Learning and teaching
Areas of study
The MMus/MA is structured into twelve strands, each of which leads to a different named award:
- Performance
- Chamber Music
- Collaborative Piano
- Composition
- Conducting
- Jazz
- Joint Principal Study
- Performance and Musicology
- Performance and Pedagogy
- Piano for Dance
- Repetiteurship
- Traditional Music
Each strand is distinguished by its own Principal Study module: the Practice Research and Graduate Studies modules are common to all strands.
The Performance strand includes all string, woodwind and brass instruments, guitar, harp, timpani and percussion, piano, accordion, organ, harpsichord and voice
Principal Study and Graduate Studies
The Principal Study and Graduate Studies modules are co-requisites. Taken together, they encompass many of the distinctive features of musical study in a Conservatoire environment at masters level. There are however distinct differences between these two core modules in both their learning and teaching methods, and in modes of assessment.
The Principal Study is the primary focus of your learning experience, supported by regular individualised learning in your discipline. These lessons will form part of an ongoing cycle of individual practice and reflection, and will require you to devote a substantial amount of time to independent learning.
The Graduate Studies module comprises a wide range of individually tailored activities designed to meet the needs of each individual student. This may include: performance classes; seminars, workshops and masterclasses; attendance at concerts; rehearsals; performances, solo or group, where not assessed as part of the principal study; additional study of a related instrument or instruments; and taught classes specific to the discipline/department. The module integrates teaching on sustainable arts practices, including practical skills for developing a diverse portfolio career and exploring the role of music in addressing environmental and societal challenges.
What all of these learning opportunities have in common is that they look beyond your individual development as a musician. The Graduate Studies module will ask you to work collaboratively in a widening circle of peers, potentially encompassing your colleagues within your own discipline, other musicians within the School of Music, fellow students from the Undergraduate and Research cohorts, staff and students from other Schools within the Conservatoire, and professionals from a range of disciplines both close to and far from the discipline of music.
The Principal Study and Graduate Studies modules are further differentiated by their modes of assessment. The Principal Study represents the primary locus of your development as a musician, and therefore offers two or three individually negotiated assessments in each year of the programme. These are not 'examinations', but will in every case represent proto-professional opportunities to demonstrate your musical skills, whether through playing, singing, conducting, composing or research; either solo or, in many cases, in a collaborative setting.
The Graduate Studies module is assessed on the basis of a profile of indicative grades and feedback across all of the activities undertaken. The indicative grade for a particular activity may be recorded as pass/fail, or there may be an alphanumeric grade, as appropriate: the final module grade is a pass or fail. It should be noted that, in cases where a particular activity is shared with Undergraduate students, you will still be assessed according to SCQF Level 11 (Masters) Learning Outcomes. This flexible approach to assessment allows us to reliably assess that the module outcomes have been achieved, while offering maximum flexibility in tailoring both the activities and the feedback to your individual musical goals.
Practice Research
This module challenges you to examine critically an aspect of your arts practice by means of an individually-negotiated portfolio of research, reflection and/or documentation. Over the course of your studies, with the support of a supervisor, you will assemble a portfolio of documentation and reflective writing that interrogates a self-chosen research focus and communicates your findings.
There are two negotiable deadlines for the Practice Research module, one in February and one in May. The majority of students will submit for the February deadline.
Instrumental and Vocal Pedagogy
The MMus Performance and Pedagogy strand offers the opportunity to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills related to learning, teaching and assessment in music education as an instrumental (or vocal) teacher. The programme emphasises the value of learning and teaching as a professional activity; supports the development of your identity as an instrumental teacher and explores teaching as a key component of your continuing growth as a performing artist.
Core to the Performance and Pedagogy strand are the two 30-credit Instrumental and Vocal Pedagogy modules. Module 1 is studied in the first year – unless it has been completed as part of your BMus 4 education at the Conservatoire. The second module, Instrumental and Vocal Pedagogy 2, forms part of the studies in the second year of the MMus. This second module, together with Module 1, forms the core components of the professional pedagogical education required of instrumental teachers.
Musicology
This module offers a series of seminars that will introduce you to the intellectual and scholarly fields in musicology that inform and support performance practice. You will have the opportunity to explore different approaches to the study of music and gain a critical understanding of past and current trends. The knowledge and understanding gained through the seminars will be demonstrated in a scholarly presentation.
Negotiated Study
The Negotiated Study module, distinctive to the MA programme, invites you to synthesise a range of skills and experiences into a largely independent and self-defined project. Learning outcomes and assessments are negotiated individually between you and your supervisor, drawing on a range of suggested projects. The potential scope of the module is broad: you might choose to undertake a performance project, initiate a creative collaboration, or research and produce a conventional dissertation. The flexibility offered allows you to demonstrate a high level of independence in pursuit of self-defined artistic and professional goals.
Masters Dissertation
This module represents the culmination of the Performance and Musicology strand. It comprises a 10,000 word dissertation based on an issue, source or repertory related to the your principal study, chosen in consultation with an individual supervisor. It should show a thorough assimilation of the existing work in the field, the historical sources, and issues in contemporary debate.
Options
Options give space within the curriculum for you to engage in studies which enhance professional versatility, by pursuing areas of interest either close to or far away from your core discipline. The choice includes modules drawn from the undergraduate programmes in the School of Music as well as Interdisciplinary and Extended Practice (IXP) modules that are collaborative with other programmes within the Conservatoire.
The design of the programme puts no restrictions on the level of the options chosen. There is a significant amount of choice available in the amount of credit taken in this way: you are free to choose strands which place greater weight on Graduate Studies.
Deadlines for option modules will be notified to you by the relevant Module Coordinator, and usually also noted in your Asimut calendar.
Additional Performance
The instrumental combinations that are normally allowed for additional performance are noted below. Any other combination of principal study disciplines is exceptional and offered only by agreement of both the Head of Department and Head of Programme:
| Principal instrument | Additional instrument |
|---|---|
| Flute | Piccolo |
| Clarinet | Eb Clarinet or Bass Clarinet |
| Oboe | Cor Anglais |
| Bassoon | Contrabassoon |
| Saxophone | Clarinet or Flute |
| French Horn | Wagner Tuba |
| Trumpet | Piccolo Trumpet |
| Trombone | Alto Trombone or Bass Trumpet or Euphonium |
| Bass Trombone | Contrabass Trombone |
| Tuba | Cimbasso or Ophicleide or CC Tuba or F Tuba or BBb Tuba |
| Classical Guitar | Contemporary Guitar |
| Piano | Organ or Harpsichord |
| Violin | Viola |
| Viola | Violin |
The following may also be available:
- Baroque and other period instruments
- Additional study in a cross-disciplinary area (classical performance, traditional music and jazz)
- An additional study area for students on the Traditional Music strand
Assessment of the additional performance will normally be incorporated as part of Principal Study Performance A and/or B: if this is not appropriate, it may be assessed within the Graduate Studies profile.