BA Music

Choose a BA in Music at the University of Southampton and develop your musical skills on this uniquely diverse and flexible programme. Study the basics through foundations in analysis, counterpoint and harmony.

From medieval polyphony to global hip-hop, our music degree courses provide a broad musical education covering history, culture and society taught in exciting research-led modules. Our course does not favour one kind of music over another, and our flexible approach means that you can choose modules from any other discipline to complement your music studies. You will be taught in tutorials, seminars and lectures by world-class academics. Our skills-oriented training will provide valuable transferable skills to prepare you for any career that requires critical thinking, teamwork and writing skills.

Learn to write your own music. Take vocal and instrumental lessons with a specialist teacher. Put the skills learned on this BA degree to use by taking part in high-profile performance projects delivered by the Music Department and by Student Union performing groups. Graduates from this bachelors degree go on to pursue careers in the music industry, in music education, in music therapy and in many other fields where creative ability and team working experience are required.

Programme Structure

In your first year, a core programme of musical studies provides a broad grounding in the fundamental elements of music performance, composition and academic musical study.

In your second and third years, a free choice is available from a wide selection of modules in a range of musical subjects. You may also choose to take up to 25% of your programme in subjects from other disciplines throughout your degree programme. If you pursue enough modules in another subject, you can add this subject as a Minor to your Music BA degree.

Music department modules fall into four main areas. Each of these features a broad diversity of approaches and musical styles:

• History and Criticism: introduces historical, analytical and ethnomusicological approaches to a wide range of topics, from Mozart in Vienna to Global Hip Hop, from Music in the Middle Ages to Jazz Theory and more.
• Performance: supports instrumental and vocal performance (solo or ensemble) in classical, jazz and pop styles, with 20 hours of fully funded individual tuition per year for solo performers, plus fortnightly master classes, professional workshops and group coaching. We aim to support diverse performance interests: our students can pursue heavy metal or classical oboe, music theatre or operatic voice, classical sax or funk, with expert supervision from our performance staff
• Composition and music technology: includes extensive project work and advanced studio techniques, leading to the submission of a collection of original compositions in classical or commercial styles, or both. Modules in songwriting, orchestration and arrangement, and music technology support composition from video showreels to string quartets.
• Arts Administration, Music Therapy and Community Music: includes modules aimed at gaining knowledge and professional skills in areas where music graduates can build innovative careers

Key Facts

• Flexible course structure allows you to tailor your programme to your needs, across performance, composition and academic music study
• Purpose-built concert hall (Turner Sims) supporting the most extensive series of professional concerts and workshops of any UK university
• Dedicated facilities, including: keyboard room, percussion room, jazz and pop rehearsal room, nine further teaching and ensemble rehearsal rooms, 16 practice rooms, three electronic studios plus live room, and 16 networked multimedia workstations
• Many large-scale Students’ Union performing groups (orchestras, bands, choirs and theatre groups), in addition to music ensembles

Over 6,500 international students from more than 135 countries choose to study at the University of Southampton each year. In addition, we have links with universities and partners around the world, making us a truly international institution.

Here at Humanities , we are fascinated by people and their activities and achievements over the centuries, from prehistory to the modern day. We are well-known for ground-breaking and internationally-significant research and education across our wide-ranging disciplines, most of which are ranked in the top ten across British universities .

Knowing what makes human beings tick is more important than ever in these turbulent times. Studying for a degree in one of our disciplines offers people new insights into humanity and prompts the kind of intellectual vitality and creative energy that springs from a deep passion for learning and teaching.

Our world-class academic staff provide our undergraduates and postgraduates with the highest level of tuition and support, their expertise always based directly on their personal research.

As well as working within their own fields, our academics work together across the disciplines to further knowledge. This means thought-provoking subjects such as slavery can be examined from several perspectives to give students a comprehensive picture of the complex issues.

Our innovative research centres bring together researchers to focus on broad topics such as the 18th century and Medieval and Renaissance worlds. We also host the unique Parkes Institute for Jewish/non-Jewish Relations and the Parkes Library, one of the largest collections of Jewish archives in Europe.

Our cutting-edge research informs our teaching, which is regularly recognised as second-to-none in the annual National Student Survey. Throughout Humanities, our academic members of staff are friendly and approachable; always willing to help and support their students to succeed.

Postgraduate opportunities for you

Ranked in the top 1% of universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2018), with 200 taught courses and more than 90 research courses on offer, Southampton has the world-renowned academics and facilities to help you become the best in your field.

Choosing to study at Southampton means becoming part of a vibrant, postgraduate community.

Take your place at the cutting-edge, among some of the most talented students and academics in the world.

Southampton is the largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England.

We are situated 75 miles from London; 19 miles from Portsmouth and 12 miles from Winchester. We are only a few minutes from the New Forest National Park which is 219 square miles of beautiful parkland and forest. Much of South-west Hampshire is beautiful countryside which extends into south-east Wiltshire and towards the east of Dorset. We are also very close to Stonehenge, one of the wonders of the world and the best known prehistoric monument in Europe.

Southampton has a population of approximately 220,000 and is one of the UK's most green and pleasant metropolitan areas. Southampton has its own airport and fast rail links to London and the rest of the UK. Being located on the south coast we are the home of Carnival UK and have the largest cruise ships in the world visit us on a regular basis.

Southampton is also the home of Southampton Football Club which competes in the Premier League and The Ageas Bowl, the home of Hampshire County Cricket Club.