Pursue your passion for music
with a Music BA (Hons) at Northumbria University and get career-ready!
With a
sector-leading 20 hours per year of weekly individual instrumental
or vocal tuition, modules in instrumental or vocal teaching, and ear-opening music
history modules which will broaden your musical horizons, this course allows
you to pursue your passion for music in ways that lead to many career pathways.
The
music facilities at Northumbria situate brand new musical instruments inside
carefully considered spaces. Our world-class Steinway Model B piano is in The
Great Hall, located in the Grade II Listed Sutherland Building, which is also where
new and spacious practice facilities are to be found.
Facilities are shared between small class sizes, meaning that you can
readily access practice rooms to play, compose, critique, conduct, plan,
prepare, experiment, coordinate, and improvise.
Find out more about the Music Scholarships we offer: Instrument Scholarship and Choral Scholarship.
Why choose Northumbria to study Music?
Performance modules offer 20+ hours per year of weekly 1-to-1 tuition, provided by highly qualified and experienced tutors, as well as seminars covering performance anxiety, how to practise, how to work with an accompanist, and many opportunities to perform in front of others in a supportive environment.
You will learn in a close-knit community of staff and students where all teaching is interactive and takes place in small groups, often of no more than ten.
Modules in teaching your instrument are designed in association with the Education Department at Northumbria University, with the opportunity to go on placements supported by Music Hubs in the North East of England.
Fresh, new facilities include the new Steinway grand piano in the Great Hall, which hosts the weekly Northumbria Lunchtime Concerts series, and large practice rooms for individual practice that can also accommodate groups of students working together.
You will broaden your knowledge of music from medieval times to the present day, getting ‘hands on’ experience of doing music history, visiting libraries and museums, working with our world-leading Montagu Collection of global musical instruments, and being supported to research the music that you’re passionate about.
You will develop musical skills such as theory, techniques of composition, piano-playing/keyboard skills, and conducting.
You will find out more about working as a freelance musician and will be able to access entrepreneurship support.
Employability: How does this BA (Hons) Music course prepare me for my career?
Although a Music degree is a gateway to a wide range of careers, not just in music, many music graduates choose to follow their passion on graduation. We have put together
some inspiring stories to illustrate the diverse careers and experiences open to music graduates.
Music Teaching - Many students have an ambition to teach their instrument, and to share their passion with others. We offer modules in instrumental teaching developed with colleagues in our Education Department and working with Music Hubs. They include educational theory while giving you the opportunity to gain first-hand experience actually teaching in schools. Our degree will give you confidence to set up in business as a music teacher or to teach in schools with one of the Music Hubs. It will also make the perfect foundation for a postgraduate teaching qualification.
Freelance Career - Many musicians have a portfolio career, juggling performance with teaching and arts admin roles. Our modules give you the range of skills you need to succeed in the diverse opportunities open to professional musicians. As well as musical skills, such as playing keyboard and conducting, you will gain confidence in managing yourself and others, understanding how to set yourself up in business as a performer or teacher how to organise events. The University offers entrepreneurship support to students.
Careers Outside Music - Musicians develop leadership skills in musical direction that are transferable to any kind of employment. For example, the experience of working together in a musical ensemble develops teamworking; performing in front of an audience on your instrument helps when giving a business presentation; if you can research thoroughly, think critically, and write with clarity about music, you can apply such skills to graduate management roles in business, charities, or the public sector in any field. Music graduates become accountants and lawyers, go on to successful careers in IT and coding, or follow careers in the arts.
Northumbria’s Music learning experience
Our approach to music performance, history, theory/harmony and pedagogy is holistic.
During your degree, you will learn how music is made, how it is consumed, and how it relates to cultural change by studying a wide range of musics and musicians from the Middle Ages to the present day. These historical themes will shape you as a performer who understands audience engagement with music in the past, the present and the future. The ideas you develop in your history modules will flow outwards through your playing or singing, your engagement with teaching opportunities, and your growing understanding of the music industry.
Our performance and history modules will connect you to the wider city and community, through partnerships with cultural organisations such the
Newcastle Lit&Phil Library and
Newcastle Cathedral.
We also collaborate with leading national organisations such as Trinity Exam Board and the ISM, and work with local music hubs such as
Music Partnership North (which deliver instrumental/vocal teaching in schools) to provide placement opportunities in the music teaching modules.
As a Northumbria music student, you will learn in a
close-knit, supportive community of music staff and students and simultaneously join a vibrant
interdisciplinary humanities environment, which itself is part of a faculty containing performing arts.
You will be able to extend your studies either by taking a placement year in industry or by opting to study abroad in mainland Europe or North America.
The degree has been designed alongside a
Foundation Year in Music, which offers an opportunity to develop the knowledge and skills needed for degree-level work.
See other similar courses you may be interested in: BA (Hons) Theatre and Performance