The Musicology major gives students the opportunity to develop a deep and sophisticated understanding of the cultural, historical, theoretical, and analytical situation of music across a variety of cultures and historical periods. Students complete two compulsory first-year courses which introduce the notion of inquiry-based musical scholarship, both of the traditional academic kind, and also purely musical modes of inquiry such as interpretation, improvisation, transcription and analysis. Thereafter, a wide range of academic music courses are available to students for them to complete the required 36 units of later-year music study. The courses available allow sufficient specialization for students to focus on a particular area - for instance musicological research, ethnomusicology, theory and analysis, music criticism – and gain a robust preparation for Honours and further research in that area.

Learning Outcomes

Students completing the Musicology major will have the knowledge and skills to:

1. Demonstrate high-level skills and knowledge of the languages, forms, materials, and techniques of a wide range of musics;
2. Develop and evaluate musical, cultural, and artistic ideas, concepts and processes by thinking creatively, critically and reflectively, and through engaging with genuine scholarship and recent research;
3. Interpret, communicate and present ideas, problems and arguments to do with music and the arts in modes suited to a wide range of audiences, informed by sophisticated inquiry and scholarship;
4. Recognise and reflect on complex social, cultural and ethical issues, and apply local and international perspectives to practice in music.