Courses and structure

What you study

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're a full-time student, you will usually take Level 4 courses in the first year, Level 5 in the second, and Level 6 courses in your final year.

The various courses available are listed below. All courses are 15 credits unless indicated otherwise. Please note that some courses listed may not be offered every year.

Full course descriptions for Department of Music.

Level 4

All BMus Music students take the following courses:

• Approaches to Contemporary Music
• Composition (30 credits)
• Creative Music Technology
• Performance and Critical Listening (30 credits)
• Tonal Harmony and Form
• Western Art Music: Repertory and Development

Level 5

At this level you can select the exact mix of courses you wish to take. The courses are divided into two groups, A and B, and you must take some from both. This ensures that you have a rounded musical education, equipping you for various career opportunities after you leave Goldsmiths.

You take courses to a minimum value of 45 credits from Group A (these are historical/contextual courses) and 30 credits from Group B (these are creative/practical/technical courses). You have a free choice from either group for your remaining 45 credits. Up to 30 credits can be taken in related study from another department (subject to availability).

Some courses require you to have taken a previous course (a ‘pre-requisite’) or to take the course in conjunction with another (a ‘co- requisite’). You will be advised in detail about your choices at each stage of your degree programme.

Group A

• History of Performance
• Music Aesthetics
• Music and Modernism
• Music and Postmodernism
• Music in Film
• Music of Africa and Asia
• Music, Communication and Identity
• Musical Style and Historical Culture
• Musicians, Commerce and Commodification
• Romanticism and Musical Structures

Group B

• Arranging: Jazz and Commercial Music
• Classical Performance (30 credits)
• Composition and Performance
• Composition: Creative Strategies
• Media Composition
• Orchestration
• Studio Composition
• Studio Techniques
• The Language of Jazz

Level 6

Again you must take 120 credits. Normally, one or two courses can be taken from Group A with the balance coming from Group B (all courses 15 credits).

One course with a maximum value of 30 credits can be taken in related study from another department, where available.

Group A

• Advanced Classical Performance (30 credits)
• Creative Research Project (30 credits)
• Research Essay (30 credits)

Group B

• Aesthetics of Performance
• Analysis and New Music
• Composition for Visiting Ensemble
• Improvisation
• Live Electronics
• Minimalism and Postminimalism
• Mozart’s Operas: Sources and Documents
• Narrative, Representation and the Popular Song
• Performing South East Asian Music
• Phonography
• Psychological Approaches to Music
• Soviet Music and Beyond
• Topics in African American Music

Learning and teaching

We are committed to teaching that is stimulating and supportive. Students develop an advanced, critical approach to music that is supported by theoretical understanding and practical skills. We will help you develop many skills valued in the music professions, and by employers more widely.

We ensure the aims of your degree are addressed rigorously and effectively through many types of learning experiences, with active participation always in mind. In any single term of study you are likely to attend lectures and discussion seminars, one-to-one tutorials and performance lessons, practical workshops, collaborative projects, computer lab and music studio sessions.

There are also many forms of assessment. Typically, during one term’s study you might research and write two substantial essays, rehearse for a solo recital, improvisation or group performance and produce a new composition or creative project that is notated, studio-based or multimedia.

Our degree programmes offer a great range of options so you can select your own coherent programme of study and focus upon the areas of greatest interest and strength for you. Your academic progress is supported by personal tutor meetings that help you navigate through the degree and prepare for a graduate career.

Our programmes are complemented by a comprehensive ‘virtual learning environment’ (VLE), accessed online, which publishes all course materials, and includes assessments, online discussions and electronic submission of coursework.

Individual vocal and instrumental tuition

Our location in London means that we are able to attract visiting instrumental and vocal teachers of the highest quality, with many of our staff also teaching at the major music conservatoires. We provide a generous allocation of tuition time. Our performance courses are supplemented with ensemble classes and workshops/masterclasses given by top professional musicians.

• First-year BMus Music students are currently entitled to 12 hours of one-to-one tuition per year
• Tuition is available to BMus Music students taking performance options in years two and three. The Music programme currently offers 14 hours of one-to-one tuition in year two (Classical Performance) and 17 hours in year three (Advanced Classical Performance).

If you do not opt for performance courses you are not automatically entitled to individual lessons, but we can help make private arrangements with our visiting staff, at preferential rates.

Skills and careers

Most of our graduates choose careers in fields related to their musical knowledge, imcluding:

• Teaching
• Performing
• Arts administration
• Music librarianship
• Publishing and retailing
• Record companies and production
• Technical work in radio or television

Statistically, music graduates demonstrate very good employment rates, because they are often highly trained in the kinds of transferable skills employers are seeking, such as individual motivation, team working and effective communication.

Mercury Music Prize nominees Katy B and James Blake are among some of the alumni who have studied in the Department of Music.

• Find out more about employability at Goldsmiths

About the department

The Department of Music

The Department of Music at Goldsmiths is a vibrant, friendly department with a tradition of committed teaching at all levels. Our degrees offer both depth and flexibility, enabling you to construct a programme of study that is exactly right for you.

What makes us special?

• We are one of the largest university music departments in the UK with over 400 students, including more than 100 postgraduates. We have 16 permanent members of academic staff and many visiting lecturers and instrumental tutors. We have a dedicated team of administrative staff and music technicians, as well as emeritus professors, research fellows and other scholars – so there is always somebody to inspire and help you with your studies.
• Our ethos reflects the contemporary musical world. Our diverse activities cover popular music, Western art and non-Western music, electronic and computer music, sound art, jazz and film music. There is a strong focus on contemporary music, but we are highly committed to all significant areas of musical practice and research.
• In the last Research Assessment Exercise (2008), 70% of our research publications, creative work and performances were graded as ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’. Our taught courses strongly reflect the research interests and expertise of staff.
• The department is active in performance, creative practice and research into many historical periods and cultures. There are concerts, workshops and other events every week, professionally or student- led, with opportunities to perform both in college and in public venues. Student composers regularly present new work in workshops with visiting performers, and at public concerts and exhibitions.
• We are affiliated to the Serge Prokofiev Archive and the Centre for Russian Music at Goldsmiths, both of which offer a unique resource of materials and expertise. We run a specialist Afghanistan Music Unit, devoted to the study and support of the music culture of Afghanistan and surrounding areas.
• We are within easy reach of central London’s many venues, concert halls, opera houses and research libraries, providing a great international focus. We often have concessionary tickets available for concerts and operas.

Facilities

We provide excellent facilities for teaching, performance and studio work, acknowledged consistently in the National Student Survey. In addition to the department’s teaching and rehearsal rooms, you have access to the award- winning Rutherford Building, which brings library, computing and language learning facilities together under one roof. We subscribe to a large number of online services providing access to music recordings, journals and books that support the large collections housed in the library.

Goldsmiths’ music students have access to the Recital Room and the Deptford Town Hall Council Chamber, which houses a brand new Steinway Model D piano. Students can also perform at the beautiful Foundling Museum Picture Gallery in central London. Goldsmiths’ Great Hall seats 650, and is used for large-scale orchestral and choral concerts – these also take place at outside venues.

We have two suites of practice rooms and an arrangement with The Music Rooms, a professional rehearsal space available primarily for popular music students, free of charge during teaching weeks.

The Stanley Glasser Electronic Music Studios (EMS) are working areas for electronic composition, live electronics, interactive performance, sound art, acoustic ecology and research. EMS was established in 1968 by the then Head of Department Stanley Glasser and composer Hugh Davies, and was the first such studio at a UK university.

There are four small studios for individual work (Apple Intel iMacs with ProTools LE hard disk recording), plus a main Control Room (ProTools HD2 Accel system and Yamaha 02R digital mixer) linked to a teaching area/live room with Yamaha Disklavier piano. There are three dedicated postgraduate studios. Software packages include Max 5, Jitter, IRCAM AudioSculpt, GRM Tools, MetaSynth, Ableton Live, Waves & Pluggo plug-ins.

The studio also has a range of portable recording equipment (Tascam, Fostex, M-Audio), studio microphones (Neumann, AKG, Beyer, etc) and control interfaces (Lemur, Soundbeam), a vintage Roland System 100M modular synthesizer, and a multi-channel Genelec PA system for live events. Studio access is available if you are taking a relevant course. For full details regarding all EMS facilities, please consult the EMS homepage.

Music Technology Suite contains 12 iMac workstations with MIDI keyboards for private and course-related music editing. All workstations facilitate Audio and MIDI editing and notation using Cubase SX5, Reason, Halion, Logic 8, Ableton Live and Sibelius 5.

The Music and Media Suite is designed to support students involved in more advanced Audio and Video editing projects, and contains 6 MacPro 8 core workstations. Software includes Logic 8, Final Cut Pro, Max/MSP, Sibelius 5 and Cubase SX 5.

Department instruments and accessories
The Department of Music has a collection of instruments for student use on site in connection with their course. Instruments available include double basses, alto flute, cor anglais, Eb clarinet and various percussion instruments. Larger instruments are available, but access must be arranged. There are six Mackie PA systems and a wide selection of guitar and bass amps, various synthesisers, keyboards and digital processing units.

Performance opportunities

The Department of Music’s commitment to eclectic and high-quality performance is unrivalled. This is reflected in the number of graduates who have made a professional career from their music- making. In return, the department demands a high level of commitment from its students to the various groups that it runs, as well as encouraging students to form their own ensembles.

The main performing opportunities offered by the Department of Music are:

• Goldsmiths Sinfonia
• Goldsmiths Chorus
• Chamber Choir
• Chamber Music Groups
• Composers’ Forum
• Contemporary Music Ensemble
• Electronic Music Studio Concerts
• Music Collective
• Vocal Group
• Lunchtime and evening recitals
• Live events at the Students’ Union
• Studio laptop ensemble

Find out more about these performance opportunities.

Applicant days and College open days

The Department of Music holds a number of applicant days between December and April each year. If you apply to one of our programmes you may be asked to attend an applicant day for an interview or audition, and to participate in a number of short workshop sessions.

This is also an opportunity to see the Department’s facilities, meet staff and ask questions about our programmes. You are welcome to visit on one of these days, once you have submitted your application, even if we do not require you to attend an interview/audition.

There are also College open days for all programmes across the university, usually held three times a year. You can come and see what we do, meet Music staff and students and ask questions.

These days are open to anybody who wants to find out more about us, whether or not they have applied for a course. For further information on these, please visit www.gold.ac.uk/opendays or e-mail open-day@gold.ac.uk.

Find out more

Visit the Goldsmiths Music YouTube Channel.

Student profiles

What our students say about studying music at Goldsmiths

"I came here to study composing and orchestration for film music and video game music and so far I’ve been challenged to think in directions I didn’t think I would.

I’m doing a lot of stuff that is very stimulating and inspiring, such as singing in a musical, working in a studio, conducting an orchestra and playing classical piano.

There are so many resources at Goldsmiths that one can take advantage of, and I’m sure I’ve only yet to tap the surface of what my possibilities are."

Oscar, BMus Music