Music (BA Humanities)

Whether it is a classical symphony from Vienna, a garage band in Dublin, a gamelan ensemble from Indonesia, or a curated playlist to share with friends, making music, listening to music, and thinking about music are fundamental parts of being human. At UCD, we equip students with the multiple tools necessary to understand a wide variety of musical practices as composers, producers, performers, and thinkers. Study music at UCD if you love creating, listening to, understanding, and talking about music.

You will develop your creativity and musicianship through classes in composition, performance, and theory. You will enrich your knowledge of the role that music has played in the past, and continues to play in societies around the world, through classes in history and culture. You will dive deeper into your own musical interests – whether as a composer, performer, or thinker – through research. You will find out and experience why music is so foundational to contemporary life.

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BA Humanities (DN530)

In this single-subject, four-year degree, the first two years offer a range of core and option modules that provide a thorough grounding in music, while broadening your horizons. In the third and fourth years, you choose modules that align with your developing interests and specialisms. You can also choose to incorporate an internship or to study abroad. In the final year, you will complete a major dissertation or applied project in creative practice, working one-on-one with an expert in your field.

From September 2026, students on the BA Music (single subject) will have the opportunity to take instrumental music lessons with the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM).

First Year

Modules include: • Listening to Music • Writing about Music • Music, Culture & Society • Musicianship • Classical Music • Popular Music • A choice of performance ensembles 

Second Year

Modules include: • Understanding Music • Music Theory • Music History since 1750 • Irish Music • Global Soundscapes • Music Industries • Film Music • Techniques of Songwriting • Performing Process • A choice of performance ensembles 

Third and Fourth

Years Modules include: • Techniques of Composition • Blues & Jazz • Post-Truth, Politics & Music • Music & Philosophy • The Piano Concerto • Music, Sound & the Moving Image • Music & Theatre • Beyoncé and Tay: Race, Gender, and Celebrity • Introduction to Conducting • A choice of performance ensembles.

There are seven professionally-directed ensembles in UCD: Ad Astra Chamber Orchestra, UCD Choral Scholars, UCD Composition Ensemble, UCD Gamelan Orchestra, UCD Philharmonic Choir, UCD Symphony Orchestra, and the Traditional Music Practices group. These ensembles regularly perform in leading venues in Ireland and internationally, and often on radio and TV. Over forty performance scholarships are available each year for students joining the UCD Choral Scholars or the UCD Symphony Orchestra. UCD School of Music also has use of a professionally equipped black box theatre and media lab (the Trapdoor).

We offer Erasmus exchange in Europe and study abroad in the USA, Canada, Japan and other countries.

Music graduates have a range of skills, including research, creative thinking, critical reasoning, and writing, that enable them to pursue careers in education, composition, production, performance, creative practice, the music industry, journalism, media, arts administration, and a diverse range of careers in business and industry.

UCD School of Music offers a taught MMus in Music & Culture, plus research-based MLitt and PhD programmes in Musicology, Ethnomusicology, and Composition. 

• Level 5/6 QQI-FET
• Open Learning Entry Route
• Mature Entry Route
• DARE Entry Route
• HEAR Entry Route
• University Access

Picking Music at UCD was a very easy choice for me. I have always been a very musical person, singing from a young age and teaching myself to play instruments through the years. I chose Music at UCD to further my music theory and culture education, and I have learned so much in my three years here. The broad variety of modules available has truly helped me become the musician I am today. Everyone at the UCD School of Music has been so helpful and supportive, and you really do feel at home here.

Isobel Jennings, Student