- UCAS course code
- WW34
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
BA Music and Drama
Explore your passion for performance through the interdisciplinary study of music, theatre and film.
Duration: 3 years
Year of entry: 2025
UCAS course code: WW34 / Institution code: M20
- Key features:
Scholarships available
- Typical A-level offer: AAB including specific subjects
- Typical contextual A-level offer: ABC including specific subjects
- Refugee/care-experienced offer: BBC including specific subjects
- Typical International Baccalaureate offer: 35 points overall with 6,6,5 at HL including Music
Fees and funding
Fees
Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2025 will be £9,535 per annum (subject to Parliamentary approval). Tuition fees for international students will be £28,500 per annum. For general information please see the undergraduate finance pages.
Policy on additional costs
All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).
Scholarships/sponsorships
The Department of Music will provide first-year bursaries to support undergraduate students who have demonstrated exceptional levels of achievement in their instrumental and/or vocal studies. These £1000 bursaries will be awarded in the first year of study (2024/25 academic year), paid direct to students in two instalments.
More information, including eligibility criteria, can be found here.
Course unit details:
Harmony and Counterpoint
| Unit code | MUSC20112 |
|---|---|
| Credit rating | 10 |
| Unit level | Level 2 |
| Teaching period(s) | Semester 2 |
| Available as a free choice unit? | Yes |
Overview
Students will learn the principles of harmony and counterpoint to an advanced level, through writing short fughettas in the late Baroque style, and harmonising songs in the style of Schubert and Schumann, with the aid of both practical observation and study of theoretical principles.
Pre/co-requisites
| Unit title | Unit code | Requirement type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Techniques of Tonal Harmony | MUSC10112 | Pre-Requisite | Compulsory |
Aims
- To ensure a familiarity with, and understanding of, some fundamental idioms of Western musical language
- To gain fluency in manipulating notes within a given style
- To develop the ear
- To develop good practice in musical notation and calligraphy
- To gain in-depth knowledge of some major works and the principles on which they are constructed
Teaching and learning methods
Weekly tutorials, at which students have exercises corrected by the tutor and the underlying principles explained to them. Each student receives individual attention each week except in the two weeks when there are lectures.
Knowledge and understanding
- Understand the basic principles of harmony and counterpoint in the common-practice Western tradition, to an advanced level
- Recognise some songs by Schubert and Schumann and fugues from Bach’s Das wohltemperirte Clavier, and the principles on which they are constructed
Intellectual skills
- Manipulate notes on paper, and recognise any faulty harmony and part-writing in the tonal idiom
- Relate sounds to notation more effectively
Practical skills
- Harmonise melodies from the core Western Classical tradition
- Write fluent counterpoint, exhibiting skill in part-writing and imitation
- Create soundly constructed music within the tonal idiom, combining their knowledge of harmonic and contrapuntal principles
Transferable skills and personal qualities
- Think more clearly and logically, especially in relation to any concepts involving both numerical and linguistic competence
- Possess greater skills at problem solving and creative thinking
- Challenge received wisdom more effectively.
Employability skills
- Other
- Make more informed interpretative decisions when performing Apply general principles from this course (where applicable) to composition Write about music in a more informed way A good knowledge of these skills is valuable for teaching, whether in schools (especially A-level), or teaching instruments / voice and guiding pupils through theory exams
Assessment methods
| Portfolio of fughettas | 50% |
| Exam | 50% |
Feedback methods
- Weekly oral and written feedback on their exercises
- Additional one-to-one feedback if required (during the consultation hour or by making an appointment)
Recommended reading
- Bach, Das wohltemperirte Clavier (48 Preludes and Fugues), Book 1
- Schubert, any volume of his Lieder
- Schumann, any volume of his Lieder
These items are readily accessible on the IMSLP website and can be downloaded and printed off from it
Study hours
| Scheduled activity hours | |
|---|---|
| Lectures | 2 |
| Tutorials | 9 |
| Independent study hours | |
|---|---|
| Independent study | 89 |
Teaching staff
| Staff member | Role |
|---|---|
| Barry Cooper | Unit coordinator |