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Undergraduate Qualifications

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The Open University provides a wide range of opportunities to study music at undergraduate levels. Students studying music modules may be working towards a variety of qualifications, from the credit for passing a single course, up to a full degree within the BA (Honours) Music (R25) or BA (Honours) Arts and Humanities (R14) degree schemes. Follow this link for an overview of undergraduate qualifications which include Music.

Undergraduate Music Modules

  • A234 Understanding Music *NEW* The first presentation will be in October 2020.
    This introduction to the fundamentals of music will allow you to understand and use music notation. You’ll study the elements of music and how these are assembled into larger musical structures, focusing on music encountered in Western traditions (popular and classical). You’ll learn to make sense of a wide variety of notated music, and you’ll be encouraged to make meaningful connections between the topics you study and your own experiences and tastes through independent study. You’ll develop practical musicianship skills, using professional music-notation software, that will provide you with a grounding for arranging and composing.

  • A232 Music, Sound and Technology
    This module explores the nature of musical sound and the ways that technology can be used by musicians working in the creative industries. You'll be introduced to the skills needed for making recordings, and the module resources include software packages for analysing and editing recorded sound. You'll study how the physics of sound underlie musical experiences, and investigate the acoustic properties of different instruments. The module aims to deepen your understanding of the nature of sound and to equip you better as a musician, whatever your background and musical interests.

  • A342 Central Questions in the Study of Music
    What does music mean? What does it do? These are the queries at the heart of A342, Central questions in the study of music. The module explores how music communicates meaning, and how it reflects and responds to its social circumstances, considering a wide array of pieces, practices, performances and ideas, and ranging across several historical eras and cultural contexts. A342 also offers an opportunity to engage with a number of fascinating areas of musical study, including film music, the practice of recording, creative approaches to music notation, and the history of western music.
  • The Practice of Music Making
    This Certificate, offered by Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in collaboration with the Music at the OU, is aimed at practising musicians engaged in degree-level study of music. Students may be active in any genre of music, and there is no specific level of technical attainment required to register. Students examine their own and other musical practices, methods of developing and improving technical and practical skills, and the cultural place and value of different performance contexts. The Certificate includes a residential school.

As I travel around meeting and working with musicians, amateur and professional, I am always struck by the quality they share in common, regardless of attainment or situation: they want to improve their skills. It’s wonderful news that the OU, in collaboration with Trinity Laban, is opening up a channel so they can do just that.

John Rutter
Composer and conductor

Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Modules with Music Components

Interdisciplinary modules including musical components do not assume prior musical knowledge, but make excellent choices to complement the modules specific to the Music discipline. There is a significant music component in the following interdisciplinary modules:

  • A111 Discovering the Arts and Humanities
    This module includes units on Mozart, the Blues and music as forms of political protest in South Africa. Through these units you will develop your close listening skills and learn about various musical concepts.
  • A113 Revolutions
    What makes a revolution? Why does the world suddenly change, and what are the consequences? In this module you'll examine four periods of swift and radical change: the Reformation, the French Revolution, the aftermath of World War I, and the 1960s. You’ll look at each from the perspectives of History, Music, Philosophy and Religious Studies, discovering how these disciplinary approaches complement each other and enhance your understanding of continuity and change. In the final part, you'll return to the discipline that most interests you and study a topic or period in greater depth. Music units will examine early modern print culture, Beethoven, Stravinsky, and female pop musicians of the 1960s.

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