MusM Music (Musicology)

Find out what it's like to study at Manchester by visiting us on one of our open days .

Along with a personal statment in the application form, you must also upload an academic-standard writing sample at the end of the application form (under the CV/Resume option).

Our MusM Music (Musicology) course offers an engaging and rigorous master's-level foundation in musicology. With a strong focus on theory, methodology and current debates in the discipline, together with appropriate research techniques and presentational styles, it offers excellent preparation for doctoral study and also for a wide range of careers.

You will be able to choose units and a dissertation/critical edition topic that best matches your special interests and aspirations. Together, the taught units encompass a wide range of topics and approaches - from musicology as cultural history, through musicology and the body, source studies and performance practice, to postcolonial theory and ecomusicology.

Seminars allow for close collaboration between lecturers and students, with ample opportunity for you to present your own work and receive individual feedback. Discussion and debate forms an important part of most course units.

We aim to: 

• build on undergraduate studies of music history, aesthetics, analysis and performance by introducing you to a wide range of advanced musicological methodologies, theories, discourses and practices;
• enable you to refine and develop your individual skills, talents and interests;
• prepare you for a career, either inside or outside music, where critical judgement and developed powers of communication are needed;
• foster the skills in critical thinking, argumentation, and effective written and oral communication necessary for further postgraduate study;
• enable you to gain an expert and detailed knowledge of a specialist topic, and to formulate ideas that can later be pursued within further research programmes.

Music in Manchester

Manchester is home to more professional music-making than any UK city outside of London. There are three professional orchestras, as well as internationally recognised institutions such as the BBC, Bridgewater Hall, Opera North and The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM).

Performance 

Staging over one hundred live music events each year, the Music department is unique in its combination of academic excellence and conservatoire levels of performance. Watch examples of our previous performances by visiting the Music department YouTube channel .

Most taught course units are delivered via weekly seminars and/or tutorials. Full-time students take two 30-credit course units per semester; part-time students take one.

The dissertation or critical edition is supported by one-to-one supervision and is submitted at the beginning of September. Part-time students may submit in either September or December following their second year of study.

Seminars feature a range of presentation formats and activities, including presentations by course tutors, student presentations, discussion and debate based on prepared reading or coursework tasks, and workshop-style activities.

Members of the academic staff are also available for individual consultations during designated office hours.

Alongside your taught units, you will have access to a range of non-assessed seminars, workshops and training sessions offered by the Graduate School.

All postgraduate students are expected to undertake their own programme of self-directed learning and skills acquisition. This may also involve wider reading, language work, computer training and attendance at research seminars in other parts of the University.

There are no formal examinations. Taught course units are assessed by coursework essays or other tasks, normally submitted at the end of each semester (January and May).

The precise nature of the assessment varies according to what is appropriate to the course unit in question. In most cases, a choice of questions or topics is offered. All taught units must be satisfactorily completed.

The dissertation or critical edition (12,000-15,000 words or equivalent) is based on independent research into a topic agreed in consultation with the supervisor. A Research Outline needs to be presented and approved (usually in February) before you proceed with the dissertation.

You will have access to a wide range of study facilities and cultural assets at Manchester.

The Martin Harris Centre offers students an exceptional home equipped with state-of-the-art facilities.

Alongside teaching rooms and practice rooms, the building houses the Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall (capacity 350, with a stage large enough to accommodate a full symphony orchestra), the John Thaw Studio Theatre, the Lenagan Library and a postgraduate suite consisting of a common room and computer room.

The Lenagan Library is a small reference library housed in the Martin Harris Centre that includes major scores, reference tools and a large collection of recordings, together with listening rooms and a spacious work area.

The Henry Watson Library is located in Manchester's Central Library and is renowned for its Handel and Vivaldi manuscripts, and the library of the nearby Royal Northern College of Music.

Find out more about our facilities .

Our graduates have pursued successful careers in musical and non-musical fields. Some continue to further study via a PhD before securing an academic position. Some go on to teach in schools or further education, both in the UK and overseas.

Other areas of work for which advanced musical training has been directly relevant include arts management and the culture industries, producing, music publishing, music, journalism, librarianship, music therapy and performance.

Careers outside of music have included accountancy, law, social work and human resources.

Some graduates have gone on to work for companies that include The Old Vic, NHS, Orchestras Live, and the BBC.

The University has its own dedicated Careers Service that you would have full access to as a student and for two years after you graduate. At Manchester you will have access to a number of opportunities to help boost your employability .