Entry requirements
Access to HE Diploma
Access pass with 45 credits at Level 3 (15 merit or higher)
UCAS Tariff
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Attend an interview
Present a portfolio
About this course
Overview
Jazz is one of the most complex and creative musical forms. If you are an ambitious musician, this advanced degree will enable you to develop your technique, skills and experience, ready to launch a professional career in the music industry.
Why study BA Jazz at Middlesex University?
BA Jazz is an exciting and practical course where you get to play all the music that you study in class. Performance, improvisation and composition are intrinsically linked in jazz music so they are embedded within all areas of our course. We encourage you to develop your own voice whilst acknowledging the jazz tradition and you will examine a wide range of music and artists each year, giving you a diverse and exciting course of study.
This degree requires a high standard of musicianship. You will learn to work quickly, effectively and flexibly by joining a range of ensembles and performing at London jazz venues.
Our London location puts you at the heart of the capital's thriving music scene: where you can access promoters, labels, concerts, gigs and the wealth of musical opportunities that London holds. You will also benefit from the expertise of a team of successful professional musicians, currently active in the music industry, who will help you build the contacts and experience required for a music industry career. Successful graduates from the BA Jazz degree include Led Bib, who received a Mercury Prize nomination for their album Sensible Shoes. You can find out more about our graduates in the Careers tab.
Course highlights
You will benefit from the expert teaching, training and support of our four dedicated jazz lecturers (find out more in the Profiles tab), as well as our wider music staff, who are leading academics, musicians, composers and producers
We offer work placement options, visiting lectures from industry and regular masterclasses, opening up a wide range of viewpoints from professionals such as music industry specialists, concert pianists and music agency staff
Access to world-class facilities including: a concert hall, two performance halls, soundproofed practice rooms, pianos (including two Steinway grand pianos), hybrid analogue-digital sound recording facilities, and a recording studio
The music department hosts weekly guest speakers. Guests have included Mark Lawrence (Director of Membership, PRS), Geoff Travis (founder, Rough Trade), Tom Robinson (BBC DJ, singer-songwriter), James Threlfall (A&R, Champion Records) and Dave Tomberlin (Music Publicist, Interscope Geffen A&M)
The option to study abroad during your second year. In the past, students have travelled to New Orleans, Sacramento and Helsinki
As a student of this course you'll receive a free electronic textbook for every module.
Modules
Year 1:
Introduction to Ethnomusicology (30 Credits) - Compulsory
Jazz Harmony and Theory 1 (30 credits) - Compulsory
Jazz Performance 1 (30 credits) - Compulsory
Stylistic Studies 1 (30 credits) - Compulsory
Year 2:
Jazz Harmony and Theory 2 (30 credits) - Compulsory
Jazz Performance 2 (30 credits) - Compulsory
Jazz Repertoire (30 credits) - Compulsory
Stylistic Studies 2 (30 credits) - Compulsory
Year 3:
Advanced Jazz Improvisation (30 credits) - Compulsory
Stylistic Studies 3 (30 credits) - Compulsory
Un-American Activities (30 credits) - Compulsory
Independent Project (30 credits) - Optional
Jazz Major Project (30 credits) - Optional
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Hendon Campus
Performing Arts
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.
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
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
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.
Top job areas of graduates
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Performing arts
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£15k
£17k
£20k
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.
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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).
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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