StudyQA — Master: Music — University of Southampton

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Description Contents Requirements Funding

We offer a broad-based MMus programme with three pathways: musicology, performance and composition. All three pathways can be used as professional training for themselves, or as preparation for PhD study at Southampton and elsewhere. Students in our MMus programme benefit from intensive one-to-one instruction with world-leading experts in music history, cultural studies of music, performance studies and analysis; internationally noted performers with active solo and ensemble careers; and prominent composers of contemporary art music, electronic music, media music (including film, television and video game music) and jazz.

Graduates of our MMus programme have gone on to doctoral work at institutions such as Southampton, the University of California and Oxford, to employment in the UK and abroad as leaders in the music and media industries, as well as to careers as performers, composers and teachers.

We also offer an MRes in musicology. The MRes is more sharply focused on developing your skills as a researcher and writer, requiring a more substantial dissertation than the MMus.

The MMus programme in music provides a flexible course of study. Its goal is a professional research project, recital or composition portfolio. Tutors work with each student from the outset of the course to form a portfolio relevant to the student's specific professional aims, whether further research at doctoral level, a career in the music industry or wider cultural sector, or work as a teacher or free-lance musician. We recognise that music has increasingly become a 'portfolio career' and aim to provide our MMus students with a platform for success in whatever area of music their aspirations lie. Thus the broad modular structure of our programme allows for cross-over between the pathways.

Learning outcomes
The MMUS programme is designed to equip you with a range of practical and intellectual skills that will enable you to complete your degree successfully, and put you in a good position to gain employment or go on to further study. Our programme will:

* develop your critical awareness of debates and issues in music (musicology, performance and composition)

* enhance your capacity for independent thought and research

* encourage you to produce written work, performances or compositions to high professional standards

* enable you to use and evaluate a wide range of research tools, including electronic information retrieval and subject-specific archival resources

Programme structure (full-time route)The full time route comprises 51 weeks, starting in October. The taught component, which includes a mix of taught modules and independent study projects, runs from October through to June, split into two semesters. Depending on your pathway you will then prepare a 15,000-20,000 word dissertation, a full-length recital or a portfolio of compositions for submission in September. MRES students take fewer study modules and prepare a longer dissertation (30,000 words).

Programme structure (part-time route)Students following the part time route complete the same programme of study as full timers and attend the same taught modules. However their programme extends over 24 months, and they complete the required number of study modules over four semesters rather than two.

Upper second-class honours degree or equivalentFor all pathways: upper second class honours degree in a relevant discipline, previous study of music at undergraduate level is preferred but not essential.For performance and composition: a live or recorded audition or a portfolio of compositions. The MMus admissions tutor hears live auditions each year in Asia, the Middle East and North America. Please contact him for further information. English Language Requirements IELTS band: 6.5 TOEFL paper-based test score : 580 TOEFL iBT® test: 92 IMPORTANT NOTE: Since April 2014 the ETS tests (including TOEFL and TOEIC) are no longer accepted for Tier 4 visa applications to the United Kingdom. The university might still accept these tests to admit you to the university, but if you require a Tier 4 visa to enter the UK and begin your degree programme, these tests will not be sufficient to obtain your Visa. The IELTS test is most widely accepted by universities and is also accepted for Tier 4 visas to the UK- learn more.