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Explore our Music facilities with Guildhall students

Guildhall has a unique buzz and vibe to it…a great sense of community and friendliness

Rebecca Carson
BMus Flute

Rebecca Carson
Guildhall has prepared me for a career in music therapy from searching for jobs to having brilliant work experience from the placements they chose for me

Emma Barber
MA Music Therapy

Emma Barber
Guildhall had a crucial role in my success. The very high quality orchestral projects and masterclasses prepared me for professional life

Joao Seara
BMus Double Bass

Joao Seara
Studying at the Guildhall School has been a life-changing and unforgettable adventure

Rebekah Carpio
MMus Clarinet (Orchestral Artistry)

Rebekah Carpio
The strong collaboration between departments has created a very special and supportive atmosphere

Meili Li
MMus Opera Studies

Meili Li
The teaching staff encourage the diversity that Guildhall is known for…there is something for everyone, regardless of style and influence

Oliver Leith
MMus Composition

Oliver Leith
Such incredible musicians and inspiring teachers and the opportunity to hear from world-class visiting artists has been invaluable

Vijay Prakash
MMus Jazz Trombone

Vijay Prakash
During my time here, I organised an international conference based around my subject involving delegates from 4 continents

Emily Baines
DMus, ‘Mechanical Musical Instruments as a Source for Historical Performance’

Emily Baines
In my first year, I was given the opportunity to play with the Britten-Pears Orchestra. We performed a number of concerts and our CD, recorded at one of those concerts, went on to win the BBC Music Magazine Award for Best Opera Recording.

Andrew McCoy
BMus Tenor Trombone

Andrew McCoy
Working in pairs during the MA has helped me developer a deeper understanding of how opera composers work and how to spark their imaginations with a libretto.

Zoe Palmer (writer)
MA Opera Making and Writing

Zoe Palmer (writer)
The relationship between the Barbican, BBC, and Guildhall is absolutely invaluable as it provides opportunities for students that cannot be found elsewhere.

Emiko Edwards
MPerf Piano

Emiko Edwards
I feel that the people here really make the institution. I found Guildhall to be a really supportive environment that gave me room to explore, take risks, and mature as a mucisian, and as a human being.

Francesca Chiejina
MPerf Vocal Studies

Francesca Chiejina
Writing music for theatre has been a highlight of my time at Guildhall, as it has allowed me to explore an art form in which I have a great amount of interest and to work towards a professional finished product.

Alexander Hall
BMus Composition

Alexander Hall
Barbican is a key partner of Guildhall, and we can often get artists who perform there to do a masterclass or project with us, and we often do performances at Barbican events.

Ieva Vaitiekunaite
BMus Electronic Music

Ieva Vaitiekunaite
Whether it is in sit-in rehearsals, side-by-side projects or chamber orchestra sessions, the LSO players offer invaluable guidance and provide a glimpse of the exceptional standards we aspire towards.

Rees Webster
MPerf Oboe (Orchestral Artistry)

Rees Webster
I was excited to cover a role in the UK premiere of Andrew Norman's 'A Trip to the Moon' in the Barbican, have a solo recital at LSO St Luke's and also to sing on the stage of Wigmore Hall.

Mirjam Mesak
MPerf Vocal Studies

Mirjam Mesak
I knew about the fantastic tutoring and resources, but the friendly and stimulating environment clinched it for me.

Eden Lonsdale
BMus Composition

Eden Lonsdale
I had the opportunity to play percussion with the Guildhall Studio Orchestra which gave me the chance to learn from, and play alongside, amazing senior players, as well as to perform with the incredible Liane Carroll.

Dave Adsett
BMus Jazz Drums

Dave Adsett
Guildhall is an institution that knows it has to be connected to the outside world - that's the key thing. It's not a bubble. It has roots in the city and in the world.

Jonathan Ferrucci
Artist Diploma Piano

Jonathan Ferrucci
One minute you could be playing in the Guildhall Studio Orchestra with jazz musicians, the next you could be playing in the opera pit, then the next minute you'll b e with actors doing the musical and then playing a symphony in the orchestra.

Millie Ashton
BMus Violin

Millie Ashton
The departmental philosophy of returning opera back to something that is essentially produced as part of a company is a really great thing.

Klara Kofen (writer)
MA Opera Making and Writing

Klara Kofen (writer)
The quality of teaching is amazingly high. With the guidance and help that I've been given, I feel my work has got dramatically better over a short space of time.

Lucy Armstrong (composer)
MA Opera Making and Writing

Lucy Armstrong (composer)
I set up a piano trio when I arrived, and we have weekly coaching with members of the Endellion Quartet and the faculty. It has been very rewarding.

Leo Popplewell
MMus Cello

Leo Popplewell
It seemed like this was a place to go and experience a complete world of art and performance and see what happened - a place that really encouraged you to make things that you want to make.

Vittorio Angelone
BMus Percussion

Vittorio Angelone
Home > Music > Courses > Undergraduate > Bachelor of Music honours degree > Academic Studies > Electives Year 2

Electives Years 2

Classical students may choose to continue with further classes in Ear-Training or Musical Materials if they wish.

Jazz students may be required to continue with further classes in Rhythm and Aural/Transcription (depending on their progress in year 1), or may choose to continue their jazz musicianship classes at a higher level.

Elective modules offered may vary. Electives which are usually offered include:

Analysis

The course aims at opening students to careful listening to their typical repertoire (tonal and early twentieth century), so as to give them experience of what shapes and gives impact to such music. It also aims at fostering an awareness of the wide diversity of analytical approaches and encouraging a questioning of previously accepted norms.

Collaborative Skills

The course aims at enabling students to develop and apply skills within a variety of workshop/performance environments, through performing and presenting in new and challenging environments, including with practitioners from other art forms.

Composition

The course aims to cater for individual tastes and preferences whilst following a structured scheme of work, which enables an individual compositional style to emerge through the use of models and study of twentieth and twenty-first century works.

Electronic Music

Students take part in classes whose purpose is to introduce electronic music instrument technology to those who are not yet familiar with it and to advance the creative understanding of those who are. The course introduces various aspects of electronic music-making: the computer, sampler, effects units and synthesiser programming.

Jazz Workshop (for non-jazz students)

The course is a practical performing introduction to jazz concepts and techniques, harmony and improvisation. After a basic presentation of jazz chording and voice-leading, students perform together by imitation and experimentation over simple bass and harmonic patterns.

Keyboard Musicianship

Students are divided into groups on the basis of their experience, keyboard proficiency and musical background. The aim of these classes is to develop skills that will support work in musicianship and principal study areas. For more advanced keyboard players, the course covers figured bass, score-reading, transposition, jazz chords and symbols, diatonic harmonisation, improvisation, and sight-reading. For beginners it offers a chance to develop a basic piano technique and to tackle simple keyboard musicianship tasks.

Music History (for non-jazz students)

There are two different courses on offer that are designed to cover the main aspects of Western music history from the late Renaissance to the twentieth century, with particular reference to relevant social and cultural environments and the place of music in society. The options are: 1) Baroque craft to Romantic art (1600-1900) and 2) The fragmentation of tradition (twentieth century music).

Second Study

This elective offers students the opportunity for one-to-one lessons on a specific instrument appropriate to their needs and abilities. The intention is to enable students to work intensively on skills that are not offered generally in classes and to develop individually where they have already shown application and accomplishment. The level of ability required is comparable to the standard needed for Principal Study.