Music (MA)

How will I be taught?

Teaching of academic modules is delivered primarily through seminars and small-group tutorials, and you’ll have the opportunity to develop your own interests through fieldwork, interdisciplinary study, and other areas of work.

Our regular series of workshops and masterclasses allow you to work directly with distinguished composers and performers.

All postgraduate taught students are expected to attend and participate in a regular postgraduate forum and to attend the school’s research lecture series, which attracts visiting speakers from around the world.

Performance

In addition to the academic modules delivered through tutorials and seminars, instrumental/vocal tuition is delivered on a one-to-one basis with your allocated instrumental/vocal tutor. Instrumental/vocal teaching will total no more than 24 hours throughout the duration of the programme. In addition, you’ll be expected to pursue private reading, listening, instrumental/vocal practice.

You'll also participate in a range of ensembles (refer to the School of Music website for a list of professionally led ensembles) and will perform in the School’s Performance classes and Postgraduate Performance Seminars.

Recital programmes will be your own choice made in consultation with your allocated instrumental/vocal tutor and the recital module leader.

For the Stage Two Public Recital you will give a 45-50 minute public performance. This is in addition to a 25 minute Closed Recital which you will perform at the end of Stage One of the programme.

Composition

Teaching of the composition modules is via individual one-to-one tutorials. Teaching of the academic and technical areas of the discipline is delivered through tutorials and seminars (for each module).

Attendance at all seminars and tutorials is compulsory. You will be expected to pursue private study and participate in the Postgraduate Composition Seminars and Composition Workshops.

For the Stage Two Thesis Composition Portfolio, you will be allocated a supervisor who will guide and advise through five 60-minute individual sessions.

Music Studies

Teaching of academic modules is delivered via tutorials and seminars (for each module). Attendance at all seminars and tutorials is compulsory. In addition, you will be expected to pursue private study and attend and participate in the Postgraduate Research Seminars.

For the Stage Two Dissertation, you’ll be allocated a supervisor who will guide and advise through a minimum of five 60-minute individual sessions.

Music Education

Teaching of academic modules is delivered via tutorials and seminars (for each module). Attendance at all seminars and tutorials is compulsory. In addition, you’ll be expected to pursue private study and attend and participate in the Postgraduate Music Education Seminars.

One of the advantages of this pathway is you can collaborate with students on the performance and composition pathways and engage in leadership and engagement projects that can bring together your interests in music education.

For the Stage Two Specialist Project, you’ll be allocated a supervisor who will guide and advise through a minimum of five 60-minute individual sessions.

How will I be assessed?

Taught modules are assessed in a variety of ways. Specific assessment methods differ depending on the pathway that you’ve selected, as follows:

Performance

• oral presentations
• ensemble performance
• solo performance
• lecture recital
• written report
• practical portfolio
• printed programme with scholarly programme notes and performance diary

Composition

• composition portfolios
• essays
• written reports and/or commentaries
• IT computer-based notational assignments (incl. editing)
• oral presentations
• orchestrations

Music Studies

• extended essays
• written reports
• field work, as needed
• oral presentations
• dissertation (12–15,000 words)

Music Education

• oral presentations
• written reports and commentaries
• extended essays and/or projects
• lesson plans
• digital/Technology-based projects
• specialist project 

How will I be supported?

At the start of the year, you’ll be given a guide to module aims, learning outcomes, methods of assessment, module syllabuses, and reading and listening lists. Your allocated personal tutor will be able to provide advice and guidance on module choices and you'll have regular meetings with them.

For the stage two projects you’ll have a supervisor to monitor progress and provide individual consultations by arrangement.

Instrumental tuition for performance pathway students is fully funded by the School of Music on your principal study instrument, including accompaniment at recitals. You’ll receive 24, hour-long lessons over the duration of the course.

You’ll have access through the Learning Central website to relevant multimedia material, presentations, lecture handouts, bibliographies, further links, electronic exercises and discussion circles.

You’ll also benefit from excellent libraries and resource centres.

The university offers a range of services including Student Futures (careers and employability) and the broader Student Life services which include support related to health and wellbeing, disability and dyslexia, equality, diversity and inclusion, and advice related to money matters.

Feedback

You’ll receive written feedback on all assessments. The opportunity to test knowledge and understanding will also be provided through the weekly seminars of the postgraduate forum.

What skills will I practise and develop?

You'll acquire and develop a range of valuable discipline-specific skills, as well as employability, research, communication, and presentation skills.

Performers will acquire specific skills, such as the practical and interpretative musical skills associated with your chosen instrument or voice, an understanding of the relationship between the history and practice of music, knowledge of repertoires and recent developments in performance practice, as well as participating in lecture-recital, public recital, and ensemble recitals.

Composers can expect to acquire specific skills, such as knowledge and understanding of contemporary compositional techniques, IT skills in music notation inputting and editing, the ability to rehearse an ensemble, communicate musical intentions to performers via notation and written instructions, direct a rehearsal of your own composition as a conductor, and illustrate how established techniques of research and enquiry are used to create and interpret knowledge.

If you are following the music studies pathway, you’ll acquire specific skills, such as the ability to analyse and process complex texts, ideas and concepts, develop different forms of academic writing, experience of oral and written presentations, gain an understanding of standard bibliographies, catalogues and other reference material in music, develop research techniques and choice of appropriate sources to aid individual research, undertake complex library-based research, undertake field work and interpret a range of quantitative and qualitative data.

Students on the music education pathway can expect to exhibit knowledge and understanding of a range of oral communication skills suitable to teaching; link pedagogical theory and research with practical skills; demonstrate fluency in mixed-media demonstrations; demonstrate a critical self-awareness of their teaching; and show understanding of the pastoral, administrative and assessment responsibilities within the teaching profession.

The Learning Outcomes for this Programme describe what you will achieve by the end of your programme at Cardiff University and identify the knowledge and skills that you will develop. They will also help you to understand what is expected of you. 

On successful completion of your Programme, you will be able to:

Knowledge & Understanding:

KU 1 Demonstrate in-depth and rigorous specialist knowledge, creativity, imagination, flair, skill and understanding in one of the following: performance, composition, music studies or music education.

KU 2 Possess a critical awareness of, and sensitivity towards the component sub-disciplines within their specialist field of music.

KU 3 Demonstrate a broad contextual knowledge relevant to a specialist discipline within music, including the relationship to wider historical, philosophical and cultural issues and practices.

KU 4 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of techniques and scholarship with analytical and critical awareness.

Intellectual Skills:

IS 1 Demonstrate the ability and confidence to see a major project through to completion while being aware of intellectual or artistic growth to ensure continuing creativity and scholarship.

IS 2 Develop reasoned, coherent arguments about specific problems, utilising and applying methodologies, evidence, appraisal techniques and skills effectively in order to carry out tasks.

IS 3 Think critically, analytically, sensitively and reflectively about music, identifying significant formal, historical, and cultural patterns in the way it is performed, composed, or used. 

Professional Practical Skills:

PS 1 Have a strong ability to find creative links between the results of personal research or scholarship, textual and musical analysis, reflection and listening skills.

PS 2 Demonstrate the relationship between theory and practice in music, using relevant techniques and methods to explain and exemplify interrelationships.

PS 3 Demonstrate a confident ability to work closely with other musicians in the preparation and delivery of collaborative projects.

PS 4 Exercise initiative and personal responsibility in planning and implementing tasks, and demonstrate enterprise skills such as creativity, problem-solving and independent learning.

PS 5 Display artistic, technical and/or critical skills in planning, evaluating and reflecting critically on work in progress, with an ability to assimilate and summarise complex information and ideas.

Transferable/Key Skills:

KS 1 Communicate intentions clearly, economically and persuasively in a variety of formats including written, oral and/or notated work.

KS 2 Engage effectively in debate in a professional manner and prepare and present work to a professional standard for a range of assessment types and formats.

KS 3 Possess academic and personal skills such as critical thinking, writing, oral presentation, problem solving, collaborative group work, time-management, and the use of information and/or digital technologies.

KS 4 Have the capacity for problem-solving and originality in thinking by using knowledge and skills to tackle familiar and unfamiliar problems.

Other information

Our Postgraduate Suite provides dedicated, 24-hour study facilities for postgraduate students, including computer workrooms with networked Macs and PCs, Sibelius notation software, listening rooms, photocopying facilities, a kitchen, and a social space.

"If anyone ever asks whether I have a ‘second home’, Cardiff will definitely be my answer. Although I had lived in Bath and London before, neither of them gave me the same impression as Cardiff has. Here, one can experience both the beauty of a British town and the prosperity of a national capital. To me, this means that I can concentrate on my studies, have a healthy and safety life, but without losing the opportunities to enjoy world-class arts, cultural and social events. These factors prompted me to come back here for my master degree.The School of Music has shown great care since the first day I received my offer. From visa, accommodation to financial supports, the school was always keen to help. Upon arrival, I received a comprehensive introduction to the course and the school. I was really surprised by all kinds of supports that are available to me, including personal tutoring, music-dedicated English sessions, and career advices for international students. Most important, I found the School open to all people, regardless of their age, backgrounds, and views. I was able to participate in a large variety of music activities, and to share my view in different academic occasions — all without worrying about doing or saying things ‘wrong’. This atmosphere is so precious for foreign students, and I still appreciate it everyday."