Note about optional modules (if available): The below is indicative of the typical modules offered, but is not intended to be construed or relied on as a definitive list of what might be available in any given year. The module content and availability is subject to change.
Year 1 (credit level 4)
All BMus Music students take the following modules:
Module title |
Credits |
Discovering Music
|
30 credits |
Performance: Techniques and Repertoire
|
30 credits |
Composition
|
30 credits |
Materials, Signs and Symbols
|
15 credits |
Critical Approaches to Contemporary Music
|
15 credits |
Year 2 (credit level 5)
In your second year, you'll take at least one and up to three of the following compulsory modules:
Module title |
Credits |
Sounding the 19th Century
|
15 credits |
Aesthetics, Meaning and Culture
|
15 credits |
Music and Identity
|
15 credits |
You'll then use your remaining credits (up to 105 depending on your compulsory modules choices) to select from the below list of optional modules:
Module title |
Credits |
Performance: Styles and Contexts
|
30 credits |
Techniques of Contemporary Composition
|
15 credits |
Composition: Creative Strategies
|
15 credits |
Electroacoustic Composition
|
15 credits |
Making Experimental Sound
|
15 credits |
Techniques in Jazz and Popular Music
|
15 credits |
Arranging and Composing for the Jazz Ensemble
|
15 credits |
Contemporary Jazz Performance the UK Scene
|
15 credits |
Media Composition
|
15 credits |
Music/Modernities
|
15 credits |
Soviet Music and Politics
|
15 credits |
Music Practice and the Black Atlantic: Britain’s Celebrity Culture
|
15 credits |
Music in Film
|
15 credits |
What is Jazz?
|
15 credits |
Sound as Art
|
15 Credits |
Musics of East Asia: Politics, Industry, Creativity
|
15 credits |
Music of Africa and Asia
|
15 credits |
Pitching Creative Businesses: Models, Markets and Meaning
|
15 credits |
Goldsmiths’ Social Change Module
|
15 credits |
The Goldsmiths Elective
|
15 credits |
Year 3 (credit level 6)
In your final year, you'll take at least one, and up to two of the following compulsory modules:
Module title |
Credits |
Performance: Creative Practice
|
15 credits |
Composition portfolio
|
30 credits |
Research Project
|
30 credits |
You'll then use your remaining credits (up to 90 depending on your compulsory modules selection) to choose from the following optional modules:
Module title |
Credits |
Contemporary Jazz Performance the UK Scene
|
15 credits |
Acoustic Ecology and Field Recording
|
15 credits |
Performing South-East Asian Music
|
15 credits |
Improvisation
|
15 credits |
Creative Orchestration and Arrangement
|
15 credits |
Introduction to Audiovisual Composition
|
15 credits |
Music/Modernities
|
15 credits |
Soviet Music and Politics
|
15 credits |
Music Practice and the Black Atlantic: Britain’s Celebrity Culture
|
15 credits |
Music and Screen Media
|
15 credits |
Advanced Popular Music Studies
|
15 credits |
Fringe and Underground Musics
|
15 credits |
Music in Educational, Community and Therapeutic Contexts
|
15 Credits |
Music Workshop Skills
|
15 credits |
Music Teaching Skills
|
15 credits |
DIY Practice and Alternative Sites for Music
|
15 credits |
Live Electronics
|
15 credits |
Work placement
|
15 credits |
You as Your Future: Developing Creative Careers
|
15 Credits |
Psychological Approaches to Music
|
15 credits |
Teaching style
This programme is taught through a mixture of scheduled teaching, including seminars, one-to-one tutorials and performance lessons, practical workshops and music studio sessions. You’ll also be expected to undertake a significant amount of independent study. This includes carrying out required and additional reading, preparing topics for discussion, and producing essays or project work.
The following information gives an indication of the typical proportions of learning and teaching for each year of this programme*:
- Year 1 - 13% scheduled learning, 87% independent learning
- Year 2 - 11% scheduled learning, 89% independent learning
- Year 3 - 12% scheduled learning, 88% independent learning
How you’ll be assessed
You’ll be assessed by a variety of methods, depending on your module choices. These include coursework, examinations, group work, solo recitals, improvisation and group performances.
The following information gives an indication of how you can typically expect to be assessed on each year of this programme*:
- Year 1 - 68% coursework, 13% written exam, 20% practical
- Year 2 - 81% coursework, 19% practical
- Year 3 - 78% coursework, 23% practical
*Please note that these are averages are based on enrolments for 2022/23. Each student’s time in teaching, learning and assessment activities will differ based on individual module choices. Percentages can equal up to anywhere between 99% and 101%, this is due to the numerical rounding process. Find out more about how this information is calculated.
Credits and levels of learning
An undergraduate honours degree is made up of 360 credits – 120 at Level 4, 120 at Level 5 and 120 at Level 6. If you are a full-time student, you will usually take Level 4 modules in the first year, Level 5 in the second, and Level 6 modules in your final year. A standard module is worth 30 credits. Some programmes also contain 15-credit half modules or can be made up of higher-value parts, such as a dissertation or a Major Project.
Download the programme specification.
Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.