About this course
At Southampton, you can study the music you care about, and develop the skills and experience for a successful career. This 4-year BA Music degree provides a broad musical education, across all forms and styles. You can specialise in areas including performance, music history, composition and technology. Your chance to study music abroad will give you international performance experience and build your global network.
Our students sing opera and music theatre, play funk guitar and classical oboe. No matter what your musical background, we'll provide:
-
regular performance and composition workshops, including with guests from the industry
-
performance projects with world-renowned performers and recording artists
-
up to 20 hours of fully funded individual tuition per year
-
ensemble and conducting coaching
This 4-year course lets you study at a partner university abroad for an academic year. This includes cities such as:
-
Paris
-
Madrid
-
Venice
-
Hong Kong
-
Norway
As part of this course, you can:
-
learn different approaches to musical topics, from the middle ages to global hip hop
-
work on projects with other students across classical, pop and jazz
-
study concert hall composition, commercial songwriting or film scores
-
experience advanced studio techniques, jazz theory and orchestration
-
take your music to the local community, with school placements, therapy sessions and workshops
You'll also gain professional career skills. These may include arts administration or managing events.
Our excellent facilities include:
-
dedicated rehearsal spaces
-
electronic studios
-
networked multimedia workstations
Our Turner Sims concert hall supports the most extensive series of professional concerts and workshops of any UK university. You can also perform around the city in a range of different venues.
What's it like to study Music at Southampton
Course location
This course is based at Highfield.
Awarding body
This qualification is awarded by the University of Southampton.
Download the Course Description Document
The Course Description Document details your course overview, your course structure and how your course is taught and assessed.
Changes due to COVID-19
Although the COVID-19 situation is improving, any future restrictions could mean we might have to change the way parts of our teaching and learning take place in 2022 to 2023. This means that some of the information on this course page may be subject to change.
Find out more on our COVID advice page.
Entry requirements
For Academic year 202324
A-levels
ABB to BBB including Music and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard*
A-levels additional information
Offers typically exclude General Studies and Critical Thinking. *Equivalence to grade 8 is ascertained via audition. This can be done in person or by sending a video. We welcome students onto our programmes who are not at this level if their interests focus on other areas, such as composition, music technology and/or music history and ethnomusicology. We do not accept Music Technology as meeting our Music subject requirement. We can accept a pass in Grade 5 Music Theory where Music is not studied as an accepted Level 3 qualification. This applies to all BTEC Music courses and similar including UAL and Rockschool. We recognise Music practical and theory exams from ABRSM, Trinity, Rockschool and LCM. Specific offer is ascertained at interview.
A-levels with Extended Project Qualification
If you are taking an EPQ in addition to 3 A levels, you will receive the following offer in addition to the standard A level offer: BBB including Music and grade A in the EPQ, and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard*
A-levels contextual offer
We are committed to ensuring that all applicants with the potential to succeed, regardless of their background, are encouraged to apply to study with us. The additional information gained through contextual data allows us to recognise an applicant's potential to succeed in the context of their background and experience. Applicants who are highlighted in this way will be made an offer which is lower than the typical offer for that programme, as follows: BBC including Music and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard*
International Baccalaureate Diploma
Pass, with 32 to 30 points overall with 16 to 15 points at Higher Level, including 5 at Higher Level in Music and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard*
International Baccalaureate Diploma additional information
*Equivalence to grade 8 is ascertained via audition. This can be done in person or by sending a video. We welcome students onto our programmes who are not at this level if their interests focus on other areas, such as composition, music technology and/or music history and ethnomusicology. We do not accept Music Technology as meeting our Music subject requirement. We can accept a pass in Grade 5 Music Theory where Music is not studied as an accepted Level 3 qualification. This applies to all BTEC Music courses and similar including UAL and Rockschool. We recognise Music practical and theory exams from ABRSM, Trinity, Rockschool and LCM. Specific offer is ascertained at interview.
International Baccalaureate contextual offer
We are committed to ensuring that all learners with the potential to succeed, regardless of their background, are encouraged to apply to study with us. The additional information gained through contextual data allows us to recognise a learner’s potential to succeed in the context of their background and experience. Applicants who are highlighted in this way will be made an offer which is lower than the typical offer for that programme.
International Baccalaureate Career Programme (IBCP) statement
Offers will be made on the individual Diploma Course subject(s) and the career-related study qualification. The CP core will not form part of the offer. Where there is a subject pre-requisite(s), applicants will be required to study the subject(s) at Higher Level in the Diploma course subject and/or take a specified unit in the career-related study qualification. Applicants may also be asked to achieve a specific grade in those elements. Please see the University of Southampton International Baccalaureate Career-Related Programme (IBCP) Statement for further information. Applicants are advised to contact their Faculty Admissions Office for more information.
BTEC
Distinction, Distinction in the BTEC National Extended Diploma plus B in A level Music and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard* Distinction, Distinction in the BTEC National Diploma plus B in A level Music and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard* Distinction in the BTEC National Extended Certificate plus AB to BB to include A level Music and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard*
RQF BTEC
We are committed to ensuring that all learners with the potential to succeed, regardless of their background, are encouraged to apply to study with us. The additional information gained through contextual data allows us to recognise a learner’s potential to succeed in the context of their background and experience. Applicants who are highlighted in this way will be made an offer which is lower than the typical offer for that programme.
Additional information
*Equivalence to grade 8 is ascertained via audition. This can be done in person or by sending a video. We welcome students onto our programmes who are not at this level if their interests focus on other areas, such as composition, music technology and/or music history and ethnomusicology. We do not accept Music Technology as meeting our Music subject requirement. We can accept a pass in Grade 5 Music Theory where Music is not studied as an accepted Level 3 qualification. This applies to all BTEC Music courses and similar including UAL and Rockschool. We recognise Music practical and theory exams from ABRSM, Trinity, Rockschool and LCM. Specific offer is ascertained at interview.
QCF BTEC
Distinction, Distinction in the BTEC Extended Diploma plus B in A level Music and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard* Distinction, Distinction in the BTEC Diploma plus B in A level Music and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard* Distinction in the BTEC Subsidiary Diploma plus AB to BB to include A level Music and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard*
We are committed to ensuring that all learners with the potential to succeed, regardless of their background, are encouraged to apply to study with us. The additional information gained through contextual data allows us to recognise a learner’s potential to succeed in the context of their background and experience. Applicants who are highlighted in this way will be made an offer which is lower than the typical offer for that programme.
Access to HE Diploma
60 credits with a minimum of 45 credits at Level 3, of which 30 must be at Distinction and 15 credits at Merit, to include 6 Distinctions in Music and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard* OR 60 credits with a minimum of 45 credits at Level 3, of which 24 to must be at Distinction and 21 credits at Merit, to include 6 Distinctions in Music and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard*
Access to HE additional information
*Equivalence to grade 8 is ascertained via audition. This can be done in person or by sending a video. We welcome students onto our programmes who are not at this level if their interests focus on other areas, such as composition, music technology and/or music history and ethnomusicology. We do not accept Music Technology as meeting our Music subject requirement. We can accept a pass in Grade 5 Music Theory where Music is not studied as an accepted Level 3 qualification. This applies to all BTEC Music courses and similar including UAL and Rockschool. We recognise Music practical and theory exams from ABRSM, Trinity, Rockschool and LCM. Specific offer is ascertained at interview.
Irish Leaving Certificate
Irish Leaving Certificate (first awarded 2017)
H1 H2 H2 H2 H3 H3 to H2 H2 H3 H3 H3 H3 including Music and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard*
Irish Leaving Certificate (first awarded 2016)
A2 A2 B1 B1 B2 B2 to B1 B1 B1 B1 B2 B2 including Music at B1 and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard*
Irish certificate additional information
*Equivalence to grade 8 is ascertained via audition. This can be done in person or by sending a video. We welcome students onto our programmes who are not at this level if their interests focus on other areas, such as composition, music technology and/or music history and ethnomusicology. We do not accept Music Technology as meeting our Music subject requirement. We can accept a pass in Grade 5 Music Theory where Music is not studied as an accepted Level 3 qualification. This applies to all BTEC Music courses and similar including UAL and Rockschool. We recognise Music practical and theory exams from ABRSM, Trinity, Rockschool and LCM. Specific offer is ascertained at interview.
Scottish Qualification
Offers will be based on exams being taken at the end of S6. Subjects taken and qualifications achieved in S5 will be reviewed. Careful consideration will be given to an individual’s academic achievement, taking in to account the context and circumstances of their pre-university education.
Please see the University of Southampton’s Curriculum for Excellence Scotland Statement (PDF) for further information. Applicants are advised to contact their Faculty Admissions Office for more information.
Cambridge Pre-U
D3 M2 M2 to M2 M2 M2 in three principal subjects including Music and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard*
Cambridge Pre-U additional information
*Equivalence to grade 8 is ascertained via audition. This can be done in person or by sending a video. We welcome students onto our programmes who are not at this level if their interests focus on other areas, such as composition, music technology and/or music history and ethnomusicology. We do not accept Music Technology as meeting our Music subject requirement. We can accept a pass in Grade 5 Music Theory where Music is not studied as an accepted Level 3 qualification. This applies to all BTEC Music courses and similar including UAL and Rockschool. We recognise Music practical and theory exams from ABRSM, Trinity, Rockschool and LCM. Specific offer is ascertained at interview.
Welsh Baccalaureate
ABB to BBB from 3 A levels including Music and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard* or AB to BB from two A levels including Music and B from the Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate Skills Challenge Certificate and Grade 8 Music Practical or demonstrated equivalent standard*
Welsh Baccalaureate additional information
Offers typically exclude General Studies and Critical Thinking. *Equivalence to grade 8 is ascertained via audition. This can be done in person or by sending a video. We welcome students onto our programmes who are not at this level if their interests focus on other areas, such as composition, music technology and/or music history and ethnomusicology. We do not accept Music Technology as meeting our Music subject requirement. We can accept a pass in Grade 5 Music Theory where Music is not studied as an accepted Level 3 qualification. This applies to all BTEC Music courses and similar including UAL and Rockschool. We recognise Music practical and theory exams from ABRSM, Trinity, Rockschool and LCM. Specific offer is ascertained at interview.
Welsh Baccalaureate contextual offer
We are committed to ensuring that all learners with the potential to succeed, regardless of their background, are encouraged to apply to study with us. The additional information gained through contextual data allows us to recognise a learner’s potential to succeed in the context of their background and experience. Applicants who are highlighted in this way will be made an offer which is lower than the typical offer for that programme.
Other requirements
GCSE requirements
Applicants must hold GCSE English language (or GCSE English) (minimum grade 4/C) and mathematics (minimum grade 4/C)
Find the equivalent international qualifications for our entry requirements.
English language requirements
If English isn't your first language, you'll need to complete an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) to demonstrate your competence in English. You'll need all of the following scores as a minimum:
IELTS score requirements
- overall score
- 6.5
- reading
- 6.0
- writing
- 6.0
- speaking
- 6.0
- listening
- 6.0
We accept other English language tests. Find out which English language tests we accept.
You might meet our criteria in other ways if you do not have the qualifications we need. Find out more about:
-
our Access to Southampton scheme for students living permanently in the UK (including residential summer school, application support and scholarship)
-
skills you might have gained through work or other life experiences (otherwise known as recognition of prior learning)
Find out more about our Admissions Policy.
Got a question?
Please contact our enquiries team if you're not sure that you have the right experience or qualifications to get onto this course.
Email: enquiries@southampton.ac.uk
Tel: +44(0)23 8059 5000
Course structure
Year 1 includes compulsory modules and a choice of optional modules. In your second and final years you'll choose from a wide range of options. These include skills-based modules like performance and running workshops.
Your study approaches will be:
-
analytical
-
musicological
-
ethnomusicological (the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it)
You can also broaden your experience by selecting:
You do not need to choose your modules when you apply. Your tutor will help you customise your course.
Year 1 overview
In your first year, you'll learn the basics of:
-
performance
-
composition
-
music history
-
theory
The compulsory modules will explore the fundamentals of analysis, counterpoint and harmony. You'll also get a broad overview of music from the Renaissance to the twentieth century.
You'll choose from a range of optional modules, including
-
solo and ensemble performance
-
music technology
-
composition
Year 2 overview
You'll choose from a range of optional modules, including topics such as:
-
conducting
-
composing music for films
-
studio-based modules
-
music therapy and community music
There's a wide range of history and cultural topics to choose, from opera to musical subcultures. You can also take an elective module outside your formal studies, that allows you to gain academic credit.
Year 3 overview
You'll spend your third year abroad at one of our partner institutions. These include:
-
University of Hong Kong
-
Grieg Academy (Bergen, Norway)
-
Charles University, Prague
-
University of Bayreuth (Germany)
-
Université Paris-Sorbonne
While you're abroad you'll keep a blog and write a report on your experiences over the year.
Year 4 overview
You'll take a module examining your experiences abroad. This will help you produce an enhanced CV.
You must choose one of these modules:
-
Commercial Composition - you'll work closely with a course tutor to develop a portfolio of original work
-
Composition Portfolio - you'll produce a portfolio of score-based, concert compositions
-
Performance Recital - a 40-minute public performance recital
-
Research Project - this might be musical (historical, analytical, critical) or relate music to another art form such as architecture
You'll also choose from a range of optional modules on topics like:
-
Benjamin Britten operas
-
film music composition
-
American musicals
-
global hip hop
You can also get involved in high-profile performance projects and gain work experience in schools.
Want more detail? See all the modules in the course.
Modules
Changes due to COVID-19
Although the COVID-19 situation is improving, any future restrictions could mean we might have to change the way parts of our teaching and learning take place in 2022 to 2023. This means that some of the information on this course page may be subject to change.
Find out more on our COVID advice page.
For entry in Academic Year 2022-23
Year 1 modules
You must study the following modules in year 1:
Exploring Music 1
Offering a broad overview of European music in the Renaissance and Baroque periods, this module will also allow you to develop your academic writing skills. Lectures introduce major cultural and historical topics such as worship and belief, technology and...
Fundamentals of Counterpoint and Harmony
This module will provide you with a firm understanding of the theory and practice of the principles of Western 'common practice' tonal music that will be invaluable to later courses. You will first study the basics of counterpoint and harmony. Then, after...
Introduction to Music Technology
This module discusses the fundamentals of Music technology– analogue and digital audio, MIDI, system components (sequencers, digital audio workstations, synthesisers, samplers, processors, etc); important examples of specific electronic music and audio te...
Performance Skills A
This module introduces music performance skills. You undertake individual tuition in your chosen performance specialism* (8 hours of lessons) along with a variety of workshops exploring topics from across the performance spectrum. With the help of y...
You must also choose from the following modules in year 1:
Composition Fundamentals
Composition Fundamentals will introduce you to a range of compositional techniques and principles. We will consider different ways of creating musical ideas and different approaches to structuring, varying and developing musical ideas. In particular, we w...
Exploring Music 2
This module aims to introduce you to some of the major musical forms, techniques and styles cultivated between 1750 and 1900. During the module you will develop your knowledge and understanding of ‘Classical’ and ‘Romantic’ musical styles and genres while...
First Year Ensemble Performance
Ensemble performance is a crucial skill in any musician's portfolio, in addition to being one of the most rewarding aspects of musical life. In this module you will prepare a 15-18 minute programme of instrumental, vocal or mixed ensemble music of your...
Global Transformations in Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Music
This module explores the history of key twentieth and twenty-first musical styles and practices including jazz, popular and art musics. Its scope is global, with the aim of "provincialising" European and North American experiences. In addition the module ...
Performance in Practice B
This module allows you to develop your music performance skills to a new level. A combination of individual tuition in your chosen performance specialism* (12 hours of lessons) and a variety of workshop and public performance opportunities provide you ...
Year 2 modules
You must study the following module in year 2:
Study Abroad Preparation Module
This module will prepare you for study abroad. You are required to take out appropriate insurance policies and engage in on-going monitoring of risk and this module will provide professional input in both areas as well as rigorous assessment of the docume...
You must also choose from the following modules in year 2:
Adventures in Musical Research
This module is based on a selection of recent and innovative scholarly writings on music, which challenge the reader to examine their assumptions about the nature of both scholarship and music as cultural practices. It is taught together with MUSI6022 Adv...
Conducting
This module covers basic gestures used in duple, triple, compound, mixed and asymmetric metres; cueing of players and singers, and introducing expressive gestures for dynamics, phrasing etc.; basic approaches to rehearsal and score-marking technique.
Ensemble Performance 1
In this module students prepare one programme of instrumental, vocal, or mixed-ensemble music of their own choice, which is coached regularly by members of staff. There is an expectation that students, not staff, will independently organise an ensemble ...
Explorations in Composition
This module focuses on composition that endeavours to innovate within and extend beyond musical conventions through actively exploring new possibilities, taking risks and experimentation. We’ll delve into a wide range of compositional approaches and techn...
How the Arts Work: A Practical Introduction to Cultural Economics
How are the arts getting back to work again after Covid-19? This is a critically important question for everyone who cares about them, artists and audiences alike. If you’re a student considering a career in the arts you’ll want to know where fresh opport...
Interactive! Music in Video Games and Media
Interactive music and sound can be found in diverse forms, from video games and interactive installations through to data driven sonic art and works with audience/performer interventions. Such situations provide composers and sound artists with both exci...
Issues in Latin American Popular Music and Culture
The module aims to develop your critical awareness of Latin American music and dance cultures of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and the ways that scholars have approached them. Rather than a survey of Latin American music, the course will be th...
Jazz Theory
This module focuses on common jazz harmony as used by jazz musicians and improvisers. It also explores harmonic and rhythmic devices used by some jazz musicians to inform their improvisations. The course will focus predominantly on jazz standards (music f...
Music Therapy 1: Fundamentals
This module explores how music therapy uses music very differently to the entertainment industry, introducing you to the unique use of music as a powerful clinical tool in health and education settings. Using clinical music therapy techniques, music can b...
Music and Sound Production 1
This module allows you to explore basic multi-track recording and production techniques. The module is based in the University’s recording studios and music computing facilities where you will explore a range of techniques and equipment from both theoreti...
Performance Tuition (Single Study)
This module allows you to continue to develop your music performance skills. A combination of individual tuition (10 1hr lessons) and a variety workshop and public performance opportunities provide you with the chance to study new repertoire, improve your...
Second Year Performance Recital
This module allows you to continue to develop your music performance skills. A combination of individual tuition (20 1hr lessons) and a variety workshop and public performance opportunities provide you with the chance to study new repertoire, improve yo...
Sounding the Museum
An early flute sits silently behind glass in a museum, grouped with others of its type to show changes in instrument manufacture through the ages. Fans flock to the childhood house of a former Beatle, hoping to achieve a new form of intimacy with a legend...
The American Musical
This module introduces you to the history of the American Musical and examines some of the issues connected with race, exoticism, gender and national identity as they were articulated in this multimedia entertainment between the late nineteenth century an...
The Producer as Composer: digital sound & songwriting in practice
In 2017, global recorded music revenues totalled $17.3 billion, the majority of which comes from the consumption of what we would classify as songs. This module aims, through lectures and practical work, to investigate & demonstrate how new production...
Year 3 modules
You must study the following module in year 3:
Year Abroad Report Module for Humanities Students
This non-credit bearing module is a required element for all Humanities students on a Year Abroad Programme. It builds on the Year Abroad preparation module, HUMA2012. It is taken as a long thin single module whilst on the Year Abroad with a two hour prep...
Year 4 modules
You must choose your modules from the following modules in year 4:
Adventures in Musical Research
This module is based on a selection of recent and innovative scholarly writings on music, which challenge the reader to examine their assumptions about the nature of both scholarship and music as cultural practices. It is taught together with MUSI6022 Adv...
Commercial Composition
You will be introduced to a series of techniques and processes that can be applied to a wide range of commercial musics in the first semester; in the second semester you will work closely with course tutors in one-to-one tutorials to develop a portfolio o...
Composition Portfolio
With a mixture of lectures and individual supervision, Composition Portfolio is the final stage of the undergraduate pathway in concert-music based composition. Building upon the skills gained in first and second year creative music based modules, the lec...
Conducting
This module covers basic gestures used in duple, triple, compound, mixed and asymmetric metres; cueing of players and singers, and introducing expressive gestures for dynamics, phrasing etc.; basic approaches to rehearsal and score-marking technique.
Ensemble Performance 2
In this module students prepare one programme of instrumental, vocal, or mixed-ensemble music of their own choice, which is coached regularly by members of staff. There is an expectation that students, not staff, will independently organise an ensemble f...
Explorations in Composition
Following on from Composition Workshop (MUSI 2093/3100), this module will explore more technical devices, formal procedures and ways of thinking about composition. You will study key compositional approaches and techniques that have developed during the s...
How the Arts Work: A Practical Introduction to Cultural Economics
How are the arts getting back to work again after Covid-19? This is a critically important question for everyone who cares about them, artists and audiences alike. If you’re a student considering a career in the arts you’ll want to know where fresh opport...
Interactive! Music in Video Games and Media
Interactive music and sound can be found in diverse forms, from video games and interactive installations through to data driven sonic art and works with audience/performer interventions. Such situations provide composers and sound artists with both exci...
Issues in Latin American Popular Music and Culture
The module aims to develop your critical awareness of Latin American music and dance cultures of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and the ways that scholars have approached them. Rather than a survey of Latin American music, the course will be th...
Music Therapy 1: Fundamentals
This module explores how music therapy uses music very differently to the entertainment industry, introducing you to the unique use of music as a powerful clinical tool in health and education settings. Using clinical music therapy techniques, music can b...
Music Therapy 2: Beneath the Surface
The aim of this module is to look beneath the surface - challenging assumptions made about music being therapeutic and exploring how to prove music is effective as therapy. Drawing on the knowledge gleaned in the second year module, the module aims to dev...
Music and Sound Production 1
This module allows you to explore basic multi-track recording and production techniques. The module is based in the University’s recording studios and music computing facilities where you will explore a range of techniques and equipment from both theoreti...
Music in the Community with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
This innovative module, developed and delivered in close collaboration with the BSO Participate Team, will allow you to develop a range of skills and experience in community music practice. You will undertake training with BSO Associates and members of th...
Performance Recital
This module allows you to expand your music performance skills to a high standard. A combination of individual tuition (20 1hr lessons) and a variety workshop and public performance opportunities provide you with the chance to study new repertoire, impr...
Performance Tuition (Single Study)
This module allows you to expand your music performance skills to a high standard. A combination of individual tuition (10 1hr lessons) and a variety workshop and public performance opportunities provide you with the chance to study new repertoire, improv...
Research Project
This module is based on a topic chosen by the student, completed under the supervision of a member of staff and culminating in a detailed dissertation. The topic may be musical (historical, analytical, critical) or it may relate music to another art or di...
Sounding the Museum
An early flute sits silently behind glass in a museum, grouped with others of its type to show changes in instrument manufacture through the ages. Fans flock to the childhood house of a former Beatle, hoping to achieve a new form of intimacy with a legend...
The American Musical
This module introduces you to the history of the American Musical and examines some of the issues connected with race, exoticism, gender and national identity as they were articulated in this multimedia entertainment between the late nineteenth century an...
Learning and assessment
The learning activities for this course include the following:
- lectures
- classes and tutorials
- coursework
- individual and group projects
Course time
How you'll spend your course time:
Year 1
Study time
Your scheduled learning, teaching and independent study for year 1:
How we'll assess you
- assessed performances
- compositions
- composition portfolios
- creative projects
- dissertations
- individual and group projects
- oral presentations
- module journals
- portfolios
- teamwork
- written and practical exams
Your assessment breakdown
Year 1:
Year 2
Study time
Your scheduled learning, teaching and independent study for year 2:
How we'll assess you
- assessed performances
- compositions
- composition portfolios
- creative projects
- dissertations
- individual and group projects
- oral presentations
- module journals
- portfolios
- teamwork
- written and practical exams
Your assessment breakdown
Year 2:
Year 3
Study time
Your scheduled learning, teaching and independent study for year 3:
How we'll assess you
- assessed performances
- compositions
- composition portfolios
- creative projects
- dissertations
- individual and group projects
- oral presentations
- module journals
- portfolios
- teamwork
- written and practical exams
Your assessment breakdown
Year 3:
Year 4
Study time
Your scheduled learning, teaching and independent study for year 4:
How we'll assess you
- assessed performances
- compositions
- composition portfolios
- creative projects
- dissertations
- individual and group projects
- oral presentations
- module journals
- portfolios
- teamwork
- written and practical exams
Your assessment breakdown
Year 4:
Academic support
You’ll be supported by a personal academic tutor and have access to a senior tutor.
Course leader
Andrew Pinnock is the course leader.
Careers
Employability is included in our modules from the first lecture to the day you graduate.
Our Music graduates have secured roles including:
-
performer
-
music therapist
-
sound engineer
-
composer
-
arts and culture manager
This Music degree can also provide a good foundation for further study.
Our careers and employability service will support you throughout your studies and for up to 3 years after graduation. You'll get help with:
-
work placements and graduate jobs
-
specialist careers advice
Your personal academic tutor and an employability coordinator can also advise and support you on your career path.
Careers services at Southampton
We are a top 20 UK university for employability (QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2022). Our Careers and Employability Service will support you throughout your time as a student and for up to 5 years after graduation. This support includes:
-
work experience schemes
-
CV and interview skills and workshops
-
networking events
-
careers fairs attended by top employers
-
a wealth of volunteering opportunities
-
study abroad and summer school opportunities
We have a vibrant entrepreneurship culture and our dedicated start-up supporter, Futureworlds, is open to every student.
Work in industry
The University’s Excel Internship Programme can help you find a paid work placement during the Easter or summer vacation.
You can choose to spend a year in employment during this course.
Fees, costs and funding
Tuition fees
Fees for a year's study:
- UK students pay £9,250.
- EU and international students pay £20,340.
What your fees pay for
Music students will also need to pay for:
-
maintaining and insuring musical instruments
-
extra musical tuition or rehearsals
-
hiring session musicians
Accommodation and living costs, such as travel and food, are not included in your tuition fees. Explore:
Bursaries, scholarships and other funding
If you're a UK or EU student and your household income is under £25,000 a year, you may be able to get a University of Southampton bursary to help with your living costs. Find out about bursaries and other funding we offer at Southampton.
If you're a care leaver or estranged from your parents, you may be able to get a specific bursary.
Get in touch for advice about student money matters.
Scholarships and grants
You may be able to get a scholarship or grant to help fund your studies.
We award scholarships and grants for travel, academic excellence, or to students from under-represented backgrounds.
Support during your course
The Student Services Centre offers support and advice on money to students. You may be able to access our Student Support fund and other sources of financial support during your course.
Funding for EU and international students
Find out about funding you could get as an international student.
How to apply
When you apply use:
- UCAS course code: W301
- UCAS institution code: S27
What happens after you apply?
We will assess your application on the strength of your:
- predicted grades
- academic achievements
- personal statement
- academic reference
You will be asked for an interview and audition, either remotely or in person. If you want to take performance modules you'll need to show you're proficient to grade 8 or equivalent, either by auditioning or sending a video.
We'll aim to process your application within 2 to 6 weeks, but this will depend on when it is submitted. Applications submitted in January, particularly near to the UCAS equal consideration deadline, might take substantially longer to be processed due to the high volume received at that time.
Equality and diversity
We treat and select everyone in line with our Equality and Diversity Statement.
Got a question?
Please contact our enquiries team if you're not sure that you have the right experience or qualifications to get onto this course.
Email: enquiries@southampton.ac.uk
Tel: +44(0)23 8059 5000
Related courses
-
Study
- View all courses
- Taught postgraduate study
- Pre-sessional English courses
- Subjects
-
PhDs and research degrees
- Create your own research project
-
Find a PhD project
- A missing link between continental shelves and the deep sea: Have we underestimated the importance of land-detached canyons?
- A seismic study of the continent-ocean transition southwest of the UK
- A study of rolling contact fatigue in electric vehicles (EVs)
- Acoustic monitoring of forest exploitation to establish community perspectives of sustainable hunting
- Acoustic sensing and characterisation of soil organic matter
- Advancing intersectional geographies of diaspora-led development in times of multiple crises
- Aero engine fan wake turbulence – Simulation and wind tunnel experiments
- Against Climate Change (DACC): improving the estimates of forest fire smoke emissions
- All-in-one Mars in-situ resource utilisation (ISRU) system and life-supporting using non-thermal plasma
- An electromagnetic study of the continent-ocean transition southwest of the UK
- An investigation of the relationship between health, home and law in the context of poor and precarious housing, and complex and advanced illness
- Antarctic ice sheet response to climate forcing
- Antibiotic resistance genes in chalk streams
- Assessing changes in astronomical tides on global scales
- Being autistic in care: Understanding differences in care experiences including breakdowns in placements for autistic and non-autistic children
- Biogeochemical cycling in the critical coastal zone: Developing novel methods to make reliable measurements of geochemical fluxes in permeable sediments
- Bloom and bust: seasonal cycles of phytoplankton and carbon flux
- British Black Lives Matter: The emergence of a modern civil rights movement
- Building physics for low carbon comfort using artificial intelligence
- Building-resolved large-eddy simulations of wind and dispersion over a city scale urban area
- Business studies and management: accounting
- Business studies and management: banking and finance
- Business studies and management: decision analytics and risk
- Business studies and management: digital and data driven marketing
- Business studies and management: human resources (HR) management and organisational behaviour
- Business studies and management: strategy, innovation and entrepreneurship
- Carbon storage in reactive rock systems: determining the coupling of geo-chemo-mechanical processes in reactive transport
- Cascading hazards from the largest volcanic eruption in over a century: What happened when Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai erupted in January 2022?
- Characterisation of cast austenitic stainless steels using ultrasonic backscatter and artificial intelligence
- Climate Change effects on the developmental physiology of the small-spotted catshark
- Climate at the time of the Human settlement of the Eastern Pacific
- Collaborative privacy in data marketplaces
- Compatibility of climate and biodiversity targets under future land use change
- Cost of living in modern and fossil animals
- Creative clusters in rural, coastal and post-industrial towns
- Deep oceanic convection: the outsized role of small-scale processes
- Defect categories and their realisation in supersymmetric gauge theory
- Defining the Marine Fisheries-Energy-Environment Nexus: Learning from shocks to enhance natural resource resilience
- Desert dune avalanche processes modern ancient environments
- Design and fabrication of next generation optical fibres
- Developing a practical application of unmanned aerial vehicle technologies for conservation research and monitoring of endangered wildlife
- Development and evolution of animal biomineral skeletons
- Development of all-in-one in-situ resource utilisation system for crewed Mars exploration missions
- Disturbance and recovery of benthic habitats in submarine canyon settings
- Ecological role of offshore artificial structures
- Effect of embankment and subgrade weathering on railway track performance
- Efficient ‘whole-life’ anchoring systems for offshore floating renewables
- Electrochemical sensing of the sea surface microlayer
- Engagement with nature among children from minority ethnic backgrounds
- Ensuring the Safety and Security of Autonomous Cyber-Physical Systems
- Environmental and genetic determinants of Brassica crop damage by the agricultural pest Diamondback moth
- Estimating marine mammal abundance and distribution from passive acoustic and biotelemetry data
- Evolution of symbiosis in a warmer world
- Examining evolutionary loss of calcification in coccolithophores
- Explainable AI (XAI) for health
- Explaining process, pattern and dynamics of marine predator hotspots in the Southern Ocean
- Exploring dynamics of natural capital in coastal barrier systems
- Exploring the mechanisms of microplastics incorporation and their influence on the functioning of coral holobionts
- Exploring the potential electrical activity of gut for healthcare and wellbeing
- Exploring the trans-local nature of cultural scene
- Facilitating forest restoration sustainability of tropical swidden agriculture
- Faulting, fluids and geohazards within subduction zone forearcs
- Faulting, magmatism and fluid flow during volcanic rifting in East Africa
- Fingerprinting environmental releases from nuclear facilities
- Flexible hybrid thermoelectric materials for wearable energy harvesting
- Floating hydrokinetic power converter
- Glacial sedimentology associated subglacial hydrology
- Green and sustainable Internet of Things
- How do antimicrobial peptides alter T cell cytokine production?
- How do calcifying marine organisms grow? Determining the role of non-classical precipitation processes in biogenic marine calcite formation
- How do neutrophils alter T cell metabolism?
- How well can we predict future changes in biodiversity using machine learning?
- Hydrant dynamics for acoustic leak detection in water pipes
- If ‘Black Lives Matter’, do ‘Asian Lives Matter’ too? Impact trajectories of organisation activism on wellbeing of ethnic minority communities
- Illuminating luciferin bioluminescence in dinoflagellates
- Imaging quantum materials with an XFEL
- Impact of neuromodulating drugs on gut microbiome homeostasis
- Impact of pharmaceuticals in the marine environment in a changing world
- Impacts of environmental change on coastal habitat restoration
- Improving subsea navigation using environment observations for long term autonomy
- Information theoretic methods for sensor management
- Installation effect on the noise of small high speed fans
- Integrated earth observation mapping change land sea
- Interconnections of past greenhouse climates
- Inverse simulation: going from camera observations of a deformation to material properties using a new theoretical approach
- Investigating IgG cell depletion mechanisms
- Is ocean mixing upside down? How mixing processes drive upwelling in a deep-ocean basin
- Landing gear aerodynamics and aeroacoustics
- Lightweight gas storage: real-world strategies for the hydrogen economy
- Long-term change in the benthos – creating robust data from varying camera systems
- Machine learning for multi-robot perception
- Machine learning for multi-robot perception
- Mapping Fishing Industry Response to Shocks: Learning Lessons to Enhance Marine Resource Resilience
- Marine ecosystem responses to past climate change and its oceanographic impacts
- Mechanical effects in the surf zone - in situ electrochemical sensing
- Microfluidic cell isolation systems for sepsis
- Microplastics and carbon sequestration: identifying links and impacts
- Microplastics in the Southern Ocean: sources, fate and impacts
- Migrant entrepreneurship, gender and generation: context and family dynamics in small town Britain
- Miniaturisation in fishes: evolutionary and ecological perspectives
- Modelling high-power fibre laser and amplifier stability
- Modelling soil dewatering and recharge for cost-effective and climate resilient infrastructure
- Modelling the evolution of adaptive responses to climate change across spatial landscapes
- Nanomaterials sensors for biomedicine and/or the environment
- New high-resolution observations of ocean surface current and winds from innovative airborne and satellite measurements
- New perspectives on ocean photosynthesis
- Novel methods of detecting carbon cycling pathways in lakes and their impact on ecosystem change
- Novel technologies for cyber-physical security
- Novel transparent conducting films with unusual optoelectronic properties
- Novel wavelength fibre lasers for industrial applications
- Ocean circulation and the Southern Ocean carbon sink
- Ocean influence on recent climate extremes
- Ocean methane sensing using novel surface plasmon resonance technology
- Ocean physics and ecology: can robots disentangle the mix?
- Ocean-based Carbon Dioxide Removal: Assessing the utility of coastal enhanced weathering
- Offshore renewable energy (ORE) foundations on rock seabeds: advancing design through analogue testing and modelling
- Optical fibre sensing for acoustic leak detection in buried pipelines
- Optimal energy transfer in nonlinear systems
- Optimal energy transfer in nonlinear systems
- Optimizing machine learning for embedded systems
- Oxidation of fossil organic matter as a source of atmospheric CO2
- Partnership dissolution and re-formation in later life among individuals from minority ethnic communities in the UK
- Personalized multimodal human-robot interactions
- Preventing disease by enhancing the cleaning power of domestic water taps using sound
- Quantifying riparian vegetation dynamics and flow interactions for Nature Based Solutions using novel environmental sensing techniques
- Quantifying the response and sensitivity of tropical forest carbon sinks to various drivers
- Quantifying variability in phytoplankton electron requirements for carbon fixation
- Reconciling geotechnical and seismic data to accelerate green energy developments offshore
- Resilient and sustainable steel-framed building structures
- Resolving Antarctic meltwater events in Southern Ocean marine sediments and exploring their significance using climate models
- Robust acoustic leak detection in water pipes using contact sound guides
- Silicon synapses for artificial intelligence hardware
- Smart photon delivery via reconfigurable optical fibres
- Southern Ocean iron supply: does size fractionation matter?
- The Gulf Stream control of the North Atlantic carbon sink
- The Mayflower Studentship: a prestigious fully funded PhD studentship in bioscience
- The calming effect of group living in social fishes
- The duration of ridge flank hydrothermal exchange and its role in global biogeochemical cycles
- The evolution of symmetry in echinoderms
- The impact of early life stress on neuronal enhancer function
- The oceanic fingerprints on changing monsoons over South and Southeast Asia
- The role of iron in nitrogen fixation and photosynthesis in changing polar oceans
- The role of singlet oxygen signaling in plant responses to heat and drought stress
- Time variability on turbulent mixing of heat around melting ice in the West Antarctic
- Triggers and Feedbacks of Climate Tipping Points
- Uncovering the drivers of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease progression using patient derived organoids
- Understanding ionospheric dynamics machine learning
- Understanding recent land-use change in Snowdonia to plan a sustainable future for uplands: integrating palaeoecology and conservation practice
- Understanding the role of cell motility in resource acquisition by marine phytoplankton
- Understanding the structure and engagement of personal networks that support older people with complex care needs in marginalised communities and their ability to adapt to increasingly ‘digitalised’ health and social care
- Understanding variability in Earth’s climate and magnetic field using new archives from the Iberian Margin
- Unpicking the Anthropocene in the Hawaiian Archipelago
- Unraveling oceanic multi-element cycles using single cell ionomics
- Unravelling southwest Indian Ocean biological productivity and physics: a machine learning approach
- Up, up and away – the fate of upwelled nutrients in an African upwelling system and the biogeochemical and phytoplankton response
- Using acoustics to monitor how small cracks develop into bursts in pipelines
- Using machine learning to improve predictions of ocean carbon storage by marine life
- Vulnerability of low-lying coastal transportation networks to natural hazards
- Wideband fibre optical parametric amplifiers for Space Division Multiplexing technology
- Will it stick? Exploring the role of turbulence and biological glues on ocean carbon storage
- X-ray imaging and property characterisation of porous materials
- Funding your research degree
- How to apply for a PhD or research degree
- How to make a PhD enquiry
- Support while studying your PhD or research degree
- Exchanges and studying abroad
- Undergraduate study
-
Tuition fees and funding
-
Scholarships
- Postgraduate scholarships for UK students
- Undergraduate scholarships for UK students
- Competitive scholarships for international postgraduates
- Competitive scholarships for international undergraduates
- Merit scholarships for international postgraduates
- Merit scholarships for international undergraduates
- Scholarship terms and conditions
- Southampton Canadian Prestige Scholarship for Law
- Southampton Presidential International Scholarship
-
Scholarships
- Short courses
- Clearing
- Summer schools
- Get a prospectus
-
Student life
-
Accommodation
- Choose your halls of residence
- Apply for accommodation
- Guaranteed accommodation
- Your accommodation options
- International and pre-sessional students
- Postgraduate accommodation
- Couples and students with children
- Renting privately
- Our accommodation areas
- Privacy notice
- Terms and conditions
- Fees and contracts
- Our cities
- Sports and gyms
- Our campuses
- Join our student community
- Support and money
-
Accommodation
- Research
- Business
- Global
- About
- Visit
- Alumni
- Departments
- News
- Events
- Contact