Bachelor of Music (Performance)

Course M05-MP (2008)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2008. Search for this in the current handbook

This is a
New Generation course
, part of the
Melbourne Model
and is available from 2008
Year and Campus: 2008
Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Level: Undergraduate

Contact

Faculty of Music University of Melbourne Victoria 3010 Conservatorium BuildingTel: +61 3 8344 5256 Fax: +61 3 8344 5346 Email via: http://music-unimelb.custhelp.comWeb: www.bmus.unimelb.edu.au and www.music.unimelb.edu.au
Course Overview: The Bachelor of Music program is a three year, full time degree that offers intensive pre-professional music training, including one-to-one tuition in vocal and instrumental performance and composition, a wide variety of ensemble opportunities, and cutting- edge, focused studies in music history, compositional craft and technology.

The BMus enables students to specialise in composition and musicology/ ethnomusicology, and to design a course structure appropriate to their interests and vocational aspirations.

Objectives: On completion of this course, students should be able to:
  • contextualise their performing within the best practices of local, national and international standards;
  • demonstrate a sound knowledge and understanding of their discipline;
  • pursue musical knowledge and skills independently, with intellectual honesty and rigorous methods of inquiry both in a specialisation and in the discipline as a whole;
  • use and assimilate the potential of technologies to facilitate the dissemination of musical skills, knowledge and information;
  • make critical, informed and sophisticated responses to new musical ideas, methodologies and theoretical frameworks, both in their specialisation and in the discipline of music as a whole;
  • show empathy, self-reflection and critical intelligence in the dissemination of skills and knowledge in their specialisation;
  • work competently and productively in a musical setting, both alone and in groups;
  • integrate a holistic view of music from different times and places into their working and intellectual lives;
  • participate with integrit, discrimination and sound knowledge and understanding in national and international debates, dialogues and discussions in their area of specialsiation and in the discipline as a whole;
  • communicate effectively;
  • qualify for employment in a wide range of occupations in the music profession;
  • have a lifelong commitment to learning.
Course Structure & Available Subjects:

The new generation Bachelor of Music is characterised by:

  • a 225-point sequence of subjects requiring evidence of accumulating development and depth of study over three years and mastery of skills and knowledge-based outcomes in the discipline of music and incorporating:
  • a common first-year experience in which four areas of study in music are pursued:
    • Performance skills
    • Historical, theoretical and contextual studies
    • Aural studies
    • Applied skills
  • 25 points of breadth subjects in each of the first, second and third years in an area of intellectual enquiry that complements and enriches but is distinct from the ways of understanding the world acquired through the study of music
  • the acquisition of skills,expertise and knowledge necessary to self-manage a portfolio career in music through subjects taken for credit and newly-developed academic enrichment strategies
  • the sequential accumulation of musical skills and knowledge to equip students as music educators
  • flexibility in subject choice in the second year, allowing students to commence specialised studies leading to a vocational/professional and/or a research higher degree outcome, and including the possibility of a semester of study abroad
  • a directed program of academic enrichment relevant to employment as a Bachelor of Music graduate
  • consolidation of specialised skills and knowledge in the third year, including a Capstone experience
  • progression to a sequential or graduate degree in another discipline
  • exit from tertiary study with the capacity for later direct or lateral articulation into a graduate degree in music or another discipline
Subject Options:

First Year

All students take the following subjects in the first year
Subject
Study Period Commencement:
Credit Points:
Semester 1, Semester 2
12.50
Semester 1, Semester 2, Summer
12.50
Year Long
6.25

PLUS

Two Applied Skills Electives 12.500

Breadth subjects* 25.000

*to include ESL subject/s as directed

Second and Third year

Students commence as specialisation sequence of study from second year, retaining some flexibility and capacity to move between specialisations and keeping postgraduate options open.

Performance Specialisation

Second year

Music Performance 3 12.500

Music Performance 4 12.500

Music Language 2: Chromaticism and Beyond 12.500

Aural Studies 2 6.250

Music since the French Revolution 12.500

Academic or Applied Skills Electives 18.750

Breadth Subjects 25.000

Third year

Music Performance 5 12.500

Music Performance 6 12.500

Music Language 3: Modern Directions 12.500

Applied Skills Electives 12.500

Academic or Music Studies Electives 25.000

Breadth Subjects 25.000

Composition Specialisation

Second year

Composition 1 12.500

Composition 2 12.500

Music Language 2: Chromaticism and Beyond 12.500

Aural Studies 2 6.250

Music since the French Revolution 12.500

Electro Acoustic Music 12.500

Applied Skills Elective 6.250

Breadth Subjects 25.00

Third year

Composition 3 12.500

Composition 4 12.500

Music Language 3: Modern Directions 12.500

Orchestration 12.500

Academic or Applied Skills or Music Studies Electives 25.000

Breadth Subjects 25.000

Musicology/Ethnomusicology Specialisation

Second year

Music Language 2: Chromaticism and Beyond 12.500

Aural Studies 2 6.250

Music since the French Revolution 12.500

Academic or Applied Skills Electives 43.750

Breadth Subjects 25.000

Third year

Music Research AND/OR Ethnography of Music 12.500 [25.000]

Academic or Applied Skills or Music Studies Electives 62.500 [50.000]

Breadth Subjects 25.000

Applied Skills Electives

Important Notes regarding electives:
  • Singers must take at least one of Language and Diction German, Italian, French and Spanish. Enrolment in these subjects for non-voice students is by special permission.
  • Year 1 pianists must take Art of Piano Teaching 1. Enrolment for all other students is by special permission.
  • Minor study subjects are available by special permission only.
Subject
Study Period Commencement:
Credit Points:
Semester 2
6.25
Semester 1, Semester 2
6.25
Semester 1, Semester 2
6.25

Applied Skills Electives - Ensemble Electives

Audition and Special Permission requirements.
A number of ensembles require an audition or special permission before enrolment can be approved. During the re-enrolment period, all ensemble selections will be processed with provisional approval. These enrolments will then be reviewed by Ensemble Directors, in the context of results, and students will be advised in late December/early January whether an audition/special permission will be needed before ensemble enrolment can be confirmed. Auditions will be held during February. The Faculty reserves the right to alter ensemble enrolments according to audition/special permission requirements.
Subject
Study Period Commencement:
Credit Points:
Semester 1
6.25
Semester 2
6.25
Semester 1
6.25
Semester 2
6.25
Semester 1
6.25
Semester 2
6.25
Semester 1
6.25
Semester 2
6.25
Semester 1, Semester 2
6.25
Semester 1, Semester 2
6.25
Semester 1, Semester 2
6.25
Semester 1, Semester 2
6.25
Semester 1, Semester 2
6.25
Semester 1, Semester 2
6.25
Semester 1
6.25
Semester 2
6.25
Semester 1, Semester 2
6.25
Semester 1, Semester 2
6.25
Semester 1, Semester 2
6.25
Semester 1
6.25
Semester 2
6.25
Semester 1
6.25
Semester 2
6.25
Semester 1
6.25
Semester 2
6.25
Semester 1
6.25
Semester 2
6.25
Semester 2
6.25
Semester 1
6.25
Semester 1
6.25
Semester 2
6.25
Semester 1
6.25
Semester 2
6.25
Semester 1
6.25
Semester 2
6.25
Semester 1
6.25
Semester 2
6.25
Semester 1
6.25
Semester 2
6.25
Not offered in 2008
6.25
Not offered in 2008
6.25

Academic Electives

Art Music and Postmodernism 12.500
Broadway and Music of the Theatre 12.500
Cabaret! 12.500
Music and Migration: The Australian Case 12.500
Music and the Poetic World 12.500
Musical Theatre in Asia 12.500
Ragtime to Rap: Popular Music since 1900 12.500

Subject
Study Period Commencement:
Credit Points:
Not offered in 2008
12.50
Not offered in 2008
12.500
Not offered in 2008
12.500
Not offered in 2008
12.50
Not offered in 2008
12.500
Not offered in 2008
12.500
Semester 2
12.50
Not offered in 2008
12.500
Not offered in 2008
12.500
Not offered in 2008
12.50
Not offered in 2008
12.500
Not offered in 2008
12.500
Not offered in 2008
12.500

Music Studies Electives

Composition Studies 12.500
Music Language 3: Modern Directions 12.500
Research Project 12.500
Subject
Study Period Commencement:
Credit Points:
Semester 1, Semester 2
12.50
Semester 1, Semester 2
12.50
Semester 2
12.50
Semester 1
12.50
Entry Requirements:

In addition to the University's entry requirements (outlined at www.futurestudents.unimelb.edu.au), applicants are required to pass an audition and complete a musicianship test.


Audition: For an audition to be at a competitive standard, we recommend that the repertoire presented be at the equivalent standard of Grade 7 AMEB (Grade 8 ABRSM) for instrumentalists or Grade 5 AMEB for vocalists. Applicants who are advanced on two instruments, and are unsure on which instrument to specialise, are welcome to audition for both instruments.

Applicants should prepare three pieces demonstrating their skill on the instrument they wish to study. The pieces should be of contrasting styles and periods, and the audition program should be no longer than 20 minutes. A sample program might include works from the Baroque, Romantic and 20th century repertoires. Applicants may also be asked to demonstrate some technical work. The audition panel will not hear all of the program and will make its own selection from the works prepared.

Live auditions are usually held from late November into early December. Applicants from overseas, interstate or regional Victoria can submit an audition recording in CD audio format.


Musicianship Test: The musicianship test is a one-hour test of aural and theory skills. The test is held 3 times during the live audition period and for those that audition via recording, again in the Orientation period, prior to the commencement of classes.

See www.bmus.unimelb.edu.au/apply for further details.
Core Participation Requirements: It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability will impact on meeting the requirements of this course are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and the Disability Liaison Unit.
Further Study: The Faculty's offers a wide range of graduate courses:
  • Master of Music - specialisations available in Performance, Conducting, Composition, Musicology/Ethnomusicology and Music Therapy (by research)
  • Master of Music Studies (by coursework, including intensive mode subjects) - specialisations available in Performance/Teaching, Composition, Musicology/Ethnomusicology.
  • Master of Music Therapy - A coursework program leading to professional registration as Music Therapists (RMT) with the Australian Music Therapy Association (Inc.).
  • Doctor of Musical Arts - a professional coursework doctorate in music performance.
  • Doctor of Philosophy - Music (Thesis only)
  • Doctor of Philosophy - Performance (50% Performance, 50% Thesis)
  • Graduate Diploma in Guided Imagery and Music - an intensive mode coursework degree providing advanced level training in Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) therapy.
  • Postgraduate Certificate/Diploma in Music - a pathway for music graduates with a three-year degree to gain an Honours degree equivalent and thereby become eligible for higher degree study. Specialisations available in Performance, Composition, Musicology/Ethnomusicology, Instrumental/Vocal Teaching and Early Music.
  • Graduate Certificate/Diploma in Music - designed for university graduates in any field who wish to undertake university-level study in music.
For other graduate courses offered by the University, see http://www.futurestudents.unimelb.edu.au/
Graduate Attributes: Graduates of the new generation Bachelor of Music will be: Academically excellent as a result of: intensive and rigorous one-to-one tuition in performance over three years and composition over two yearsparticipation in a diversity of teaching and learning modes, including individual tuition, tutorials, masterclasses, performance and concert classes, on-line learning, seminars, large lectures and ensemble experiencesassessment practices that demand independent thinking, critical analysis and an openness to new ideasarticulate and authoritatively informed in musical discoursefamiliar and competent with research protocols, written and spoken communication skills and the ethics of scholarship through a program of core and elective academic subjects over three yearsartistically sophisticated with a high level of understanding of the aesthetic of their disciplineCompetent across disciplines as a result of: participation in a variety of "ways of knowing" within the discipline of music - solo, chamber and orchestral competency; theoretical knowledge of music, historical and contextual knowledge of music; aural acuityparticipation in 75 points of breadth subjectsable to use the interaction of music and other disciplines with creativity and insightCommunity leader through: undertaking and developing new initiatives in community awareness and understanding of the place of music in society a program of professional internshipsa program of work placement through the Melbourne Musicians' Agency leadership roles in University and community based public performances, workshops and outreach programs high level development of teamwork and group dynamic skills through participation in music ensembles Attuned to cultural diversity through: a raft of academic elective and ensemble opportunities that involve thinking about difference in ways of being musical as well as participating in music from other times and placesfamiliarity with culturally diverse ways of conceptualising and talking about musichands-on experiences of culturally diverse styles of music making and musical pedagogyGlobal citizens through: experiences gained through Study Abroadparticipation throughout the course in the inherently international nature of music in all its manifestationsawareness as ambassadors for Australia through promotion of its cultural richnessfacilitators and communicators between diverse cultural communities
Generic Skills: As you progress through the Bachelor of Music you will acquire many specific skills, especially those related to your performance on your instrument or voice both solo and in ensembles, and those related to your learning about many different aspects of music history and theory.

Every subject you take in the BMus has a set of objectives which relate the content of the subject and its assessment requirements to your acquisition, not only of specific skills and knowledge, but also of generic skills. Generic skills will accompany you throughout your life and will provide you with the expertise to enter a huge variety of careers in or related to the music profession. For example:

  • Juggling your practice, study, leisure and work time commitments provides you with generic skills in planning and time management, an ability necessary for almost any employment you can imagine.
  • Playing in ensembles, and organising rehearsals and performances, involves you in the generic skills of teamwork and leadership, which you will also need in your future career.
  • Many of the assessment tasks in your music history and theory subjects involve you in the generic "thinking skills" including critical thinking skills, analytical skills and problem-solving skills. You will also gain a sophisticated attitude towards knowledge, and develop and enhance your abilities in seeking, evaluating and retrieving information.
  • Your written and spoken presentations in many subjects develop your communication skills.
  • Your life at the Faculty will bring you into contact with students from many different backgrounds with whom you will work closely in practical and academic tasks, increasing your skills in intercultural understanding and sensitivity.

With such a battery of specific and generic skills you will be set for lifelong learning and enjoyment of music. In addition, the words used to describe generic skills which you acquire during the BMus are very useful when you are preparing your resume or curriculum vitae for job applications.

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