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MMus Musicology
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Objectives
This programme offers an intense introduction to methodologies and research techniques in musicology, covering both classical and popular music, autonomous works and functional music, eg for religious ceremonies or for the screen. Drawing on the very broad range of research at Edinburgh, it allows students to pursue, in greater depth, an area of special interest or to develop more specialised skills to further their careers.
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Entry requirements
Entry Requirements Normally a 2:1 honours degree or its equivalent if outside the UK, in music.
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Academic title
MMus Musicology
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Course description
Learning Outcomes
Graduates of this programme will be able to apply and devise innovative research methods, critically evaluate arguments and display a variety of transferable skills. They will also be equipped with the skills necessary to pursue higher research degrees.
How You Will Be Taught
There are three key areas: issues in musicology; research methods; and focused research into specific areas of music study. Teaching is by a combination of staff- and student-led seminars, student presentations and field trips. The programme is designed to help students become increasingly independent in their study while providing the necessary supervisory support.
The MMus in Musicology is an excellent choice for any music graduate (or graduates of joint degrees with music or with equivalent qualifications) interested in developing their studies further, and in increasing both subject-specific and transferable skills and critical abilities. The programme has been designed to draw upon the very broad range of music research conducted in Edinburgh by experts in their fields. Musicological study here covers the classical and the popular, spans eras from the pre-modern to the present, and deals with both musical autonomy and functional music, as composed, for example, for the screen or for religious ceremonies.
The programme is organised into three key areas:
1 Research Methods
Courses in research methods offer methodological training, introduce research techniques, and prepare students for the writing of a dissertation. They include training in archival research and in editing music, dealing with musical multimedia and music as a recorded artifact, and quantitative and qualitative research methodologies.
2 Issues in Musicology
Issues in musicology are introduced in two courses, dealing with the more philosophical questions raised by skills and methodologies elsewhere in the curriculum. These include questions of history, canons and archival research, performance studies, fieldwork, semiotics, the body, race, diaspora, gender, sexuality, and consumption.
3 Focussed Research into Specific Areas
Students develop their interests in specific research topics via both a taught course of their choice and through an individual research project, supported by supervision. One third of the degree is allotted to a large research project: either a dissertation or an editorial project (15,000 words or equivalent). Recent candidates have produced research in a variety of areas: jazz studies (transcription and editorial work), critical theory, music in the Edinburgh theatre, 17th-century English 'mad' songs, 18th-century music patronage in Scotland.
The university's music holdings, as well as Edinburgh's comprehensive cluster of libraries and archives (including the National Library of Scotland - a UK deposit library), provide an excellent set of facilities for musicological research.
Structure of the Programme:
Semester 1
* Introduction to Musicology (20)
* Research Methods A (20)
* Negotiated Taught Course (20)
Semester 2
* Critical Musicology and Semiotics (20)
* Research Methods B (20)
* Individual Research Project (20)
On successful completion of coursework students proceed to write a 15,000-word Dissertation on a musicological topic of their choice (60 credits).
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