Music  (MCS2)

The School aims to equip its students with essential skills necessary to understand music in terms of both its historical developments and its formal and structural components, as well as its function in society. Close links between academic and practical studies lie at the heart of the school's educational ethos. It aims to instil integrity, further excellence, help to develop a critical and creative attitude and improve the musical and textual expressivity of its students.

BMus graduates pursue music-related careers in a broad range of areas including teaching, journalism, arts administration, the music industry, academia, composition and performance. The programme is aimed at a diverse mix of leaving certificate students, mature learners and an increasing international cohort.

The music programme benefits from its international outlook; its lecturers stem from Ireland, Europe and the US, holding degrees from six different countries. Its vibrant student community also includes many international students. A number of general elective modules and a high number of elective students from other disciplines ensure an interdisciplinary atmosphere within the School. Elements of academic and practical music education mutually reinforce each other; students can participate in choirs, an orchestra and an Indonesian gamelan ensemble for credit (and have the opportunity to get involved in organising concerts and other musical activities). Through its ensembles the School is involved in many cultural on- and off-campus activities that broaden students' horizons. The School's comparatively small size means that students quickly develop a strong esprit the corps and get to know all lecturers very quickly.

The School pursues a wide variety of teaching and learning approaches, from the traditional lecture and seminar formats to tutorials, group work, problem-based learning, practical musicianship through membership in the School's ensembles, and field work, all facilitated by online support. The lecturers as well as guest speakers in our seminar series ensure that much of the teaching is informed by the latest research. The School applies formative and summative assessment strategies which are peer-reviewed where appropriate and include essays, exams, reviews, group presentations, poster presentations and reflective journals.

1 - Students will be able to recognise and analyse musical forms, techniques and styles across a broad range of periods and regions of Western and non-Western musical cultures.
2 - Students will have an increased understanding of how all music reflects the societies it stems from, as well as in turn contributing to their individual, social and cultural development.
3 - Students will have gained a good insight into the mutual dependency of practical musicianship and musical scholarship, enabling them to utilise one area to progress in the other one after the end of their studies
4 - Students will be aware of the central role of critical and original thinking when engaging with different types of tasks and problems, and be able to apply it to music-related topics and issues.
5 - Students will have acquired the skills to search for and find reliable sources of information on music-related matters, to approach them critically and distinguish them from unreliable ones.
6 - Students will have been familiarised with the skills to formulate and structure a problem/task given to them, to plan and execute research.
7 - Students will have had opportunities to practice formulating and presenting the results of their research individually (often including a minor dissertation) or as members of a group.
8 - Students will have learned to be open to the unknown, to engage with musical cultures distant in time and/or space on their own respective terms, and in turn to question and understand their own respective musical cultures more deeply.

The UCD School of Music operates Erasmus exchange programmes with universities in Munich, Prague, Rouen and Leuven.

Music graduates often pursue careers in:

Journalism

Teaching music

The recording industry

Arts administration

Performance or composition

Academia, postgraduate study

Music therapy

BMus graduates often take their study of music further, through graduate studies either at UCD or elsewhere. The UCD School of Music offers a Master in Musicology (pathways in Musicology, Analysis or Ethnomusicology), MLitt and PhD.

Stage 2

Students are pre-registered to 7 core modules (35 credits)

Two performance modules must be selected as Options. To complete 50 credits in Music, students must choose ONE additional Stage 2 music module of their choice - this additional 5 credit module can be chosen from either of the two Option module lists.

Stage 3

Students are required to take the New Ideas in Musicology module, either the Dissertation or Recital module, and a further 35 credits of music options. At least three options should be 10-credit level 3 music modules and at least one option must be chosen from the list of performance modules.

Stage 4

Students are required to take the New Ideas in Musicology module, either the Dissertation or Recital module, and a further 35 credits of music options. At least three options should be 10-credit level 3 music modules and at least one option must be chosen from the list of performance modules.

See the UCD Assessment website for further details

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Module Weighting Info