Newcastle University

Folk and Traditional Music BMus Honours
UCAS Code: W340 (4 Years)

• Course Overview
• Modules
• Entry Requirements
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Our degrees are divided into Stages. Each Stage lasts for an academic year and you need to complete modules totalling 120 credits by the end of each Stage.

Please be aware that programme modules do change and therefore may differ for your year of entry.

Stages 1

Compulsory modules

• MUS1012 Understanding Music History
• MUS1090 Performance Studies (Folk and Traditional Music) 1
• MUS1091 Additional Performance Studies (Folk and Traditional Music) 1
• MUS1092 Ensemble 1
• MUS1096 The Traditions of These Islands
• MUS1050 Music Skills (Folk and Traditional Music)

If you achieve a Stage 1 average of 60 per cent or more, it is possible to spend one semester on an Erasmus exchange, studying folk music at one of our partner institutions abroad. This usually takes place in semester 2.

Stage 2

Compulsory modules

• MUS2065 Studying Vernacular Musics
• MUS2050 Music Skills (Folk and Traditional Music) 2
• MUS2088 Folk Music Studies: Resources and Research Materials
• MUS2090 Performance Studies (Folk and Traditional Music) 2
• MUS2092 Ensemble 2
• MUS2094 Additional Performance Studies (Folk and Traditional Music) 2

Stage 3 

Compulsory modules

• MUS2060 Ethnomusicology
• MUS3090 Performance Studies (Folk and Traditional Music) 3

Optional modules

You choose one of the following optional modules:

• MUS3112 Teaching, Learning and Community: Folk and Traditional Music
• MUS3095 Music Enterprise

You choose one of the following optional modules:

• MUS2041 Contemporary Compositional Techniques
• MUS2045 Indian Music in Practice 1
• MUS3092 Additional Performance Studies (Folk and Traditional Music) 3
• MUS3093 Folk Ensemble 3

You take at least one of the following optional modules:

• MUS2037 The Scope of Irish Traditional Music
• MUS2066 Organology: Musical Instruments and Cultures
• MUS2079 Music in the Holocaust
• MUS2080 Jazz Criticism: African American Music & Emerging Social Forces
• MUS3031 Studying Black Music
• MUS2098 Noises, Sounds, and Gestures: Experimental Improvisation and Electroacoustic Composition
• MUS3083 Conducting Studies

Stage 4

Compulsory modules

•  MUS3054 Music and Cultural Theory

Optional modules

You take one of the following optional modules:

• MUS3012 Major Specialist Study: Composition
• MUS3013 Major Specialist Study: Dissertation
• MUS3014 Major Specialist Study: Performance
• MUS3015 Major Specialist Study: Project

Plus one of the following:

• MUS3016 Minor Specialist Study: Composition
• MUS3017 Minor Specialist Study: Dissertation
• MUS3018 Minor Specialist Study: Performance
• MUS3019 Minor Specialist Study: Project

In addition, you choose two modules from the following list:

• MUS2045 Indian Music in Practice 1
• MUS2046 Indian Music in Practice 2
• MUS3087 Contemporary Music Practice 2
• MUS3095 Music Enterprise
• MUS3112 Teaching, Learning and Community: Folk and Traditional Music
• MUS2037 The Scope of Irish Traditional Music
• MUS2066 Organology: Musical Instruments and Cultures
• MUS2079 Music in the Holocaust
• MUS2080 Jazz Criticism: African American Music & Emerging Social Forces
• MUS3031 Studying Black Music
• MUS3083 Conducting Studies

Alternative optional modules may also be available.