Study Music for the Creative Industries at Bradford College

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Entry requirements

Source: UCAS

• A BTEC or UAL Level 3 qualification in Music • A GCE Advanced Level profile that demonstrates strong performance in a relevant subject or adequate performance in more than one GCE subject. This profile is likely to be supported by GCSE grades at A* to C (9-4) (or equivalent) • Other related Level 3 qualifications • An Access to Higher Education Diploma awarded by an approved institution or provider • An international equivalent of the above. • Related work experience

You may also need to…

Attend an interview

Perform an audition

About this course

Source: UCAS

This course has alternative study modes. Contact the university to find out how the information below might vary.

Course option

2years

Full-time | 2024

Other options

4 years | Part-time | 2024

Subjects

Music technology

Musicianship and performance studies

The principal aims of the Foundation Degree in Arts is to:

- provide students with a professional foundation for a range of artistic and technical careers in the music industry and other related fields.

- develop you as a competent musician and music technologist who is equipped with the necessary skills to create, perform and produce music to a professional standard.

- develop the skills you require to work independently and autonomously through work based learning and vocationally focused assessment.

- ensure that you are able to participate in both Music and Higher Education, regardless of your background.

- enable you to engage in a stimulating and up-to-date curriculum that reflects industry practice, encompasses new developments and acknowledge trends.

- enhance your employability within the creative industries by promoting a collaborative approach to teaching and learning across different disciplines.

- enable you to pursue further study at Level 6.

- offer a practical course of study in music where theory and practice are fused and in which both conceptual awareness and practical, creative skills are developed and applied in work related contexts.

- provide you with skills in research, analysis, problem solving and critical reflection and the visual, written and verbal communication skills required of a graduate entrant to the music industry.

Distinctive features of the programme

• The programme is delivered by experienced practicing music professionals and academics, all of whom have a wide range of skills and relevant industry experience.
• The programme encompasses a broad range of learning and teaching opportunities in Music, including conceptual, technical and commercial areas.
• The programme allows you to build on your previous learning and experience, giving you the opportunity to produce work of a professional standard within your music specialism.
• The department has significant partnerships with local venues and music service providers to ensure that professional experience is embedded within your programme.
• The programme provides the opportunity to work collaboratively across different disciplines, creating a professional and vocational experience at every opportunity.
• The department is fully equipped with industry standard equipment and facilities. The software packages available include Logic and Sibelius, and the IT equipment is all Apple Mac based, as is the norm in the music industry.
• There is live sound and production equipment available, including a state-of-the-art control room and live room. The PA equipment is of professional standard, with RCF speakers, Allan & Heath and Behringer digital mixing desks and industry standard microphones.
• The programme offers a range of opportunities to enhance your learning which may include overseas trips, visiting guest lecturers, live performance opportunities and professional commissions.
• The department offers you a high level of pastoral and academic support with accessible and helpful tutors.
• The College is committed to working in partnership with students – recognising the importance of the student voice and providing regular and timely informal and formal feedback to all students to support their learning experience and development as a practitioner.

Modules

The first year of the programme follows a generic professional practice and project based module route, alongside the embedding of specific skills in music theory and songwriting. There is no optionality in the first year of the programme, as the modules focus on ensuring that your skills in these key areas are as developed as possible. This will then allow for all students to enter the second year on a level playing field, where they are able to develop more specific skills.

Year 1 modules: Aural Perception and Music Theory; Music Project; Songwriting Techniques; Music Sequencing Technology; Music Performance Studies; Creative Industries Context.

In the second year of the programme you will be able to choose your specialism, either a performance or a technology/production related route. This will allow you to develop more specific skills in the area that you wish to become employed in. It will also allow for further collaboration between yourself and other students, as both performance and production skills will be taught very specifically, resulting in high quality productions and performances.

Year 2 modules: Composing for Film and TV OR Audio Post Production; Collaborative Project; Improvisation OR Sampling and Synthesis; Live Events Process and Production; Performance in the new Music Industry OR Music Studio Technology; Creative Industries Professional Practice and Entrepreneurship.

Assessment methods

This programme underpins the development of your practical skills as a musician with key theories, context and the development of academic skills. The programme is intended to be predominantly practical in its assessment and delivery, but with key theories and contextual information delivered as part of the programme to underpin these practices. You are expected to develop vocational skills that will help you to learn in a more real world and vocational scenario. This could be through putting on a performance project or working with students from a different department to produce the piece of assessed work.

The e-learning strategy has been incorporated into the lessons to enhance the learning experience. You will use technology within some of the sessions for composition and notation. You may also notate pieces of written work by creating a blog or website. You will also utilise the College’s own VLE to further your learning experience away from the classroom. All the resources are posted on the VLE and you can engage further with it by taking quizzes and submitting assignments via ‘Turnitin’.

Whilst there is currently no formal work placement as part of the programme, the vocational nature of the modules will ensure that employability is addressed across both years of the qualification. There is a clear drive towards ensuring that graduates from the programme will embed the skills required to produce high quality work to a deadline in a professional format, whilst collaborating with other students across related disciplines. This will give you the opportunity to apply the skills and knowledge you have acquired in a work-based scenario. If opportunities arise that will allow you to enrich your learning with work related experience, then these will be encouraged, although there will be no formal assessed applied weighting to it.

Tutorial sessions are worked into the scheme of work for each unit to ensure that you are offered one to one support with your transition to higher education and to ensure that you have a clear understanding of what is required in each unit. You will also be supported through regular assessment workshops to work through any questions that you may have in terms of the progression of the unit and essentially the assessment for the unit.

There will also be guest masterclasses from visiting professionals periodically throughout the programme to give further context to the content delivered in the lectures.

The format of work submitted for assessment could be in the form of an essay, presentation, performance or portfolio. Across the programme a range of assessment formats will be utilised that will reflect the nature of the unit (theory or practical) and to account for different learning styles.

There will be collaborative work with students from your programme and from other areas of the School. The assessment methods for these projects will be in the form of a finished piece of work that is of a professional standard. This could be in the form of a collaborative performance with an accompanying journal, a recorded song with accompanying music video or short film for which you have composed the score.

Critical reflection forms a major part of the assessment for all the modules, with the development of portfolios providing much of the evidence for your reflection of learning and development. This should also help to provide you with a completed portfolio of work that could help you to enter employment when finishing the programme.

This project work allows for formative assessment to be ongoing throughout a module. Your tutors will maintain close contact with you throughout these projects, giving evidence for both formative and summative assessment whilst the module progresses.