Strings, Wind, Brass, Percussion, Keyboard, Vocal Studies, Composition, Electronic Music, Jazz.
The BMus programme is centred around world-leading one-to-one tuition for performers, composers and electronic musicians. Its principal aim is to develop your ability as a practical musician. At least two-thirds of the programme is focused on your Principal Study.
A minimum of 30 individual lessons a year with our renowned professorial staff are combined with over 100 hours a year of departmental classes, workshops, coaching, and projects with high profile artists, as well as opportunities to perform in some of the country’s finest venues.
From the start, you will be treated like a professional, and given the support and encouragement you need to prepare for the industry. You will establish contacts and gain exposure through our partnership organisations such as the Barbican, London Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. A Joint Principal Study pathway is also available.
Tailor your studies to suit your musical interests on our four-year Bachelor of Music (BMus) degree course.
THIS COURSE IS RIGHT FOR YOU IF…
You’re passionate about music and your specialism (or instrument). The BMus provides a solid foundation for a career in music, whether you’d like to be a performer, composer, teacher or to work in another related field.
CORE ELEMENTS OF THE BMUS
1. Principal study
This is the focal point of your musical development and includes individual lessons as well as a combination of masterclasses, performance classes, chamber music, concerts and everything else you do in your specialism. The focus for performers is on gaining experience in public concerts.
2. Artist development
We offer a wide range of activities, events and modules for you to hone your skills in studio recording and editing techniques, self-promotion and marketing, writing CVs, making funding applications, understanding the music business and working in arts management.
You can also get involved in Open Academy, which has an active programme aimed at helping people in the community. If you want to develop your teaching skills, you can study for the Academy’s teaching licence (LRAM), too.
3. Academic study
Academic study is essential to your creative and intellectual development. Core modules in Aural, Analysis and History reinforce your awareness as a listener, develop your interpretative abilities and extend your knowledge and imagination.
ONE YEAR COURSES – THE OPTIONS
The BMus is our main undergraduate course, but it isn’t the only one. We also offer three one-year options, which let you study at the Academy as an enrolled member of the student body without committing to a full degree course with us.
This means you’ll benefit from all the facilities offered to our degree students, including the library, computers and practice rooms, as well as enjoying a variety of performance opportunities.
1. Gap year course
This course is right for you if you love music but know you want to study something else for your main degree in future. It’s the ideal fit if you’re finishing secondary school (high school) and are looking for a gap-year opportunity, enabling you to reach a high level of achievement in music, while also allowing you to pursue another career path.
2. Organ foundation course
This is for gap-year students preparing for an organ scholarship at Oxford or Cambridge, or for those who want to develop organ and choral direction skills before starting formal university or conservatoire training.
3. Exchanges and study abroad schemes
The Academy has exchange and study-abroad agreements with conservatoires across the world. Placements are normally for a full academic year, although shorter times may be possible. This allows non-UK students studying for a music degree elsewhere to benefit from a conservatoire education as part of their degree studies at their ‘home’ institution.
Music is an incredibly rich and diverse subject. It is:
Our BMus programme embraces this disciplinary breadth.
Initially, you will develop your creative musical skills and acquire the tools to engage critically with a variety of musical repertoires and media.
You will also:
Our music course offers training in a huge range of styles from classical and popular, to musical theatre, jazz and contemporary music. You’ll be able to make music on your own and with others, perform in orchestras, choirs and bands, and work with improvisation.
As a performer, you’ll receive free instrumental/vocal lessons, enjoy 24/7 practice room access and the opportunity to take part in regular concerts. As a composer you’ll have access to excellent recording facilities, state of the art Mac labs and many opportunities to showcase your work. All music students benefit from visits by industry professionals, including: performers, composers, promoters, publishers and educators.
Whether you’re interested in performance, composition, music history, analysis or the music industry itself, our experienced staff and vibrant musical community can help unlock your musical potential.
Our award-winning Professional Training placements prepare students for roles in industry.
Our BMus (Hons) Creative Music Technology course offers you a route to an exciting career in the arts and creative industries. Our course will equip you with the skills for making innovative music in the 21st century, helping you to develop your own unique musical style. On this course you’ll be taught by music technology experts and creative practitioners, and work in a unique environment using world-class professional facilities. You’ll also have opportunities to collaborate with students from across the department.
On this practice-led course you’ll study the creative use of music technology using a wide range of specialist software and hardware, preparing you for a broad range of careers in the creative industries.
You’ll choose from areas of study such as electronic music creation and performance, sound design, music for moving image and creative music programming. Traditional music skills are also an important part of the course, and you may also choose to study traditional instrumental music, including performance.
Our vision is to create ‘thinking musicians’. We’ll work with you to develop analytical and interdisciplinary approaches to composing and performing with technology and to produce a strong portfolio of creative work.
The skills that you develop will prepare you for professional opportunities in the creative industries as well as future postgraduate education.
Our BMus is unrivalled in its flexibility, enabling you to tailor a programme that best fits your musical interests and strengths.
We offer a distinctive and rigorous core curriculum in the first two years that will develop your musicianship and critical thinking skills and introduce you to the history of both popular and western art music. You can specialise in performance and composition, and choose from a diverse range of subjects that includes acoustics, music psychology and music technology.
In years three and four this choice is expanded further, enabling you to specialise in particular areas and to benefit from the research expertise of Reid School of Music staff. We currently offer options in performance, composition, music in the community, Scottish traditional music, music technology, music and multimedia, and music psychology, as well as a range of courses exploring the theoretical, historical and political contexts of music. In addition, and subject to availability, you can also select to study subjects from elsewhere in the Edinburgh College of Art or across the University in all four years of your degree.
As a student in the Reid School of Music, you will be part of a vibrant musical community. You will study with scholars, composers, and performers of international renown who are passionate about teaching. You can join one or more of the many orchestras, ensembles, and choirs available at the University, enjoy our varied concert series, and take advantage of the School’s location in the centre of Edinburgh, a city with a rich musical life. You will have the opportunity to work with ensembles such as the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Edinburgh String Quartet. You can immerse yourself in our unparalleled Musical Instrument Museum, and you can also apply to participate in our Music in the Community projects, which in recent years have involved student visits to the Gambia and Greece.
