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.
This degree allows you to identify and develop your strengths and interests by choosing various specialist options in the Departments of Music and Computing.
In your second year, you'll select from two possible pathways through the programme, which will determine the award of either BMus (Hons) or BSc (Hons).
- Pathway 1: BMus - Music focus in module selection and EMCT Music Final Project in Year 3
- Pathway 2: BSc - Computing focus in module selection, plus compulsory module in Year 2, and EMCT Computing Final Project in Year 3
Year 1
In your first year, you'll study the fundamentals of computer programming, contemporary music, and music technology. You will study the following compulsory modules.
Module title |
Credits |
Introduction to Programming
|
15 credits |
Sound and Signal 1
|
15 credits |
Critical Approaches to Contemporary Music
|
15 credits |
Music Computing 1
|
30 credits |
Live Performance Systems
|
15 credits |
Electronic Music Composition
|
30 credits |
Year 2 modules - pathway 1 BMus
Compulsory modules
For the BMus pathway you'll take the following compulsory module:
Module title |
Credits |
Music Computing 2
|
30 credits |
Optional modules
You'll take an additional minimum 45 credits in Music modules. The remaining 45 credits can be taken in Music or Computing. The lists of modules are provided annually by the Departments of Music and Computing, and may include the following:
Module title |
Credits |
Contemporary Jazz Performance the UK Scene
|
15 credits |
Extended C++
|
15 credits |
Creative Computing Project 2
|
30 credits |
Interaction Design
|
15 Credits |
Sound and Signal 2
|
15 credits |
Electroacoustic Composition
|
15 credits |
Introduction to Audiovisual Composition
|
15 credits |
Media Composition
|
15 credits |
Music and Identity
|
15 credits |
Sound as Art
|
15 Credits |
Data Programming for Artificial Intelligence
|
15 credits |
Creative Embedded Systems
|
15 credits |
Audio for Games and Immersive Experience
|
15 credits |
Music/Modernities
|
15 credits |
Musics of East Asia: Politics, Industry, Creativity
|
15 credits |
Soviet and Post-Soviet Music and Politics
|
30 credits |
Music Practice and the Black Atlantic: Britain’s Celebrity Culture
|
15 credits |
Composition: Creative Strategies
|
15 credits |
Techniques in Jazz and Popular Music
|
15 credits |
Music in Film
|
15 credits |
Arranging and Composing for the Jazz Ensemble
|
15 credits |
Music of Africa and Asia
|
15 credits |
Techniques of Contemporary Composition
|
15 credits |
Sounding the 19th Century
|
15 credits |
Aesthetics, Meaning and Culture
|
15 credits |
What is Jazz?
|
15 credits |
Year 2 modules - pathway 2 BSc
Compulsory modules
In year two, BSc students will take the following compulsory modules:
Module title |
Credits |
Music Computing 2
|
30 credits |
Sound and Signal 2
|
15 credits |
Optional modules
You will take an additional minimum 30 credits in Computing modules. The remaining 45 credits can be taken in Computing or Music. The lists of modules are provided annually by the Departments of Music and Computing. Options may include the following:
Module title |
Credits |
Contemporary Jazz Performance the UK Scene
|
15 credits |
Extended C++
|
15 credits |
Creative Computing Project 2
|
30 credits |
Interaction Design
|
15 Credits |
Arranging in Jazz and Popular Music
|
15 credits |
Electroacoustic Composition
|
15 credits |
Introduction to Audiovisual Composition
|
15 credits |
Media Composition
|
15 credits |
Music and Identity
|
15 credits |
Sound as Art
|
15 Credits |
Data Programming for Artificial Intelligence
|
15 credits |
Creative Embedded Systems
|
15 credits |
Audio for Games and Immersive Experience
|
15 credits |
Music/Modernities
|
15 credits |
Musics of East Asia: Politics, Industry, Creativity
|
15 credits |
Soviet and Post-Soviet Music and Politics
|
30 credits |
Music Practice and the Black Atlantic: Britain’s Celebrity Culture
|
15 credits |
Composition: Creative Strategies
|
15 credits |
Techniques in Jazz and Popular Music
|
15 credits |
Music in Film
|
15 credits |
Arranging and Composing for the Jazz Ensemble
|
15 credits |
Music of Africa and Asia
|
15 credits |
Techniques of Contemporary Composition
|
15 credits |
Sounding the 19th Century
|
15 credits |
Aesthetics, Meaning and Culture
|
15 credits |
What is Jazz?
|
15 credits |
Year 3 modules - pathway 1 BMus
Compulsory modules
In your third year, you'll take the following compulsory modules:
Module title |
Credits |
EMCT: Music Project Prototype
|
15 credits |
EMCT: Music Final Project
|
30 credits |
You will take an additional minimum 45 credits in Music modules. The remaining 30 credits can be taken in Music or Computing. The lists of modules are provided by the Departments of Music and Computing.
Year 3 modules - pathway 2 BSc
Compulsory modules
In your third year, you'll take the following compulsory modules:
Module title |
Credits |
EMCT: Computing Project Prototype
|
15 credits |
EMCT: Computing Final Project
|
30 credits |
You'll take an additional minimum 45 credits in Computing modules. The remaining 30 credits can be taken in Computing or Music. The lists of modules are provided by the Departments of Music and Computing.
Examples of optional modules from the Departments of Music and Computing are listed below.
Year 3 Computing optional modules
Module title |
Credits |
Advanced Audio-visual Processing
|
15 credits |
Computer Security
|
15 credits |
Artificial Intelligence
|
15 credits |
Neural Networks
|
15 credits |
Physical Computing
|
15 credits |
Interaction Design
|
15 credits |
Data Mining
|
15 credits |
Data Visualisation and the Web
|
15 credits |
Data and Machine Learning for Creative Practice
|
15 credits |
Creative Game Engine Development
|
15 credits |
Ethical Computing for the Social Economy
|
15 Credits |
Extended C++
|
15 credits |
Data Visualisation
|
15 Credits |
Expressive Game Design
|
15 Credits |
Mobile Development
|
15 credits |
Pervasive Gaming and Immersive Theatre
|
15 credits |
Physical Computing
|
15 credits |
Data and Machine Learning for Creative Practice
|
15 credits |
Year 3 Music optional modules
Module title |
Credits |
Soviet Music and Politics
|
15 credits |
Music Practice and the Black Atlantic: Britain’s Celebrity Culture
|
15 credits |
Acoustic Ecology and Field Recording
|
15 credits |
Live Electronics
|
15 credits |
Research Project
|
30 credits |
DIY Practice and Alternative Sites for Music
|
15 credits |
Improvisation
|
15 credits |
Performing South-East Asian Music
|
15 credits |
Music Teaching Skills
|
15 credits |
Creative Orchestration and Arrangement
|
15 credits |
Introduction to Audiovisual Composition
|
15 credits |
Fringe and Underground Musics
|
15 credits |
Music/Modernities
|
15 credits |
Advanced Popular Music Studies
|
15 credits |
Composition portfolio
|
30 credits |
Music Workshop Skills
|
15 credits |
Music and Screen Media
|
15 credits |
Music in Educational, Community and Therapeutic Contexts
|
15 Credits |
Contemporary Jazz Performance the UK Scene
|
15 credits |
Psychological Approaches to Music
|
15 credits |
Teaching style
This programme is taught through a mixture of lectures, tutorials, workshops and laboratory 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 - 18% scheduled learning, 82% independent learning
- Year 2 - 14% scheduled learning, 86% independent learning
- Year 3 - 17% scheduled learning, 83% 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 and projects. If you opt for an industrial placement year, your placement tutor will assess your work. If you complete the placement year successfully, you earn the endorsement 'with work experience' on your degree certificate.
The following information gives an indication of how you can typically expect to be assessed on each year of this programme*:
- Year 1 - 81% coursework, 10% written exam, 9% practical
- Year 2 - 88% coursework, 13% written exam
- Year 3 - 100% coursework
*Please note that these averages are based on enrolments for the traditional pathway in 2022/23. Each student’s time in teaching, learning and assessment activities will differ based on individual module choices.
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.