Objectives
We are delighted to be able to offer you an exciting array of new MA modules intended to create one of the most flexible, contemporary and distinctive Music MA courses in the UK. The modules on offer highlight areas of unique research strength in Nottingham – in Early Music, Music and Gender Studies, Film Music, Music Theory and Analysis, and Music and Geography – and they form the basis for a number of focused pathways that capitalise on related strengths in other University of Nottingham departments. This recently revised course is strongly interdisciplinary in outlook, providing the breadth of training increasingly essential for advanced research, but also intrinsically rewarding in its own right. At the same time, the course also permits tailor-made module combinations that cut across the pathways, allowing a bespoke programme of study suitable to diverse research interests. A postgraduate degree is the ideal opportunity to explore topics of interest to you in greater depth, with the help of world-leading scholars in the field and the back up of good resources and facilities.
Course description
Music (MA)
Duration: 1 year full-time or 2 years part-time
Course Content
The MA provides rigorous and focused preparation for those intending to proceed to doctoral research (and conforms fully to the training requirements of the Arts and Humanities Research Council), while also offering a stimulating and exciting experience for those wishing to take the course as an end in itself.
The five pathways mentioned below highlight recommended routes through the available provision, giving a directed and balanced course of study for those with interests in particular fields. However, the pathways are not restrictive: different combinations of modules are possible, although there may be some restrictions. You can read more here.
As well as core modules, you will also take a second or third module (as applicable) from the Music Department’s list of elective modules.
Available pathways:
Early Music – this draws on the unrivalled expertise of Nottingham’s academic staff in medieval, renaissance and early baroque music.
Film Music – this pathway centres on two modules, one of which is run by the Institute of Film Studies – one of the country’s leading departments in this burgeoning area of research.
Music and Gender Studies – this pathway centres on a new module, Music and Gender Studies, and draws on a central research interest within the Department. Other departments offer modules on gender studies, which may be taken as part of this pathway.
Music Theory and Analysis – the first module in this pathway addresses a range of analytical techniques pertinent to nineteenth and twentieth-century music. The second module, Analysis Case Study, gives you the opportunity to complete an individual research project on a work (or works) of your choice.
Music and Geography – this is a unique pathway in Anglophone academic, which takes advantage of music staff with geographic research specialities and geographic staff with music specialities. You may also take modules in the School of Geography and in the School of the Built Environment on this pathway, as well as through the Department of Music’s and School of Geography’s joint Spaces of Sound colloquium series.
Please note that all module details are subject to change.
Course Structure
The MA in Music can be completed on a full-time basis over one year or part-time over two years.
The formal programme of study comprises four 30-credit modules plus a final 60-credit project (dissertation, research project or recital).
You will also take a compulsory 30-credit Research Techniques module, which provides training in an array of generic and subject-specific skills, and includes a trip to London for an introduction to the music collections at the British Library.
The remaining 30-credit Music modules are either closely related to the specialist pathways or, in the case of Cultural Musicology and Topics in Historical Musicology, more general in focus.
In the summer term, you will either write a substantial dissertation or prepare for a professional performance recital.
Key facts
The Department of Music at The University of Nottingham was ranked number one by the 2006 Times Good University Guide and received the top 5*A grade in the latest Research Assessment Exercise
This course gives you the option to follow one of five recommended pathways (each offering core and optional modules) or to create your own pathway according to your personal interests
Students who have a proven outstanding track record as performers may be permitted, by agreement with course tutors, to study for a Performance Recital option in lieu of the dissertation (in this case, assessment will be by a one-hour recital presented at the end of the Summer period). Instrumental tuition will be arranged throughout the course if you decide to take this option.
