About this program
Music with a Year of Study Abroad
This programme is the ideal choice if you want to focus solely on music. It will allow you to specialise and develop your own musical interests whilst acquiring a solid, broad-based education in aesthetics, analysis, composition, ethnomusicology, music history and performance.
Of all our courses, the BMus offers the most in-depth study, allowing you to spend all your time specialising in music. It also enables you to take composition and/or recital as major projects in year three, which are available only as minor projects in our BA programmes.
You will spend the third year of this four-year course studying abroad, taking modules in music and other subjects where available. At your host university, you will learn different perspectives and approaches to studying music. You will complete your studies in Cardiff in the fourth year.
Distinctive features
- You will receive fully-funded instrumental tuition on your principal study instrument if you take a Practical Musicianship or Recital module.
- The Business of Music modules offer insight into the working world, as well as the opportunity to undertake a short work placement.
- The School hosts regular composition workshops; performance masterclasses; a regular concert series; the John Bird lectures presented by visiting academics; and a series of careers in music talks which provide opportunities for contact with active music professionals.
- The opportunity to undertake major projects in composition, performance, musicology, analysis, and ethnomusicology in year four.
- You will spend your third year studying abroad, returning to Cardiff in your fourth year to complete your studies.
Admission requirements
Typical A level offer
AAB-BBB. Must include Music. Applicants without an A-level in Music will be considered on a case-by-case basis to determine appropriate levels of music performance and theory skills (such as Grade 6/7 Music Theory).
Extended/International Project Qualification: Applicants with grade A in the EPQ/IPQ will typically receive an offer one grade lower than the standard A level offer. Please note that any subject specific requirements must still be met.
English language requirements
GCSE
Grade C or grade 4 in GCSE English Language.
IELTS (academic)
At least 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in each subskill.
TOEFL iBT
At least 90 overall with minimum scores of 17 for writing, 17 for listening, 18 for reading and 20 for speaking.
PTE Academic
At least 62 overall with a minimum of 59 in all communicative skills.
Trinity ISE II/III
- II: at least two Distinctions and two Merits.
- III: at least a Pass in all components.
For more information about admission requirements, please visit the university website.
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Program content
The modules shown are an example of the typical curriculum and will be reviewed prior to the 2022/23 academic year. The final modules will be published by September 2022.
Year one
- Elements of Tonal Music 1
- The Full Works
- Elements of Tonal Music 2
- Practical Musicianship 1
- Repertoire Studies
Year two
In year two, the course is more advanced and focuses on more specialist topics, encouraging a greater level of concentration on areas of particular interest to you.
You will have the opportunity to consolidate your strengths while maintaining activity in a breadth of disciplines, choosing your modules from at least three of four groups: composition and electroacoustic studies, written and practical musicianship, analytical and critical skills, and historical studies.
Our year two Business of Music modules are designed to help you better understand different branches of the music profession and give an opportunity for a short placement in an area related to music or the arts, either in one block or as a series of regular workplace visits.
Year three: Sandwich year
- Study Abroad
Year four
You choose again from at least three of the four subject groups, and may pursue up to two of the five 30-credit major academic projects in musicology, ethnomusicology, analysis, composition, or performance. The 30-credit options in performance (Recital) and composition (Composition III) are only open to students on BMus pathways.
Scholarships & funding
For more information about scholarships, please visit the university website.
Tuition
- Tuition fees for UK and Ireland Students: £9,000 per year.
- Tuition fees for International Students: £19,200 per year.
For more information about tuition fee, please visit the university website.
Qualification
What skills will I practise and develop?
You will acquire and develop a range of valuable skills, both discipline specific and more generic &employability skills;, such as:
- advanced literacy
- computer literacy
- critical skills (reasoning, evaluating evidence, problem-solving, relating theory to practice)
- oral and written communication skills
- coping with uncertainty/complexity
- creativity and innovative thinking
- leadership, teamwork and self-management, embedded in practical musical activities
- identifying, recording and communicating your relevant career attainments
As part of the Year of Study Abroad, you will acquire:
- language skills
- ability to negotiate cultural differences
- ability to adjust to new institutional practices
Career paths
Careers and placements
Career prospects
In 2016/17, 100% of the School of Music;s graduates who were available for work reported they were in employment and/or further study within six months of graduation (DLHE 2016/17).
The skills developed within a music degree help our students to progress to a wide range of careers, both within and beyond the music profession.
Graduates have gone on to careers with the BBC, Arts Councils, Glyndebourne Opera, English National Opera, universities, Oxford University Press, the National Trust, and London Symphony Orchestra, along with a range of other industrial, commercial, educational, and charitable organisations.
Employability skills are embedded in our modules so that you will learn both music-specific and academic skills that are transferable to other domains, especially the workplace.Our second-year modules on the Business of Music are designed to help you better understand different branches of the music profession and provide an opportunity to undertake a short placement in a music-related or arts-related area.
Our annual series of talks on Careers in Music offer a great chance to meet professionals active in a range of fields such as performance, music education, music journalism, arts and artist management, production and licensing, and composing for media.
Placements
Year two modules on the Business of Music I/II give an opportunity for a short placement, either in one block or as a series of regular workplace visits.
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About this institute
Cardiff University
Cardiff University is among the top 25 universities in the UK and is ranked 154th in the world. Founded in 1883, Cardiff University combines a prestigious heritage with impressive modern facilities, on one of the most beautiful campuses in the UK....
Contact info
Cardiff University
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