MUSIC

MUSIC

Level 1

MU 1051 - PERFORMANCE 1
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr F Jurgensen

Pre-requisites

Entry to a BMus Degree programme OR by audition.

Co-requisites

Performance 2

Notes

Where students are studying more than one instrument/voice, they can elect in advance to have them equally weighted, or weighted in the proportion 75% (main instrument) and 25% (second instrument) for assessment purposes.

Overview

23. Students select the pieces they work on in negotiation with their instrumental/voice tutor.

Structure

Normally 10 hours of individual instrumental or vocal lessons, plus attendance at all rehearsals and concerts for the nominated ensemble (i.e., at least 36 contact hours, depending on the ensemble).

Assessment

Tutor report and essay of 2000 words on an aspect of performance. Exemption may be granted for the essay for students with exemplary attendance at the nominated ensemble.



Students resit the failed assessment(s). Recital (for those failing tutor report); resit failed elements of the same essay (for those failing essay)

Formative Assessment

Students are being constantly assessed by their tutors in this one-to-one learning context.

Feedback

Feedback to students is on a continual basis in this one-to-one learning context. Tutors will arrange for a session to go over their comments with the student following the submission of the report.

MU 1052 - COMPOSITION AND THEORY
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr D Smith

Pre-requisites

Entry to BMus Programme OR evidence of advanced musical literacy.

Structure

One 1-hour theory class per week
One 2-hour counterpoint class per week



Assessment

Portfolio of compositions (66%); theory examination (34%)


Students resit the failed elements of the assessment(s).

Formative Assessment

Students will be assessed formatively throughout the course by means of short in-course assignments as well as being monitored on a regular basis by teaching staff.

Feedback

Students will receive oral feedback following the in-course assignments and written feedback following the submission of coursework.

MU 1053 - SURVEY OF WESTERN ART MUSIC
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr D Smith

Pre-requisites

An ability to read music.

Structure

History of Music: one 1-hour class per week
Writing about Music: one 1-hour class per fortnight (smaller groups)


Assessment

In-course assessment - two essays (66%); examination (34%)


Students resit the failed criteria within the failed assessment(s) or resit the examination.

Formative Assessment

Students will be assessed formatively throughout the course by means of short in-course assignments as well as being monitored on a regular basis by teaching staff.

Feedback

Feedback will be given after the final course assignment and regularly throughout the "Writing about Music" component of the course.


MU 1054 - MUSICIANSHIP 1
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr D Smith

Pre-requisites

Entry to a BMus Degree programme OR by audition.

Structure

12 hours of keyboard skills across the year
1 hour aural class per fortnight (12 in total)
1 hour performance skills per fortnight (12 in total)
Concert attendance (variable)

Assessment

Continuous assessment by means of regular keyboard skills tests (34%); aural examination (33%); essay (33%).


Students resit the failed assessment(s). Keyboard skills examination (34%); aural examination (33%); essay (33%).

Formative Assessment

Students will be assessed formatively throughout the course by means of short in-course assignments as well as being monitored on a regular basis by teaching staff.

Feedback

Students will receive oral feedback during session on various aspects of listening, rehearsing as well as written feedback on written coursework.

MU 1551 - PERFORMANCE 2
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr F Jurgensen

Pre-requisites

Entry to a BMus Degree programme OR by audition.

Co-requisites

Performance 1

Notes

Where students are studying more than one instrument/voice, they can elect in advance to have them equally weighted, or weighted in the proportion 80% (main instrument) and 20% (second instrument)for purposes of assessment.

Overview

23. Students select the pieces they work on in negotiation with their instrumental/voice tutor.

Structure

Normally 10 hours of individual instrumental or vocal lessons, plus attendance at all rehearsals and concerts for the nominated ensemble (i.e., at least 36 contact hours, depending on the ensemble).

Assessment

Recital and essay of 2000 words on an aspect of performance. Exemption may be granted for the essay for students with exemplary attendance at the nominated ensemble.


Students resit the failed asessemnts-the recital, and failed elements of the essay.

Formative Assessment

Students are bering constantly assessed by their tutors in this one-to-one learning context.

Feedback

Feedback to students is on a continual basis in this one-to-one learning context. Tutors will arrange for a session to go over their comments with the student following the submission of the report.

MU 1552 - INSTRUMENTATION, HARMONY AND ANALYSIS
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr D Smith

Pre-requisites

Completion of Composition and Theory course

Structure

One 2-hour arranging class per week
One 1-hour harmony and analysis class per week


Assessment

Portfolio of compositions (66%); harmony and analysis examination (34%)


Students resit the failed elements of the assessment(s).

Formative Assessment

Students will be assessed formatively throughout the course by means of short in-course assignments as well as being monitored on a regular basis by teaching staff.

Feedback

Oral feedback will be given following the in-course assignments and written feedback following the submission of coursework.

Level 2

MU 2002 - MUSIC FROM 1700 TO 1900
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr J Cameron

Pre-requisites

None

Co-requisites

None

Notes

This course requires a degree of music literacy.

Overview

This course traces the development of music from the end of the Baroque period to the end of the nineteenth century, focusing on works by composers including Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Wagner and Verdi. It will place changes in musical style and aesthetic in a broader cultural and social context.

Structure

12 hours of lectures (weeks 12-17)
12 hours of lectures (weeks 30-35)
12 hours of seminars (weeks 12-17)
12 hours of seminars (weeks 30-35)

Assessment

1st Attempt: Presentation (20%);
Examination, January diet (40%);
Examination, May diet (40%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

Formative Assessment

None.

Feedback

Students will receive immediate and direct feedback on their presentations. Generic feedback will be provided after the January examination, and students will be able to seek individual advice where appropriate. As well as providing the vehicle through which presentations are formally assessed, the seminars provide an opportunity for interaction amongst staff/students.

MU 2003 - COMPOSITION 1
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr p Mealor

Pre-requisites

MU 1552 or equivalent.

Co-requisites

None

Overview

The course usually consists of two projects, culminating in the submission of a portfolio of student work. The projects each focus on one genre, such as composing for a percussion ensemble or for voice. Students will work on aleatoric techniques, extended vocal and instrumental techniques, and extended tonalities.

Structure

6 two-hour seminars
12 hours of workshops

Assessment

1st Attempt: Portfolio of compositions (100%).

Resit: Students resubmit any composition(s) forming part of the portfolio that have failed.

Formative Assessment

N/A, although see under Feedback

Feedback

The main vehicle for feedback will be the workshops during which student compositions will be performed. Feedback will be given orally, and their will be opportunities for students to participate in the constructive criticism of one another's work. The sessions will be recorded for future use by the external examiners.

MU 2004 - HARMONY
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr D J Smith

Pre-requisites

None, although the course requires a high level of music literacy.

Co-requisites

None

Overview

At the heart of this course are weekly exercises in pastiche composition in which students complete extracts of music by composers mostly of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Students gain experience in writing for piano and string quartet, in composing exercises in two- and three-part Baroque counterpoint, and in writing piano accompaniments for German lieder. This course is designed to develop essential techniques of composition, as well as offering invaluable insights into the styles and genres of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century composition.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture/seminar per week (20 in total).
1 fifteen-minute small group tutorial per fortnight (5 hours in total).

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: Assignment 1 (25%);
In-course assessment: Assignment 2 (25%); Examination (50%).

Resit: Students resit any failed component(s).

Formative Assessment

Students will be set assignments on a weekly basis.

Feedback

Feedback on formative assignments will usually be generic, and given to the whole group. Feedback on assessed work counting towards the final CAS mark will be given on the script, with a brief accompanying verbal report.

MU 2006 - MUSICIANSHIP 2
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr F Jurgensen

Pre-requisites

MU 1054 or equivalent

Co-requisites

None

Notes

This course requires an ability to play the piano and to read music fluently.

Overview

Building on the foundation laid in the first-year musicianship course, students develop their musicianship by working at keyboard skills. They develop acute listening skills through classes in aural and performance skills, which are further enhanced by concert attendance, which provides the opportunity for self-reflection. The course is primarily concerned with the acquisition and development of skill sets associated with music that need to be developed over an extended period of many years.

Performance skills may include sessions on vocal technique and repertoire, Kodaly-based aural work, directing ensembles, performance etiquette, programming, performance psychology, health relating to performance, psychology of performance, practising strategies.

Structure

12 hours of keyboard skills across the year (small group work).
1 hour aural class per fortnight (12 in total)
1 hour performance skills per fortnight (12 in total)
Concert attendance (variable)

Assessment

1st Attempt: Continuous assessment by means of regular keyboard skills tests (34%)
Aural/Performance Skills examination (33%)
Essay (33%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s):
Keyboard skills examination (34%)
Aural/Performance Skills examination (33%)
Essay (33%).

Formative Assessment

Formative assessment in aural is provided through the use questions set in specialised computer software
Formative assessment is provided regularly in keyboard skills

Feedback

Feedback is provided to individual students at each keyboard skills class
Feedback is automatically generated by the computer software for aural skills formative work
Oral feedback is part of the continual learning process in performance skills

MU 2044 - PERFORMANCE STUDIES 2:1
Credit Points
30
Course Coordinator
Mr I Milne

Pre-requisites

MU 1524 or equivalent.

Overview

In Main Study or Main and Additional Study, students will work on a one-to-one basis with a specialist instrumental/vocal instructor, as well as participating in and attending workshops and masterclasses. Rehearsing and Directing develops rehearsal techniques and introduces students to basic conducting techniques. Keyboard skills will include exercises in figured bass and harmonisation, sight- and score-reading, and jazz walking bass. Ensemble 2 requires participation in one of the departmental ensembles.

Structure

10 hours tuition, 1 hour per week (rehearsing and directing), (keyboard skills, ensembles).

Assessment

1st Attempt: Keyboard skills (30%); tutor reports (50%); and concert diary (20%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s). Resit for failed vocal/instrumental tutor report shall be a performance recital (100%) comprising performance of one or more pieces on the instrument/voice on which the candidate has failed. The programme should last approximately 15 minutes.

MU 2045 - COMPOSITION STUDIES 2:1
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr F Jürgensen

Pre-requisites

None.

Overview

At the heart of this course are weekly exercises in pastiche composition in which students complete extracts of music by Clementi, Mozart, Haydn, Bach and Handel. Students gain experience in writing for piano and string quartet in Classical style, and in composing exercises in two- and three-part Baroque counterpoint. This course is designed to show how these different genres might be applied to particular compositional contexts, as well as offering an invaluable insight into the styles and techniques of eighteenth-century composition, as studied in MU2046.

Structure

1 two-hour class per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Assignment (30%) and Examination (70%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

MU 2046 - CULTURAL & HISTORICAL STUDIES 2:1
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr J Cameron

Pre-requisites

None.

Overview

The Music in the Eighteenth Century course presents a history of major composers of the Baroque and Classical periods of music. Works by J S Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven will be studied. Development of musical style against the changing pattern of society in the Age of Enlightenment and patronage will be considered. The ability to recognise and discuss musical extracts will be developed.

Structure

2 two-hour lecture and 2 two-hour tutorials per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Examination (75%) and oral presentation (25%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

MU 2506 - PERFORMANCE STUDIES 2:2
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr F Jürgensen

Pre-requisites

MU 2044 (or equivalent).

Overview

In Main Study or Mainand Additional Study, students will work on a one-to-one basis with a specialist instrumental/vocal instructor, as well as participating in and attending workshops and masterclasses as appropriate. Ensemble requires participation in one of the departmental ensembles.

Structure

10 hours individual tuition, ensemble.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Performance examination (75%) and in-course assessment (25%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

MU 2508 - CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL STUDIES 2.2
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr J Cameron

Pre-requisites

None

Overview

The Music in the Nineteenth Century course will examine style of major composers of the period, from including Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Wagner, Verdi, Bruckner and Mahler, and place their music in a broader cultural context. The genres of symphony, lieder, chamber music and opera will be studied.

Structure

2 two-hour lectures and 2 two-hour tutorials per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Essay (75%) and oral presentation (10 minutes) (25%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

MU 2511 - COMPOSITION
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr P Mealor

Pre-requisites

Level 1 of BMus (Hons) or equivalent; pre-requisites for MU 2510.

Overview

The course consists of two six week projects, with students working on aleatoric techniques, extended vocal and instrumental techniques, extended tonalities and composing for a professional ensemble.

Structure

12 two-hour lectures/seminars.

Assessment

1st Attemt: Composition Assignment (100%).

Resit: Composition Assignment (100%).

MU 2512 - MUSIC ELECTIVE
Credit Points
10
Course Coordinator
Dr P Mealor

Pre-requisites

None

Overview

This elective offers students the choice between two or more courses in music history and/or composition. Such courses include Wagner's Das Rheingold and a study of minimalism.

Structure

1 one-hour class per week in weeks 30-37, 41-44.

Assessment

1st Attempt: One piece of submitted work (100%).

Resit: One piece of submitted work (100%).

MU 2513 - NINTEENTH-CENTURY MUSIC: HISTORY AND HARMONY
Credit Points
20
Course Coordinator
Dr J Cameron

Pre-requisites

MU 2045 or equivalent.

Notes

May not be taken with MU 2508.

Overview

This course examines the musical style of major composers of the period, such as Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Wagner, Verdi, Bruckner and Mahler, and places their music in a broader cultural context. The genres of symphony, lieder, chamber music and opera will be studied. Students gain insights into the music being studied by completing harmony exercises in pastiche composition, which may also contribute to their development as composers.

Structure

2 two-hour lectures and 2 two-hour tutorials per week in weeks 30-35; 1 one-hour class per week in weeks 30-37, 41-44.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Essay (50%); oral presentation (10 minutes) (25%); harmony assignments (25%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

MU 2516 - MUSIC AND COMMUNITIES PROJECT
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Professor P Stollery

Pre-requisites

Successful interview in January for entry to BMus (Music and Communities) honours programme the following year.

Overview

The course will consist of workshops that will prepare students for a community placement. This will allow them to understand and engage with theoretical work that will then be put into practice as participants in peer-group contexts before participating in real situations in communities.

Workshops will allow students to try out ideas within peer-groups, undergoing peer-assessment activities as well as formal assessment themselves, as well as looking at how to evaluate their own practice.

The Community Placement will allow students to undertake activities with a variety of local agencies under the guidance of an expert. Agencies who have expressed an interest in becoming partners are Scottish Ensemble, Woodend Arts Association, Station House Media Unit, Peacock Visual Arts, Aberdeen College and various City and Shire council supported activities, as well as community activities managed by university staff away from the university.

Placement will consist of 7 pairs of serial days throughout the duration of the course which are undertaken in pairs.

Structure

1 two-hour sessions per week.
7 pairs of serial days on placement.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Report (combined university/agency) (75%)
Reflective Journal (25%)

Resit: Report (combined university/agency) (75%) (new placement)
Reflective Journal (25%) (new).

Formative Assessment

Feedback

MU 2517 - MUSIC EDUCATION STUDIES 1
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr E Campbell

Pre-requisites

  • level 1 of BMus (Hons) or equivalent;

  • entry to this course is by interview and audition and a Keyboard Skills assessment, which must be passed. Students gaining a CAS mark of 15 or higher in the Keyboard Skills component of MU 2044 may be granted exemption from this test.

Notes

Available only to students who are intending to following the BMus (Education) programme. The course consists of the following components:

  • Education Studies

  • School and Community Experience

Overview

The four Education Studies lectures introduce students to:

  • educational principles and practice, with particular regard for music;

  • links between primary and secondary phases of education;

  • links between formal and non-formal educational contexts prior to the School and Community Experience.

The School and Community Experience consists of 15 days placement comprising 1 week in school after Easter, and, following a consolidation week in University, a further 2 weeks in the same school.

Structure

4 two-hour lectures/seminars
4 four days (16 days) school and community experience
4 one-hour group tutorials

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1500 word essay on Education Studies topic (50%) and one classroom ensemble arrangement (50%).

MU 2518 - MUSIC EDUCATION STUDIES 1
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr E Campbell

Pre-requisites

Level 1 of BMus Hons or equivalent.

Co-requisites

Entry to the course is by interview and audition.

Notes

Available only to students who are intending to follow the BMus (Education)?programme.

Overview

Educational principles and practice, with particular regard for music. Links between primary and secondary phases of education. Links between formal and non-formal educational contexts prior to the school and community experience.

Structure

14 two-hour Lecture/Seminars (28 hours)
1 one-hour feedback session
3 x ?5 days (15 days) school and community experience

Assessment

1st Attempt: (i) Production of a classroom arrangement for ensemble (50%); (ii) 1500 word essay on an Education Studies topic (50%).

Resit: (i) Production of a classroom arrangement for ensemble (50%); (ii) 1500 word essay on an Education Studies topic (50%).

Formative Assessment

Detailed report from secondary school staff which recognises student strengths and areas for further development?

Feedback

Summative assessment: feedback sheets given to students with detailed comments recognising strengths and making specific suggestions for further progress.
Formative assessment: secondary school staff discuss and agree reports with students.
University staff interview students to provide support in cases of reports which suggest potential areas of difficulty or unsatisfactory progress.

MU 2519 - SCOTLAND'S MUSICAL TRADITIONS
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr D J Smith

Pre-requisites

None

Co-requisites

None

Overview

This course will cover the various different music and dance traditions of Scotland. Within the course the student will learn about the different instrumental and vocal traditions within Scotland, the ways in which music is integrated into Scottish society, the function and meaning of musical performance historically and in the present day, competition and education, the link between music and dance, folk music revivals, the music of the Scottish diaspora, and the shift towards commercialisation and institutionalisation of traditional music in recent years.

This course will consist of a weekly seminar and tutorial.

Seminars will be based on topics such as: Gaelic song, Ballads, Piping, Fiddle traditions, dancing and dance music, Scottish identity in music, music in religion, learning and teaching environments, contemporary music and musicians, composers and soloists, and revival and transformation of Scottish music in the twentieth and twenty-first century. They will include cases studies of ethnomusicologists in Scotland.

Tutorials will include reading, listening, transcription, and practical exercises. They will also give students the opportunity to discuss aspects of Scottish traditional music within their peer-group and to develop critical listening skills.

The concert review will encourage students to attend performances of Scottish music in the surrounding area, thus engaging with current musical performance during the course. Students will also be encouraged to take part in practical music-making in an area of Scottish traditional music where possible to compliment their studies.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 concert review (20%); 1 examination - listening (30%) and written (50%).

Resit: Students resit any failed element(s) of assessment.

Formative Assessment

Exercises involving reading, listening, transcription, and practical tasks.

Feedback

Feedback will be provided on the concert review. The tutorials will provide an opportunity for engagement with the teaching staff, who will provide on-going oral feedback on the work of the course (see 'Formative Assessment' above).

MU 2901 - INTRODUCTION TO ETHNOMUSICOLOGY
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr D J Smith

Pre-requisites

None

Co-requisites

None

Overview

The bulk of the course will consist of seminars and workshops. These will allow the students to understand and engage with ethnomusicological concepts and theory before putting these into practice in peer-group contexts (workshops) and then fieldwork situations on the ground. The course will include a strong practical element and fieldwork visits will be made to musical events in the local community.

Seminars will be based on topics such as: ethnomusicology theory, history of audio and video recording, field research methods, emic and etic approaches in ethnomusicology, transcription and analysis, annotation of field research, and fieldwork ethics. They will include case studies of ethnomusicologists working in the field.

Workshops will bring some of these areas into practice and will allow students to try out fieldwork techniques within their peer-group, undergoing peer-assessment activities and evaluating their own field practice.

The fieldwork visits will allow students to undertake practical ethnomusicology research in a local setting where music is being practiced and performed under the guidance of an expert. The duration of 8 hours is meant to be seen as a minimum requisite and students will be encouraged to undertake independent field research in addition to that which is required for the course.

Structure

12 one-hour seminars
12 one-hour tutorials/workshops

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 Multimedia Field Report (2.000 words plus audiovisual material) (100%).

Resit: Students resit any failed component(s). Please note that the Field Report can be retaken only once.

Formative Assessment

Workshop exercises (up to 4)
Field note exercises (up to 4)

Feedback

Oral formative feedback will be provided throughout the course. Generic feedback on formative assessment will be given in class.

MU 2902 - CONTEMPORARY CHORAL MUSIC
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr P Mealor

Pre-requisites

None

Co-requisites

None

Notes

Please note that this course requires a high level of musical literacy and compositional ability.

Overview

During this course students will explore the music of some of the greatest composers of choral music in our time. The repertoire will be mostly sacred choral music by British composers - Benjamin Britten, John Tavener and James MacMillan; American composers ? Leonard Bernstein, Morten Lauridsen and Eric Whitacre, and the Europeans ? Carl Orff, Arvo P?rt and Peteris Vasks. Reference will be made to secular choral music by Per N?rg?rd, Veljo Tormis and Bela Bartok.

Structure

8 two-hour seminars
4 two-hour workshops (or equivalent).

Assessment

1st Attempt: A 10-minute presentation on a work (or works) of your choice on any aspect of contemporary choral music (25%); and
Either:
(a) A performance (as conductor or singer) of a short recital (10 mins) of contemporary choral music (75% of the final mark); or:
(b) An original composition (3-5 mins in duration for SATB) inspired by contemporary choral techniques (75 % of the final mark).

Resit: Students resit all failed elements of assessment.

Feedback

Oral feedback will be provided in seminars and workshops, which will be recorded for the purposes of external moderation by external examiners when the work presented in a performance context contributes to the final CAS mark.

Level 3

MU 3002 - MUSIC EDUCATION STUDIES
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr E Campbell

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 of the BMus with Honours (Education) programme who wish to transfer over to the BMus (Single Honours) programme.

Co-requisites

Students will need to have withdrawn from CR 3044 and registered for all second half-session courses required for BMus (Single Honours).

Overview

Sessions cover an introduction to educational principles and practice, with particular regard for music, and linkages between primary and secondary phases of education. Further content is designed to aid students to prepare for School Experience, comprising Practical Skills which develops student keyboard skills and other practical skills relevant to classroom experience.

Structure

24 two-hour lectures.
12 two-hour seminars/workshops.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 Keyboard Skills assessment (40%); 1 essay (60%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

MU 301B - UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITIES 1: IDENTIFYING COMMUNITIES
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Professor P Stollery

Pre-requisites

Entry to BMus (Music and Communities) honours programme.

Co-requisites

Placement 1

Overview

The course will consist of the following components:

  • Concepts of community and key terminology, including social capital, community capacity building, communities of practice, culture, empowerment, diversity and inclusion.

  • Methods of researching communities including eg questionnaires, interviews, observation, documentary analysis, and secondary data.

  • Analysis of expressed and hidden needs and distinguishing between demand and need.

  • Identification of the contribution of music and the arts to communities.

  • Evaluation of how to respond using music and the arts to promote empowerment and/or wellbeing of individuals and groups.
  • Structure

    1 two-hour seminar per week

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: One 3500 word essay (coursework).

    Resit: Resubmission - One 3500 word essay (coursework) (new essay)

    Formative Assessment

    Feedback

    MU 3041 - PERFORMANCE STUDIES 3:1 (HONOURS EDUCATION PROGRAMME)
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Dr F Jürgensen

    Pre-requisites

    MU 2506 or equivalent.

    Overview

    In Main Study and Additional Study, students will work throughout the year on a one-to-one basis with a specialist instrumental/vocal instructor, as well as participating in and attending workshops and masterclasses. Ensemble involves participation in one of the departmental ensembles.

    Structure

    3 hours per week plus 4 hours workshops.

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Performance recital.

    Resit: Performance recital (100%).

    MU 3042 - CULTURAL & HISTORICAL STUDIES 3:1 (HONOURS EDUCATION PROGRAMME)
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Dr D J Smith

    Pre-requisites

    Normally available only to students in Programme Year 3 on the BMusEd programme.

    Overview

    This Music in the Twentieth Century course presents a history of major composers of the twentieth century. Lectures will cover Bartok, Debussy, Stravinsky, the Second Viennese School, neoclassicism, the British symphonic tradition, Darmstadt in 1952, electroacoustic music, minimalism and the crossover between art music and popular music.

    Structure

    1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Essay (75%) and presentation (25%).

    Resit: Students resit the field assessment(s).

    MU 3043 - COMPOSITION STUDIES 3 (HONOURS EDUCATION PROGRAMME)
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Dr P Mealor

    Pre-requisites

    Available to students in Programme Year 3 of the BMusEd or MA with Music.

    Notes

    This course runs throughout the whole session.

    Overview

    Composition will consist of three four week projects, with students working increasingly in small group as well as individual contexts. The three projects are a work for piano, and a work for solo instrument (with or without accompaniment). Students compose pieces based on the work covered in the three projects and present them, fully notated and recorded on CD at the end of the session.

    Structure

    1 hour per week.

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Portfolio of 3 compositions (100%).

    Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

    MU 3091 - MUSIC, SOUND AND THE MOVING IMAGE: POSSIBLE MAPPINGS
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Dr M Young & Dr A Marcus

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to Honours Music (BMus or MA)

    Overview

    This course will allow students to engage in sound and music production work with special emphasis on the relationship between sound and image, putting into practice methodologies they have studied through a series of screenings, workshops and seminar discussions. Working with students on the partnered Film and Visual Culture course, music students will research a topic and consider the appropriate use of the moving image, generate the musical materials in conjunction with the image, and complete the project through post-production in collaboration with the film students.

    Structure

    1 three-hour seminar per week plus 1 three-hour film screening per week.

    Assessment

    1st attempt: 1st project assessment (20%), 2nd project assessment (30%), reflective logbook (40%), seminar work (10%)
    Resit: Students are required to resit only failed components of assessment.

    MU 3095 - 'NEW DIRECTIONS': EVOLUTION AND REVOLUTION IN MUSIC
    Credit Points
    30
    Course Coordinator
    Dr D J Smith

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to Year 3 of BMus Hons or MA with Music (programmes).

    Overview

    This course will link two highly innovative periods of music history, the early Baroque and the early twentieth century. It will seek to establish the extent to which accepted traditions and compositional techniques were challenged. Parallels will be drawn between musical developments in the two eras. Aspects of contemporary culture, as well as contextual and comparative analysis will be included.

    Structure

    1 one-hour lecture and 2 one-hour tutorials (per week).

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Examination (30%); composition (30%); essay (40%).

    Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

    MU 3096 - PRACTICAL MUSICIANSHIP SKILLS
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Professor P Stollery

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to BMus (Music and Communities) honours programme.

    Overview

    The course will consist of practical workshops that will prepare students for their community placements but will also provide them with base-line skills in areas that will be necessary in their work as musicians engaging with a variety of community groups.

    Skill areas:

  • Keyboard

  • Percussion

  • Singing

  • Rehearsing and Directing

  • Guitar

  • Improvisation
  • Structure

    1 two-hour session per week .

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: In course assessments in each skill area (50%).
    20 minute formal presentation demonstrating skills in three chosen skill areas (50%).

    Resit: Resubmission
    In course assessments in each skill area (50%) (revisited).
    20 minute formal presentation demonstrating skills in three chosen skill areas (50%) (new).

    Formative Assessment

    Feedback

    MU 3097 - PLACEMENT 1
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Professor P Stollery

    Pre-requisites

    Music and Communities Project or equivalent; entry to BMus (Music and Communities) honours programme.

    Co-requisites

    Understanding Communities 1.

    Overview

    The course will consist of workshops that will prepare students for a community placement. This will allow them to understand and engage with theoretical work that will then be put into practice in peer-group contexts before contributing to work in real situations in communities.

    Workshops will allow students to try out ideas within peer-groups, undergoing peer-assessment activities as well as formal assessment themselves, as well as looking at how to evaluate their own practice.

    The Community Placement will allow students to undertake activities with a variety of local agencies under the guidance of an expert. Agencies who have expressed an interest in becoming partners are Scottish Ensemble, Woodend Arts Association, Station House Media Unit, Peacock Visual Arts, Aberdeen College and various City and Shire council supported activities, as well as community activities managed by university staff away from the university.

    The placement aspect comprises a 3 week placement in a partner agency.

    Structure

    1 two-hour session per week for 8 weeks.
    3 weeks on placement.

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Report (combined university/agency) (75%).
    Reflective Journal (25%).

    Resit: Resubmission;
    Report (combined university/agency) (75%) (new placement)
    Reflective Journal (25%) (new)

    Formative Assessment

    Feedback

    MU 3098 - PLACEMENT 2
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Professor P Stollery

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to BMus (Music and Communities) honours programme; Placement 1.

    Co-requisites

    Understanding Communities 2.

    Overview

    The course will consist of workshops that will prepare students for a community placement. This will allow them to understand and engage with theoretical work that will then be put into practice in peer-group contexts before making a range of contributions to work in real situations in communities.

    Workshops will allow students to try out ideas within peer-groups, undergoing peer-assessment activities as well as formal assessment themselves, as well as looking at how to evaluate their own practice.

    The Community Placement will allow students to undertake activities with a variety of local agencies under the guidance of an expert. Agencies who have expressed an interest in becoming partners are Scottish Ensemble, Woodend Arts Association, Station House Media Unit, Peacock Visual Arts, Aberdeen College and various City and Shire council supported activities, as well as community activities managed by university staff away from the university.

    The placement aspect comprises a 4 week placement in a partner agency.

    Structure

    1 two-hour session per week for 6 weeks.
    4 weeks on placement.

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Report (combined university/agency) (75%)
    Reflective Journal (25%).

    Resit: Resubmission
    Report (combined university/agency) (75%) (new placement)
    Reflective Journal (25%) (new).

    Formative Assessment

    Feedback

    MU 3099 - COMPOSITION
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Professor P Stollery

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to BMus (Music and Communities) honours programme.

    Overview

    This course consists of three six week projects, with students working increasingly in small group as well as individual contexts. The nature of the projects varies from session to session, but the first two projects will be studied in conjunction with students following MU3043 Composition course with the third project having a specific community context. Students compose pieces based on the work covered in the three projects and present them, fully notated and recorded on CD at the end of the session.

    Structure

    1 one-hour session per week for 18 weeks throughout the year (12-23, 36-37 and 41-44).

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Coursework (100%); three compositions.

    Resit: Resubmission: coursework (100%); three compositions (revisited).

    Formative Assessment

    Feedback

    MU 30A1 - CONDUCTING
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Dr P Mealor

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to Year 3 of BMus or MA with Music programmes.

    Notes

    This course is open to students studying music either on BMus or MA Minor Honours programmes.

    Overview

    Weeks 1-2 Introduction; requirements of conducting voices with material from Chorales.
    Weeks 3-4 requirements of conducting instruments with material from Minutes of the Classical era for piano duet and for small ensemble formed from group;
    Weeks 5-6 new music and its preparation, materials drawn from range of sources.
    Tuition to be through experience of directing and associated discussion.
    The history and scope of conducting to be discussed in student-led seminars based on Bowen, J A (ed.) The Art of Conducting, Cambridge University Press, 2003 (reprinted 2005).

    Structure

    6 two-hour workshop sessions of conducting experience. 3 two-hour seminar sessions of students' presentations, each one of which will be of 15 minutes duration.

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: A performance of a small ensemble (either voice, or instruments or a mix of both) conducted by each individual student of between 6 and 12 minutes in duration, repertoire to be approved by Course Co-ordinator (80%). Tutorial presentation (20%).

    Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

    MU 30A2 - PIANO ACCOMPANYING
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Dr R B Williams

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to Junior honours or equivalent.
    Grade VIII Piano, or equivalent, at least CAS 14 in Piano at level 2.

    Overview

    Weeks 1-2. Introduction. Technical accomplishment and how to achieve it. Basic strategies for accompanying instruments. Some specific piece to be used as set works which might include Schubert: Sonatina for violin and piano in D, Weber Concertino for clarinet and piano.
    Weeks 3-4. Requirements for vocal and choral accompaniment - the demands of different languages - English (Vaughan Williams), German (Schubert), French (Debussy); standard choral repertoire.
    Weeks 5-6. Concertos playing - how to manage pretending to be an orchestra. Work at specific pieces with a partner with a view to presentation. Works might include the Clarinet Concert (Mozart).
    Consideration of the broader picture through discussion of Moore, G., The Unashamed Accompanist.

    Structure

    6 two-hour workshop sessions of accompanying experience. These will be plenary sessions in which students prepare specific pieces to be performed in front of the whole class and then discussed.
    6 one-hour seminars discussing the approach of Moore and follow-up to practical workshops.
    These will take the form of student presentations on particular sections of the book which will then be discussed. (Each student to present one presentation which contributes to the overall assessment of the course).

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: A performance of an accompaniment offered in a Performance examination at levels 3 or 4 as approved by Course Co-ordinator (80%). A tutorial presentation - coursework (20%).

    Resit: A performance of an accompaniment offered at resit at level 3.

    MU 30A3 - MUSIC AND COMMUNITIES
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Professor P Stollery

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to Year 3 of BMus or MA with Music programmes.

    Overview

    The course will consist of a mixture of seminars, workshops and a paired field placement which will allow the students to understand and engage with theoretical work, that will then be put into practice in peer-group contexts before working in situations on the ground.

    Seminars will be based on topics such as: the role of the arts in communities; cultural policy at local, regional and national level; music and disability; music from other cultures; and music therapy practices.

    Workshops will bring some of these areas in practice and will allow students to try out ideas within peer-group, undergoing peer-assessment activities as well as formal assessment themselves, as well as looking at how to evaluate their own practice.

    The Field Placement (done in pairs) will allow students to undertake activities with a variety of local agencies (including Scottish Ensemble, Woodend Barn, Aberdeen Performing Arts, Peacock Gallery, Transition Extreme, Aberdeen College and various City and Shire council supported activities, as well as community activities managed by university staff away from the university) under the guidance of an expert. The duration of 8 hours is meant to be seen as a minimum requirement. Students may arrange a placement that comprises a weekly 2 hour meeting with their group throughout the course while others may arrange one or more full day activities. The flexibility of these arrangements mean that students are in charge of their own learning thus preparing them for the realities of working with communities.

    Structure

    4 two-hour seminars, 8 two-hour workshops and a minimum of 8 hours of Field Placement activities. From week 12 to week 44.

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: 1 Field Placement report (from agency/university staff) (100%).

    Resit: 1 Field Placement report (from agency/university staff) (100%).

    Field Placement can be retaken only once.

    MU 30A4 - MUSIC EDUCATION STUDIES 2
    Credit Points
    30
    Course Coordinator
    Dr E Campbell

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to BMus Education Programme

    Co-requisites

    Students must also take new School Experience 1 course

    Notes

    The Professional Studies component of this course is studied along with students following ED3071

    Overview

    Professional Studies: these lectures continue coverage of educational principles and practice begun in Professional Studies 1 (proposed new course to replace MU2510). These would include topics such as Social Justice, Inclusion, Learning and Teaching, Frameworks for Thinking, Curriculum for Excellence, Assessment is for Learning, Creating a Climate for Learning and Child Protection.
    Practical Skills: Music students continue to develop practical skills relevant to the classroom including World Music, keyboard, sound engineering, MIDI sequencing, guitar and drum kit skills.

    Structure

    Professional Studies: 1 x 1 hour lecture, 1 x 2 hour workshop per wk for 10 wks
    Practical Skills: 1 x 1 hour session, 1 x 2 hour session per wk for 7 wks

    Assessment

    1st attempt: Essay on Professional Studies topic (40%), Keyboard Skills exam (30%), Music Technology Resource production (15%), World Music Project (15%)

    Resit: Essay on Professional Studies topic (40%) (resubmission of parts of the original Essay in which the candidate was unsuccessful), Keyboard Skills exam (30%), Music Technology Resource production (15%), World Music Project (15%)

    Formative Assessment

    Feedback

    MU 30A5 - SCHOOL EXPERIENCE 1
    Credit Points
    30
    Course Coordinator
    Dr E Campbell

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to BMus Education Programme

    Co-requisites

    Students must also take new Music Education Studies 2 course

    Overview

    School Experience: this takes place during wks 28-37 and allows students to put theory into practice.

    Structure

    School Experience: 8 weeks (weeks 28-35)

    Assessment

    1st attempt: School Experience joint report from school and university following visit from university lecturer - (100%)

    Resit: Resit of School Experience placement. School Experience joint report from school and university following visit from university lecturer - (100%)

    There is only one resit chance for School Experience.

    Formative Assessment

    Feedback

    MU 30A6 / MU 35A6 - ETHNOMUSICOLOGY
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Professor P Stollery

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to honours Music (BMus or MA)

    Notes

    This course will be offered in the second half-session of 2010/11 as MU 35A6.

    Overview

    The bulk of the course will consist of seminars and workshops. These will allow the students to understand and engage with ethnomusicological concepts and theory before putting these into practice in peer-group contexts (workshops) and then fieldwork situations on the ground. The course will include a strong practical element and one fieldwork visit will be made to musical events in the local community. The course will be linked to the Doric Festival which is held annually in October.

    Seminars will be based on topics such as: historical ethnomusicology, organology, transcription and analysis, music and religion, music and politics, the music business, emic and etic approaches in ethnomusicology, fieldwork techniques, and fieldwork ethics. They will include case studies of ethnomusicologists working in the field.

    Workshops will bring some of these areas into practice and will allow students to try out fieldwork techniques within their peer-group, undergoing peer-assessment activities and evaluating their own field practice.

    The fieldwork visits will allow students to undertake practical ethnomusicology research in a local setting where music is being practiced and performed under the guidance of an expert. The duration of 8 hours is meant to be seen as a minimum requisite and students will be encouraged to undertake independent field research in addition to that which is required for the course.

    Structure

    10 x two-hour seminars
    2 x two-hour workshops
    A minimum of 8 hours of fieldwork activities

    Assessment

    1st attempt: 1 x Transcription and Analysis Exercise (40%)
    1 x Field Report (3,000 words) (60%)

    Resit: Failed criteria within 1 x Transcription and Analysis Exercise (40%)
    1 x Field Report (3,000 words) (60%)

    Field Report can be retaken only once.

    Formative Assessment

    Feedback

    MU 30M3 - EUROPEAN ART MUSIC, 1945-2000
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Dr D J Smith

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to Honours Music - BMus or MA with Music (Minor Honours).

    Overview

    European music 1945-2000 presents a complex and confused picture with radical, conventional and traditional composers working simultaneously. This course will identify 'seminal' composers, compositions and theories to bring focus to the many different musics of the period.

    Structure

    6 one-hour lectures and 6 one-hour tutorials.

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Essay (100%).

    Resit: New essay (100%).

    MU 3504 - PERFORMANCE STUDIES 3:2
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Dr F Jürgensen

    Pre-requisites

    MU 3041 (or equivalent).

    Overview

    In Main Study and Additional Study, students will work throughout the year on a one-to-one basis with a specialist instrumental/vocal instructor, as well as participating in and attending workshops and masterclasses. Ensemble groups consist of University Music organised activities such as Cantores ad Portam, String Emsemble, Contemporary Ensemble, University Symphony Orchestra, University Choral Society, University Concert Band, University String Ensemble and Chapel Choir.

    Structure

    Tutorials of one hour per week on main study; 5 hours to private study; attendance at 1 two-hour masterclass or workshop on each; attendance at a University Ensemble.

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Performance examination (either main or main and additional) (100%).

    Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

    MU 3505 - RENAISSANCE MUSIC
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Dr D J Smith

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to Year 3 BMus or MA with Music programmes.

    Overview

    This course will comprise two elements:

    1. A survey of musical developments in the Renaissance from Dunstable to Palestina, focusing especially on sacred music of the period. Students will study isorythmic motets, and different types of Mass settting (cantul firmiu, imitatio, paraphrase and free). They will look at music in a social and cultural context, including the role of the musician in society, and the impact of the Reformation upon music.

    2. A special topic which will vary from year to year. Topics include (but are not limited to): William Byrd Early Keyboard Music, Music in Scotland, Instrumental Ensemble Music.

    Structure

    1 two-hour seminars per week (10 weeks).

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Essay (100%).

    Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

    MU 3506 - EARLY ENGLISH KEYBOARD MUSIC: MY LADYE NEVELLS BOOKE
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Dr D J Smith

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to Year 3 of BMus or MA with Music programmes.

    Notes

    Requires some degree of keyboard skills.

    Overview

    My Lady Nevells Booke is an anthology of keyboard music by William Byrd compiled under the supervision of the composer by John Baldwin in 1591. It provides a rare and fascinating insight into keyboard music composed in England before the turn of the century.

    The course involves a practical engagement with the music in masterclasses during which students will be introduced to the kinds of instruments on which it would have been played; there will be an optional visit to the Russell Collection in Edinburgh. Students will be introduced to the manuscript, the genres of music contained within it, as well as to the evidence it provides about performance practice (especially fingering and ornamentation).

    Students will be expected to participate actively in performance activities, but assessment will be through written work.

    Structure

    10 two-hour seminars.

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Continuous assessment (100%).

    Resit: Continuous assessment (100%).

    MU 3512 - AESTHETICS OF MUSIC
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Dr E Campbell

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to Year 3 of BMus or MA with Music programmes.

    Overview

    This course explores music from a philosophical viewpoint. What is music? How may it be understood in relation to the other arts? Is music purely an aural phenomenon? What is the relationship between composer, performer and audience? These and other questions will be discussed in the context of writers from Plato to the twenty-first century.

    Structure

    6 weekly one-hour lectures and 6 weekly one-hour seminars.

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Presentation (100%).

    Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

    MU 3513 - TRANSMISSION OF TRADITIONAL MUSIC
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Professor P Stollery

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to Year 3 of BMus or MA with Music programmes.

    Overview

    This course features a practical induction to Scottish traditional music by one of its acknowledged experts. The music and its provance will be placed within an overall cultural and broader musical context, and will consider the ethics of collecting such music.

    Structure

    10 one-hour tutorials (transmission and cultural background), 4 two-hour tutorials (contexts) and 1 two-hour seminar for oral presentation.

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Essay (100%).

    Resit: New essay (100%).

    MU 3514 - ACOUSMATIC COMPOSITION AND PERFORMANCE
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Professor P Stollery

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to year 3 of BMus or MA with Music programmes.

    Overview

    Students will attend a sound diffusion workshop for which they will be required prepare a piece of acousmatic music for performance, which they will subsequently perform in a concert. Following this experience, they will then compose their own pieces of acousmatic music which will be performed at a concert, where their sound diffusion will be assessed alongside the piece itself.

    Structure

    1 three-hour workshop, 2 two-hour seminars, 10 one-hour tutorials.

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: 1 performance (40%), 1 composition submission (60%).

    Resit: 1 composition submission (100%).

    MU 3516 - ELECTROACOUSTIC COMPOSITION: THE VOICE AND THE MACHINE
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Dr M Young

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to Honours Music (BMus or MA).

    Overview

    Practical, studio-based classes will provide a technical overview of software applications ProTools, Audiosculpt and Max/MSP, and of sound recording techniques and the microphone. Running concurrently, seminar-based classes will provide an historical overview of electroacoustic music that utilizes the voice as sound object. The theme of each seminar, focused each week around a different aspect of the voice and technology, will provide the theoretical, philosophical, and aesthetic basis for practical applications. Drawing from readings, close analysis and listening of key electro-vocal works from the twentieth-century and beyond, we will assess particular cultural and aesthetic issues that concern the mediated voice in recorded sound. The course will probe the role and influence of technology in compositions that involve the voice and technology, particluarly looking at the way the voice is rendered, represented or transposed through the electronic medium.

    Topics include the microphone and recording technology, sound recording technology and its implications for voice recording, early vocal immortalizations onto the phonograph, the theremin, musique concréte, the looped voice, the mechanical voice, the synthesized voice, the fictional robotic voice, human beat-boxes, the interactive voice, sampling the voice and plunderphonics, the electroacoustic voice, and lastly the spoken narrative in contemporary music composition.

    Structure

    1 two-hour seminar per week; 1 two-hour studio class per week.

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Written journal (25%); in-class participation (15%); mid-term composition project (20%); final compositional project (40%).

    Resit: Written journal (25%); composition project (75%).

    MU 3517 - RENAISSANCE COUNTERPOINT
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Dr F Jurgensen

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to Honours Music (BMus or MA).

    Overview

    This course is intended both for those interested in Renaissance music and for composition students who wish to explore the many possibilities of musical invention within a very controlled compositional environment. To acquire the basic tools of Renaissance composition, students progress through species counterpoint exercises in two and three voices. Through more advanced exercises in motivic placement, canon (with and without cantus firmus), invertible counterpoint, and the fundamentals of improvised counterpoint, students learn to structure a complete composition, culminating in a motet for three voices.

    Structure

    2 hour sessions per week.

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Portfolio of compositions and exercises (100%).

    Resit: Portfolio of compositions and exercises (100%).

    MU 3518 - CONTEMPORARY EUROPEAN OPERA
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Dr E Campbell

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to honours Music (BMus or MA)

    Overview

    In the mid-twentieth century, it seemed that opera was a moribund art form, surviving at best on the back of a canon of great historical works. While its future prospects looked bleak, the composition of over 150 new operas in the period between 1978 and 2003 marked a perhaps unexpected renaissance of the genre in a number of new forms.

    This course will engage students in studying the factors which led to the resurgence of operatic/music theatre composition in Europe. A number of works by composers from France, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom will be studied from a number of points of view (analysis of musical scores, libretti, vocal style, stage design, recordings etc.)

    Students will be expected to view and listen to a number of operas/music theatre pieces, to analyse aspects of scores and libretti and to think critically about the cultural significance of this late flowering of these important genres. Students will give a number of short presentations throughout the course.

    Structure

    10 two-hour seminars

    Assessment

    1st attempt: Continuous assessment (100%)

    Resit: Continuous assessment (100%)

    Formative Assessment

    Feedback

    MU 351A - UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITIES 2: WORKING IN COMMUNITIES
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Professor P Stollery

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to BMus (Music and Communities) honours programme.

    Co-requisites

    Placement 2

    Overview

    The course will consist of the following components:

  • Examination of community organisations in the public, private and voluntary sectors focusing on legal and political context, policy, finance, systems, structures and procedures.

  • Theory and practice of working with individuals and groups in an educational and community context.

  • Clarification and analysis of values though reflection and reflexivity.

  • Interdisciplinarity and partnership working.
  • Structure

    1 two-hour seminar per week

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: One 3500 word essay (coursework).

    Resit: Resubmission - One 3500 word essay (coursework) (new essay).

    Formative Assessment

    Feedback

    MU 351B - CONTEMPORARY EUROPEAN MUSIC, CULTURE AND IDEAS
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Dr E Campbell

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to BMus Single Honours or MA

    Overview

    Contemporary musical composition has been approached from a number of angles. We are now emerging from a more ‘formalist’ period in which analysts were inclined to look at ‘the music itself’ through the close examination and analysis of musical scores and the production of ever more recondite analytical meta-languages. While the present course will be entirely respectful of purely analytical approaches to musical composition, it will go beyond the material of the score to contextualise a number of significant contemporary musical scores within the intellectual and cultural soil from which they have arisen. In practical terms, this will entail the analysis of musical scores, a degree of biographical study, knowledge of extra-musical historical events, and familiarity with a number of decisive philosophical, theological, political, literary and mythological notions, ideas and texts, all of which will be related to the production and reception of the composer’s score.

    Structure

    10 x two-hour seminars

    Assessment

    1st attempt: 3000 word Essay (100%)

    Resit: Either redraft of original Essay or a new Essay (100%)

    Formative Assessment

    Feedback

    MU 351C - KODALY MUSICIANSHIP
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Professor P Stollery

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to BMus Single Honours, MA or BEd programme.

    Notes

    This course is open to students working in music and/or an educational or education related context.

    Overview

    The course will focus on the Kodály concept of music education and will cover the following areas:

    • Using singing as a starting point for musical development through the use of age appropriate singing games and rhymes;
    • Introducing music notation using the tools of rhythm names and solfa;
    • Using Kodaly tools in a variety of music contexts eg. composition and instrumental work;
    • How to choose appropriate repertoire across all primary stages;
    • Using music as a cross curricular tool with reference to Curriculum for Excellence.

    Structure

    2 x 2 hour sessions per week

    Assessment

    1st attempt: • Suite of lesson/session plans for different age group phases, to cover a five week period (c.3000wds) (50%)
    • Folio of songs or rhymes with accompanying analytical material (c.1000wds) (50%)

    Resit: Failed criteria within:
    • Suite of lesson/session plans for different age group phases, to cover a five week period (c.3000wds) (50%)
    • Folio of songs or rhymes with accompanying analytical material (c.1000wds) (50%)

    Formative Assessment

    Feedback

    MU 3701 - INTRODUCTION TO ANALYSIS OF MUSIC
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Dr R B Williams

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to Honours Music - BMus or MA with Music (Minor Honours). Available only to students in Programme Year 3.

    Overview

    Students will be introduced to several different analytical approaches, drawing on the work of, for example, Tovey, Schenker, Reti, Forte and Schaeffer. They will be introduced to a range of musical forms, such as sonata structures and variation forms.

    Structure

    6 weekly one-hour lectures and 6 one-hour weekly seminars (to be arranged).

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Essay (100%).

    Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

    Level 4

    MU 401A - SCHOOL EXPERIENCE 2
    Credit Points
    30
    Course Coordinator
    Dr E Campbell

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to year 4 of BMus Education Programme.

    Co-requisites

    Students must also take new Music Education Studies 3 course.

    Overview

    School Experience: this takes place during weeks 18-28 and allows students to put theory into practice.

    Structure

    School Experience: 8 weeks (weeks 18-28).

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: School Experience joint report from school and university following visit form university lecturer - (100%).

    Resit:School Experience joint report from school and university following visit form university lecturer - (100%).
    School Experience can only be resat once.

    Formative Assessment

    Feedback

    MU 401C - PLACEMENT 3
    Credit Points
    30
    Course Coordinator
    Professor P Stollery

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to final year of BMus (Music and Communities) honours programme; Placement 1 and Placement 2.

    Co-requisites

    Understanding Communities 3

    Overview

    The course will consist of workshops that will prepare students for a community placement. This will allow them to understand and engage with theoretical work that will then be put into practice in peer-group contexts before making a significant contribution, including taking a lead role in some aspects, to work in real situations in communities.

    Workshops will allow students to try out ideas within peer-groups, undergoing peer-assessment activities as well as formal assessment themselves, as well as looking at how to evaluate their own practice.

    The Community Placement will allow students to undertake activities with a variety of local agencies under the guidance of an expert. Agencies who have expressed an interest in becoming partners are Scottish Ensemble, Woodend Arts Association, Station House Media Unit, Peacock Visual Arts, Aberdeen College and various City and Shire council supported activities, as well as community activities managed by university staff away from the university.

    The placement aspect comprises a 8 week placement in a partner agency following an intensive workshop-experience in university.

    Structure

    2 x 2 hour sessions per week for 12 weeks
    6 weeks on placement

    Assessment

    1st attempt: Report (combined university/agency) – 75%
    Reflective Journal- 25%

    Resit: Resubmission
    Report (combined university/agency) – 75% (new placement)
    Reflective Journal- 25% (new)

    Formative Assessment

    Feedback

    MU 401D - MUSIC EDUCATION STUDIES 3
    Credit Points
    30
    Course Coordinator
    Dr E Campbell

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to year 4 of BMus Education Programme

    Co-requisites

    Students must also take new School Experience 2 course

    Notes

    The Professional Studies component of this course is studied along with students following ED4084

    Overview

    Professional Studies: these lectures continue coverage of educational principles and practice begun in Professional Studies 1 (proposed new MU2510) and Professional Studies 2.These would include topics such as Literacy and Numeracy across the Curriculum and Children on the Autism Spectrum.
    Practical Skills: Music students continue to develop practical skills relevant to the classroom including World Music, keyboard, sound engineering, MIDI sequencing, guitar and drum kit skills.

    Structure

    Professional Studies: 1 x 1 hour lecture, 1 x 2 hour workshop per wk for 10 wks
    Practical Skills: 2 x 2 hour workshop per wk for 6 wks

    Assessment

    1st attempt: Essay on Education Studies topic (100%)

    Resit: Essay on Education Studies topic (100%)
    Resubmission of parts of original Essay in which candidate was unsuccessful

    Formative Assessment

    Feedback

    MU 4042 - COMPOSITION STUDIES 4 (HONOURS EDUCATION PROGRAMME)
    Credit Points
    20
    Course Coordinator
    Dr P Mealor

    Pre-requisites

    Available only to students in Programme Year 4 of the BMusEd programme.

    Overview

    The exploratory, improvisional and compositional work undertaken in various courses during the first three years of the programme provides a useful foundation for the study of composition at this stage. Sessions will cover analysis of works, improvisation sessions and individual consultations. Students will be required to produce a composition folio. The exact nature of the folio is the result of negotation between the composition tutor and the student. The folio might consist of a single large-scale work or a number of smaller pieces.

    Structure

    20 minutes/1 hour tutorials per week.

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Portfolio of compositions (100%).

    MU 4044 - PERFORMANCE STUDIES 4 (HONOURS EDUCATION PROGRAMME)
    Credit Points
    20
    Course Coordinator
    Dr F Jürgensen

    Pre-requisites

    Available only to students in Programme Year 4 of the BMusEd programme.

    Overview

    In Main Study, students will work throughout the year on a one-to-one basis with a specialist instrumental/vocal instructor, as well as participating in and attending workshops and masterclasses. Ensemble groups consist of University Music organised activities such as Cantores ad Portam, String Quartets, Contemporary Ensemble, University Symphony Orchestra, University Choral Society, University Concert Band, University String Ensemble and Chapel Choir. The Supporting Coursework element covers preparation of programme notes and other supporting materials for recitals as well as visits from established members of the music profession lecturing on performance and practice techniques.

    Structure

    3 or 4 hours per week plus 8 hours workshops.

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Recital (100%).

    MU 4049 - DISSERTATION IN MUSIC
    Credit Points
    30
    Course Coordinator
    Dr J Cameron

    Pre-requisites

    MA with Minor Honours in Music third year curriculum or third year B Mus Hons curriculum. Approval of topic by programme management.

    Co-requisites

    MU 4090

    Notes

    MU 4049 may not be taken in combination with MU 4093.

    Overview

    Dissertation of 10,000 words on an approved musicological topic.

    Structure

    Supervision throughout year.

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Dissertation (100%).

    MU 4080 - COMPOSITION PORTFOLIO
    Credit Points
    30
    Course Coordinator
    Dr P Mealor

    Pre-requisites

    MA Music with Minor Honours third year curriculum or third year B Mus Hons curriculum. Evidence of satisfactory competence in composition and the approval of the programme management.

    Co-requisites

    MU 4088.

    Notes

    MU 4080 may not be taken in combination with MU 4092.

    Overview

    Submission of portfolio of compositions to last c20 minutes in performance. Candidates should be able to show competence in a variety of styles and genres.

    Structure

    Supervision throughout year.

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Submission of portfolio of compositions (100%).

    MU 4081 - PERFORMANCE RECITAL
    Credit Points
    30
    Course Coordinator
    Dr F Jürgensen

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to year 4 honours programme (BMus or MA with Music).

    Co-requisites

    MU 4089.

    Notes

    MU 4081 may not be taken in combination with MU 4094. Vocal or instrumental recital of 25-30 minutes duration, the programme to be approved in advance by the Director of Music.

    Overview

    Individual tuition throughout year.

    Structure

    Recital (100%).

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Recital (100%).

    MU 4088 - SUPPORTING COURSE FOR COMPOSITION PORTFOLIO
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Dr P Mealor

    Pre-requisites

    Level 4 BMus Hons or MA curriculum. Approval of Programme Director.

    Co-requisites

    MU 4092 or MU 4080.

    Overview

    Programming one's own music;

    Composer's working practices;

    Composers working with performers;

    Programme notes, commentaries and extended documentation.

    Structure

    10 two-hour seminars.

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Essay (100%).

    MU 4089 - SUPPORTING COURSE FOR PERFORMANCE RECITAL
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Dr R B Williams

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to Year 4 honours programme (BMus or MA with Music).

    Co-requisites

    MU 4081 or MA 4094 or MU 4080.

    Overview

    Study of international performer(s) - repertoire and interpretation. Programming concerts - how to construct a coherent recital programme. Interpretation and how to approach a performance of a composition. Explanation of recital programme through written and oral communication.

    Structure

    10 two-hour seminars.

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Essay (100%).

    MU 4090 - INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Dr D J Smith

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to year 4 honours programme (BMus or MA with Music).

    Co-requisites

    MU 4049 or MU 4093.

    Overview

    This course will introduce students to basic research methods and to editorial methods. It will cover bibliographic tools, research planning and organization, research presentation, the history of notation and the principles of editing.

    Structure

    4 two-hour seminars in total and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Research proposal (100%).

    MU 4091 - APPLIED MUSIC - MUSICAL ISSUES
    Credit Points
    30
    Course Coordinator
    Dr D J Smith

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to Year 4 honours programme (BMus or MA with Music).

    Overview

    This course will examine historical and contemporary performance practice. The practice of conducting and directing musical ensembles will take further the concept of application of musical knowledge into the situation of performance. Musical analysis and its influence on performance techniques will form an important component part of the course.

    Structure

    Weekly one-hour lecture (to be arranged) and a fortnightly seminar of two hours (to be arranged) and a weekly tutorial. Attendance at a minimum of one major ensemble of the University.

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Seminar presentation analysis (50%) and essay performance practice (50%).

    MU 4092 - COMPOSITION PORTFOLIO
    Credit Points
    60
    Course Coordinator
    Dr P Mealor

    Pre-requisites

    Third year BMus Honours. Approval of BMus Honours Programme Director.

    Co-requisites

    MU 4088.

    Notes

    MU 4092 may not be taken in combination with MU 4080.

    Overview

    Submission of portfolio of compositions to last c 30 minutes in performance. Candidates should be able to show competence in a variety of genres, subject to the approval of the Programme Directors.

    Structure

    Supervision throughout the year.

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Oral presentation (25%) and portfolio (75%).

    MU 4093 - DISSERTATION IN MUSIC
    Credit Points
    60
    Course Coordinator
    Dr J Cameron

    Pre-requisites

    Third year BMus Honours curriculum. Approval of topic by Programme Director.

    Co-requisites

    Introduction to Research.

    Notes

    MU 4093 may not be taken in combination with MU 4089.

    Overview

    Dissertation of around 16,000 words on an approved musicological topic, and/or a scholarly edition of one or more musical works.

    Structure

    Supervision throughout year.

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Dissertation (75%) and Oral presentation of work in progress (25%).

    MU 4094 - PERFORMANCE RECITAL
    Credit Points
    60
    Course Coordinator
    Dr F Jürgensen

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to Year 4 honours programme (BMus or MA with Music). Approval of BMus Honours Programme Director. Students should achieve at least a CAS 18 (or equivalent) in MU 3801.

    Notes

    MU 4094 may not be taken in combination with MU 4081.

    Overview

    Vocal or instrumental recital of around 45 minutes duration, the programme to be approved in advance by the Programme Directors. Students will work throughout the year on a one-to-one basis with a specialist instrumental or vocal tutor.

    Participation in Masterclasses/Workshops with visiting musicians will be an important part of the requirements. A diary of work at hand and suitable programme notes for the Recital will also be required.

    Structure

    Weekly tutorials throughout year. Attendance at no fewer than 4 Masterclasses/Workshops throughout the year.

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Mid year recital (25%) and end of year recital (75%).

    MU 4097 - DISSERTATION
    Credit Points
    30
    Course Coordinator
    Professor P Stollery

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to final year of BMus (Music and Communities) honours programme.

    Overview

    Dissertation of 10,000 words on an approved topic in the area of Music and Communities.

    Structure

    10 hours over year (suggested tutorials of 20 mins per week).

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: Dissertation (100%).

    Resit: Resubmission
    Dissertation (100%) (revisited).

    Formative Assessment

    Feedback

    MU 4098 - APPLIED MUSICIANSHIP
    Credit Points
    30
    Course Coordinator
    Professor P Stollery

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to final year of BMus (Music and Communities) honours programme.

    Overview

    The course will consist of thee distinct elements:

    a) Practical Musicianship Skills
    These workshops will build on those first encountered in the level 3 course of the same name and will develop the base-line skills (keyboard, percussion, singing, rehearsing and directing, guitar and improvisation) required by students to work as musicians engaging with a variety of community groups.

    b) Instrumental/Vocal Tuition
    Students will be able to continue the one-to-one tuition they have been receiving at level 1-3 and to prepare for the end of course recital component.

    c) Ensemble Development
    Students will be required to set up an ensemble (or continue working with one that they have already set up) and work with this group throughout the session. They will create work for this group using their composition and improvisation skills in preparation for the improvisation element of the final recital. The ensembles will be entirely student-led with only minimal intervention from academic staff and students will be required to undertake a variety of peer-assessment techniques during this part of the course.

    Structure

    Practical Musicianship Skills - 1 two-hour session per week
    Instrumental/Vocal Tuition – One 30 minute session per week
    Ensemble Development – One 30 minute session per week.

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: 40 minute recital/presentation a) performance on main instrument (50%). b) improvisation using a variety of instruments (50%).

    Resit: Resubmission - 40 minute recital/presentation. a) performance on main instrument (50%) (revisited). b) improvisation using a variety of instruments (50%) (revisisted).

    Formative Assessment

    Feedback

    MU 4099 - UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITIES 3: CONTRIBUTING TO COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Professor P Stollery

    Pre-requisites

    Entry to final year of BMus (Music and Communities) honours programme.

    Co-requisites

    Placement 3

    Overview

    The course will consist of the following components:

  • Comparison and analysis of legal context, policy guidance and standards across disciplines which contribute to community development.

  • Theory and practice of self management and project management and their application to community settings.

  • Models of evaluation and their application to community settings.

  • Analysis of exemplars of creative projects and their contribution to community development.
  • Structure

    1 two-hour seminar per week.

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: One 3500 word essay (coursework).

    Resit: Resubmission - One 3500 word essay (coursework) (new essay).

    Formative Assessment

    Feedback

    MU 4503 - SACRED MUSIC FROM ITALY IN THE 18TH CENTURY
    Credit Points
    15
    Course Coordinator
    Dr J Cameron

    Pre-requisites

    Completion of first two years of B Mus or MA with Music.

    Overview

    Starting point: Vivaldi Gloria RV 589 (already introduced to BMus as part of Vocal Ensemble, and briefly in Cultural and Historical Studies)

    Introduction to Vivaldi- and Gloria settings.
    Introduction to principles of baroque editing (1)
    Exercise: excerpt from Vivaldi Gloria RV 589

    Introduction to Ruggieri - and Gloria settings.
    Introduction to principles of baroque editing (2)
    Exercise: excerpt from one of the Ruggieri Glorias

    An issue of plagiarism? Vivaldi's borrowings from Ruggieri
    Comparative analysis: Cum Sancto Spiritu (Vivaldi and Ruggieri)

    Word painting (and musical rhetoric).
    Exercise - musical ideas for word painting.

    More advanced principles of editing: critical commentaries
    The editor's role: problematic sources.

    Speculation: is plagiarism in music in any way justified?
    Why did Vivaldi borrow from Ruggieri?
    Stylistic aspects.

    Structure

    Tutorial/Seminars - 4 two-hours followed by 8, weekly one-hour tutorial

    Assessment

    1st Attempt: 1 essay (100%).