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Music and Philosophy

Entry requirements


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About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

Music

Philosophy

The BA Music and Philosophy enables you to pursue your interest in both disciplines and explore the fascinating intersection between them. You will be part of two particularly vibrant departments. Located at the heart of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Durham offers the perfect juxtaposition of the ancient and the cutting-edge.

We pride ourselves on combining the traditional and the modern in the study of music, exploring diverse genres from the past and present and developing exciting new approaches in musicology, composition, music and science, analysis, ethnomusicology and performance.

As part of the philosophy element of the course, you will examine the broad divisions of philosophy, delving into metaphysics and theory of knowledge on the one hand, and moral philosophy on the other. You can also apply to add a placement year or a year abroad to your degree, increasing the course from three years to four.

In the first year you will take a variety of core and optional modules designed to give you a broad overview of the disciplines and approaches of each subject.

In the second year, there is an increased emphasis on the development of critical and analytical skills and the modules will specialise more strongly in particular areas.

The third year of this course is structured around an independent project, which can take the form of a composition portfolio, public performance recital or dissertation (in either music or philosophy).

Modules

Year 1
Core modules:
Historical Studies 1 introduces the historical study of the Western art music tradition, covering music from the baroque to late classical periods. A number of representative musical works from the period are explored and you will deepen your knowledge of those works and the contexts of their composition and reception, while also acquiring skills foundational to the practice of historical musicology.

Ethics and Values provides a structured introduction to moral philosophy, including applied ethics, by exploring key moral concepts and showing how they influence moral practices and theories.

Knowledge and Reality introduces philosophical problems in epistemology (the study of knowledge), and metaphysics (the study of reality and ourselves).

Examples of optional modules:
Introduction to Ethnomusicology; Analysis 1: Elements of Tonal Theory and Practice; Historical Composition Techniques; Composition 1: 20th Century Innovations; Performance 1 – with recital/with essay; Reading Philosophy; Science, Medicine and Society; Being Human: An Introduction to Post-Kantian Philosophy.

Year 2
Core modules:
Philosophy, Music and Improvisation introduces the relationship between music and philosophy and explores the philosophical issues to which music gives rise, how music may illuminate some of those issues, and how philosophy may illuminate the understanding of music.

Examples of optional modules:
Historical Studies 2; World Music Traditions; Studies in Popular Music; Creative Music Technology; Early Modern Philosophy; Moral Theory; Fundamentals of Logic; History, Science and Medicine.

Year 3 (Year 4 if undertaking a placement year or year abroad)
Core modules:
Portfolio of Compositions, Public Performance Project or Dissertation (in either music or philosophy).

Aesthetics provides a grounding in the philosophy of art and literature by introducing some historically important texts as well as more recent work.

Examples of optional modules:
Portfolio of Compositions; Contemporary Music Performance; Performance 3: Recorded Performance Project; Psychology of Music; Biomedical Ethics: Past and Present; History and Philosophy of Psychiatry; Philosophical Issues in Contemporary Science.

Assessment methods

Modules are assessed by a variety of means, including continuous assessment, examinations and recitals. In your third year you will undertake a major project which can be a dissertation, composition portfolio or a solo recital.

The Uni


Course locations:

College allocation pending

Durham City

Department:

Music

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What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

78%
Music
77%
Philosophy

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Music

Teaching and learning

75%
Staff make the subject interesting
94%
Staff are good at explaining things
81%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
69%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

66%
Library resources
83%
IT resources
74%
Course specific equipment and facilities
53%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

85%
UK students
15%
International students
35%
Male students
65%
Female students
98%
2:1 or above
6%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A
A
A

Philosophy

Teaching and learning

83%
Staff make the subject interesting
92%
Staff are good at explaining things
88%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
64%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

67%
Library resources
80%
IT resources
83%
Course specific equipment and facilities
63%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

81%
UK students
19%
International students
52%
Male students
48%
Female students
99%
2:1 or above
5%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A
A*
A

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Music

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£18,000
med
Average annual salary
97%
med
Employed or in further education
73%
high
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

42%
Teaching and educational professionals
13%
Artistic, literary and media occupations
11%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals

Philosophy

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£24,000
high
Average annual salary
92%
med
Employed or in further education
69%
high
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

23%
Business, research and administrative professionals
16%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
12%
Other elementary services occupations

Although there aren't a lot of jobs around for professional philosophers, philosophy degrees are a relatively popular option, with more than 2,000 students graduating in a philosophy-related subject in 2015 - a little down on previous years, but still healthy. Nearly a quarter of philosophy graduates take a postgraduate qualification, and it's a relatively common subject at both Masters and doctorate level — so if you think academic life might be for you, think ahead about how you might fund further study. For those who go into work, philosophy grads tend to go into teaching, accountancy, consulting, journalism, PR, housing, marketing, human resources and the arts while a few go into the computer industry every year, where their logical training is highly rated.

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Music

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£19k

£19k

£20k

£20k

£32k

£32k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

Philosophy

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£24k

£24k

£31k

£31k

£34k

£34k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

Explore these similar courses...

Higher entry requirements
Durham University | Durham
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BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 152-168
Nearby University
Newcastle University | Newcastle upon Tyne
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BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 128-147

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

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Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

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Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

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