

What's more, you get to pick what sort of one-to-one tuition you want: if you are a composer, for instance, you may want more composition tutorials than instrumental lessons. If, later on, your compositions move into a more technological domain, we can switch you into music technology one-to-ones to support your new direction.

Collaboration

Musicians rarely work in a bubble. So to support your individual learning, we continually encourage collaborative work. Many of our modules enable you to form ensembles or bands, working together to produce music. For instance, we run a module in which we pair up a composer with a performer, asking the composer to write a new piece for the performer to premiere.

Falmouth's focus on the creative arts means we have one of the most creative and vibrant environments for working across disciplines. We run various modules that capitalise on this potential by enabling you to collaborate with students on other courses, be it film, dance, theatre, animation or the visual arts.

We run a series of ensembles throughout the year across a wealth of styles: choir, jazz orchestra, classical ensemble, laptop orchestra. We also have various specialist world music groups: Javanese Gamelan (one of the only such ensembles in the South West), a Taiko Drumming ensemble and a Samba group.

Professional preparation

We want to turn your talent into a career. So, from day one, we help you to develop the skills needed for life in the creative industries. Partly, this involves developing your communication skills (written and oral), your familiarity with the necessary technology and your experience of project management. However, we also look at more specific issues such as creating and distributing demos, events promotion, negotiating contracts and online marketing. You'll have opportunities to meet professionals from studios, record labels, promotion companies and venues, and there'll be chances for you to organise work placements in your third year, including work outside of the UK.

Throughout the course, you'll establish a body of work that reflects your emerging musical identity and distinctive voice, opening doors both to existing career paths and to the creation of new market niches.

How is the course taught?

The course is taught through a mixture of one-to-one tutorials, group sessions, seminars, lectures and fieldwork. You will be given increasing freedom as the course unfolds to choose what and how you want to study.

Assessment

Assessment is by 100% coursework: there are no formal examinations during the course. Precise requirements vary across modules but will likely include portfolios of practical work (performance, composition, improvisation, installation and so on), written work or fieldwork. In many cases, you will be able to choose your own means of assessment: you may want to submit a composition, or you may prefer to offer a performance.

Facilities

You will be based at our new purpose-built Performance Centre. As a member of the BA(Hons) Music course, you will have full access to all of our facilities and equipment. Specific facilities for music students include:

• A range of high-specification performance studios designed variously for acoustic and amplified music
• A recording studio complex, consisting of various control rooms and various live rooms. Our larger performance studios also have recording facilities, or the capacity to patch into the main control rooms
• Some of the best studio hardware, industry-standard software applications and collection of microphones to be found in a UK higher education institution
• iMac suite, each workstation being set up with a range of high-end software
• Music practice rooms for solo occupancy and larger band practice rooms
• Six grand pianos (two Steinways, three Yamahas, and a Yamaha Disklavier), six drum kits, and a range of upright pianos and other percussion
• A wide range of live sound and lighting equipment, including professional mixing desks, samplers and loop stations, outboard effects and synthesizers

Answers and advice about the course

If you have any queries about the course please visit our HelpMe Forum.

HelpMe Forum

For further information about BA(Hons) Music at University College Falmouth, please email admissions@falmouth.ac.uk or telephone Admissions on 01326 255764. 

Career opportunities

• Freelance performance and/or composition
• Session musician work
• Ensemble work
• Extended involvement with arts organisations
• Independent entrepreneurialism
• Music journalism
• Teaching or running workshops
• Postgraduate study

Entry requirements

A minimum of 220 UCAS points, mainly from the A2 level (including at least Grade C in Music/Music Technology) or equivalent Level 3 qualifications. Applicants should also be able to perform to Associated Board Grade 8 standard or equivalent. Candidates without standard qualifications but with music industry experience are strongly encouraged to apply.

Please see our How to Apply page for more information.

For further information about BA(Hons) Music at University College Falmouth, please email admissions@falmouth.ac.uk or telephone Admissions on 01326 255764.

Interview and selection process

As part of the application process, we will ask you to send us two examples of your music or creative practice - be it in the form of a recording, a score, a video or a piece of creative writing - as well as a few paragraphs describing why you consider it to be a good representation of what you do. Whether you're a performer, songwriter, DJ, sound artist, producer or composer, we want to see you at your best and welcome materials of any style.

Location: Performance Centre, Tremough Campus

Related courses

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