MA

Music

3 good reasons to study Music at Salford:

Taught by professional practitioners at all stages of your study
Compete for a variety of prizes including the Kirklees Composition Competition
Gain a breadth of professional musical experience

In this course you will have the opportunity to follow one of four specialist pathways: Composition (C), Performance (P), Critical Musicology (CM) and Interactive Music and Advanced Studio Production (IMASP). You will also have the option to study beyond your specialist pathway, expanding your experience.

Your exposure to a breadth of musical genres at Salford will give you a unique music study experience. From rock and pop, to classical, jazz, electronic and other world styles; each genre is presented equally, offering exciting opportunities to learn from each tradition.

This course gives you the opportunity to study with teachers who are all practicing professionals at national and international levels.

Course details

Course Structure

This course begins with a shared 30-credit plenary module, you would then take another module dependent upon your specialist pathway. Semester 2 allows you to choose one 30-credit option outside of your chosen pathway alongside another 30-credit module from your specialist pathway. Semester 3 sees you working on a single 60-credit module; your Negotiated Final Project.

Semester 1

Composition, Performance and the Musical Text (Plenary)

The written score as locus of authority
The graphic score as provocation
The musical text in popular music
The aural tradition in European folk music and in non-Western Traditions
The recording as artefact

Composition Techniques (C)

Forms in the 21st century
Texture and instrumentation
Colour and structure in composition
Presentation of artefact

Individual Performance (P)

Cognitive processes in performance
Physiological responses
Relaxation techniques

Critical and Theoretical Positions (CM)

Canonisation and the Great Tradition
Marxist perspectives on music
Modernism and Postmodernism
Text and Intertext
Difference, Gender and Race
Analysis and Meaning in Music
The Politics of Genre

Advanced Studio Composition and Production Techniques (IMASP)

Dynamic Sound Editing, Design and Spatialisation
Studio Composition and Sound-Design Strategies, including those for Mixed-Media
An examination of the historical/cultural context for Studio-based Composition
Recent and current repertoires for Studio-based Composition practice
Delivery of the musical works in a form appropriate for the medium(s) chosen

Semester 2

Applied Composition Techniques (C)

Composition for TV and film
Composition for games
Composition for theatre
Sound environments
Project managing in the commercial world

Group Interaction in Performance (P)

Leadership skills
Non-verbal communication
Psychology of group performance
Repertoire planning

Subject Specific Evaluation (CM)

You will be required to evaluate a range of materials in preparation for seminar discussions

Interactive and Emergent Music Programming Techniques (IMASP)

Interactive Music Programming Techniques
Emergent/Algorithmic Programming Techniques
An examination of the historical/cultural context for computer assisted non-linear/aleatoric music/Sound Art practice.
An examination of recent and current music repertoires for non-linear/aleatoric music/sound art practice

Ethnomusicology Theories and Techniques (Option)

Historical Development and key figures in Ethnomusicology
Instrument Classification & the construction of Instruments (Hindustani, West African, Chinese, 'Are'are, etc.)
Gender and Sexuality
Localisation & Globalisation
Race & Ethnicities
Fieldwork methodologies
Participant-Observation: History, theoretical framework & Techniques
Transcriptions, Interviews, & Fieldwork Diaries
Learning Procedures: Enculturation, Acculturation, Nature, Nurture; Anthropology of the body
Music and socialisation: musical behaviour and emic and etic
Film & phonographic recordings in ethnomusicology
Music Space & Place

Community Music Theories and Techniques (Option)

Students taking the module negotiate a series of proposed projects with their specialist tutor. Typically, projects will be undertaken across a range of areas including, for example, band management and promotion, musical directing and community music in its broadest sense.

Semester 3

Negotiated Final Project

Course Enquiries

For course enquiries please call us on:

T: +44 (0) 161 295 4545

Or Email us at:

Home/EU students
E: enquiries@salford.ac.uk

International students
E: international@salford.ac.uk