Music (Performance)

This music performance degree enables you to develop key professional skills and an impressive CV of evidence and experience that appeals to employers, preparing you for a range of different careers in the music industry.

In particular, we train you in:

• Advanced musicianship
• Advanced vocal and instrumental technique
• Interpretation and performance practice of a variety of musical styles
• Improvisation techniques
• Advanced ensemble musicianship

In addition to the above, you’ll have the opportunity to widen and strengthen your skill set as a musician to broaden the scope of your career. You’ll get the chance to choose from modules that explore:

• Recording and documenting music
• Blogging, podcasting and online media
• Music teaching, workshop leading and social engagement
• Event management, marketing and creative entrepreneurship

Year one
Your first year focuses on developing and refining your core practical musicianship skills. Through practical work and performance opportunities, you’ll explore the areas in which your practice can make a difference in people’s lives.

You'll also develop your ability to make recordings and videos, learning to edit these for online contexts. Across the year, you’ll undertake a series of short projects, working individually and in groups.

Year two
In your second year, you begin to specialise as a performer. Working in small, intensive classes, you’ll be coached by our specialist staff to develop your techniques and build a cross-genre repertoire. You’ll choose modules that support your unique career aspirations.

You’ll get the chance to work with communities, in educational settings, and produce events. You can also opt to develop your ability to communicate ideas about music through different media, such as podcasts, videos, and social media.

Year three
In your third year, you’ll specialise as a performer, following your own musical interests. Your intensive classes with our specialist performance staff will continue, and you’ll undertake a series of performance projects.

You can choose modules which include projects in areas such as education, community music, health and wellbeing, and arts management.

By the end of the course, you’ll be able to demonstrate both your skills as a performer and the entrepreneurial skills necessary to kick-start your performance career.

This highly practical course is taught through a mix of workshops and rehearsals, as well as small group coaching. All of our Music Performance staff are highly qualified specialist performers with years of industry experience.

You may also choose to explore wider content from our BA Music degree, which includes seminars and lectures, alongside tutorial support.

We provide regular sessions with visiting music professionals, who discuss their careers and offer key advice about how the industry works today.

To find out more about how we teach and how you'll learn, please read our Learning and Teaching Delivery Statement.

All of our assessments are based in practical music-making. In addition to performances, your general musicianship will be assessed, as will your creative outputs such as audio-visual documentation, podcasts, websites, teaching materials, project proposals and public events.

As a result, your assessment projects will form a portfolio that can be used to evidence your skills to employers, as part of a showreel or CV.

BA (Hons) Music (Performance) equips you for a number of careers within and related to musical performance. When you graduate, you’ll understand how to:

• present yourself as a professional performer
• set up your own music business or agency
• thrive as a freelance musician.

You’ll be able to find and create opportunities for employment, including:

• musical director
• member of a theatre orchestra
• session musician
• function band director.

As part of your degree, you could study abroad on a placement at one of Bath Spa’s partner universities.

If you’re a full-time undergraduate student starting your first year at Bath Spa University, you can apply for the Certificate in Global Citizenship, which you’ll study alongside your degree.

You’ll gain global awareness and add an international dimension to your student experience, and funding is available. On successful completion of the programme, you’ll be awarded a Certificate in Global Citizenship. This is in addition to your degree; it doesn’t change your degree title or results.

This optional placement year provides you with the opportunity to identify, apply for and secure professional experience, normally comprising one to three placements over a minimum of nine months. Successful completion of this module will demonstrate your ability to secure and sustain graduate-level employment.

By completing the module, you'll be entitled to the addition of 'with Professional Placement Year' to your degree title.

Before your Professional Placement Year, you'll work to secure your placement, constructing a development plan with your module leader and your placement coordinator from our Careers and Employability team.

On your return to University for your final year, you'll submit your Placement Portfolio, detailing your development on your placement.

The course is taught at our Newton Park campus, based in the Michael Tippett Centre, which houses a purpose-built concert hall, performance spaces, practice rooms, and recording studios.

Music students also have access to the campus’s wider arts facilities, including numerous electronic music studios, the University Theatre, and industry-spec TV studios.

• A purpose-built concert hall with Steinway D grand piano
• 17 practice rooms, including a drum room and four with electronically-variable acoustics
• Five recording studios
• Two multi-computer Mac labs with industry-standard software including Sibelius, Logic Audio Pro, Ableton Live, ProTools, and Max/MSP
• Access to the University's Asset Store, where you can hire industry-standard audio-visual equipment for free
• A large collection of acoustic and electric instruments, including five grand pianos, orchestral percussion instruments, early music instruments and a full Javanese gamelan
• A substantial music library of scores and recordings, and a wide range of online music resources. Our Subject Librarian for Music provides subject-specific support, including help with research.
• The Writing and Learning Centre provides support for your academic work, including feedback on written drafts and other help with academic writing.
• Our Virtual Learning Environment provides online access to learning materials such as lecture slides, assessment information, discussion boards and other resources. 
• The Careers team run networking events and advisory workshops that explore your future options and the essentials of the job application process. They help you get experience by assisting with your search for work placements and paid part-time jobs while you're studying. When you're ready to progress into your chosen career, they can help you secure graduate-level employment, freelance opportunities, and funding for your own business ideas. Career support continues for years after you graduate with the dedicated Grad Support Unit.
• You’ll have free access to thousands of business, design and tech courses online via LinkedIn Learning.
• If English isn't your first language, our English Language Unit can help you improve your English, reach your full potential and boost your confidence.
• Our Student Wellbeing Services are available to support you through your learning.