Undergraduate courses

At Kingston you have a choice of two undergraduate Music fields:

• Music BMus(Hons)
• Music Technology BMus(Hons)

If you want to study music together with another subject you can study for the joint honours BA (Hons) options:

• Music joint honours BA(Hons)
• Music Technology joint honours BA(Hons)

Musical activities

Practical music-making forms the hub of the course. All music students join at least one of the large University ensembles - you can choose from the chorus, Vox vocal group, chamber choir, symphony and wind orchestras, big band, guitar group, electro-acoustic ensemble, Javanese gamelan ensemble and djembe drumming group. In addition, students are encouraged to form their own ensembles. Ensemble activity is credited towards the assessment of some course modules.

Our University ensembles feature in public concerts held regularly in leading local venues, as well as in local events such as the annual Kingston Arts Festival and Kingston Early Music Festival. Lunchtime concerts, involving students or visiting artists, take place at least weekly throughout the academic year in Coombehurst Studio and elsewhere. Annual student competitions are held in composition, concerto performance and conducting.

Masterclasses, workshops and seminars take place regularly at Coombehurst; recent events have been led by Research Fellow Jane Manning and members of our Ensemble in Residence, the  Delta Saxophone Quartet.

Tuition format

You will be taught through lectures, workshops and seminars. All students gain hands-on experience in the use of recording equipment and computer-based music technology. If you study solo performance you will attend masterclasses and receive individual tuition for your instrument/voice.

Assessment

Your work will be assessed through course work such as essays, folios of exercises or compositions, practical work or recordings, seminar presentations and write-ups, class tests and written evaluations. There are no formal written examinations. If you study performance you will be assessed through a recital.

Overseas students

Music has a thriving community of students from many countries including Erasmus students and exchange students from the USA. The University has good language support for students whose first language is not English..

Study abroad

Each year a small number of BMus or BA Music students choose to spend one or two semesters of their second year at a university in the USA, gaining credit for modules taken there which is accepted in lieu of credit from Kingston Level 2 modules.

Careers

Official records show that Kingston music graduates do very well following graduation, with typically more than 90 per cent in employment or further study within six months of completing their first degree. They can be found throughout the music profession, in music education, music administration, performance, composition and the music industry. Music graduates in general also do very well in employment beyond the boundaries of music.