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Explore our Music facilities with Guildhall students

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
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
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 Years 3 & 4

Electives Years 3 & 4

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

Advanced Ensemble

This module offers students with a particularly strong interest and talent for duo or ensemble work an additional opportunity to focus on this area. The work is intended to develop students’ capacity for autonomy and efficiency in work practice, in preparation for the nature of later experience in the outside world.

Advanced Principal Study

This module offers students with a particularly strong talent for solo or duo performance an additional opportunity to focus on this area. The work is intended to develop students’ capacity for autonomy and efficiency in work practice in preparation for the nature of later experience in the outside world.

Big-Band Arranging

The aims of this module are to establish a repertoire of big-band jazz arranging techniques, and to develop students’ abilities to create or manipulate melodic, rhythmic and harmonic materials and elements of form, whilst retaining a clear sense of musical and stylistic awareness.  

Body Matters

The module consists of classes and individual study on the interaction between the psyche and the soma (body) in the context of musicians’ performance and creation. The content of the course will include a range of body and mind issues relevant to learning, practising, creating, making and performing music. The links between mind and body will be explored. Students will have the opportunity to build upon ideas disseminated in class by choosing, in negotiation with their tutor, a particular focus for their own research, essay submission and presentation. Examples of study topics are: maintenance of good health and fitness, how to perform to maximum potential, facilitation and inhibition of musical creativity, managing competition in the profession, the ’inner critic’, and stage presence.

Brass and Wind Arranging (for classical students)

The aim of this module is to develop a professional standard of arranging for brass, wind, and percussion ensembles, to enable students to evaluate and balance artistic scope with practicality, to encourage students to produce work that reflects their personal enthusiasms and/or professional aspirations, and to develop the students’ historical, aesthetic and artistic outlook, and the ability to create their own musical challenges.

Composition for Media

The aims of this module are to introduce and develop understanding of compositional techniques appropriate for producing music for media, to generate an awareness of the factors influencing the establishment of techniques, such as composing to a brief or to a picture, to equip students with an overall knowledge of landmark films and television programmes, from a musical perspective and to equip students with up-to-date technical skills appropriate for a contemporary media composer.

Compositional Techniques (for classical students)

Techniques in Composition builds on the skills learnt in Musical Materials classes in Years 1 and 2 and uses them in more challenging contexts; this develops an understanding of historical composers’ practices which will aid students’ own performances, and develops skills that will complement and enhance learning in other elective subjects. Students choose one of five pathways: Analysis, Counterpoint, Fugue, Orchestration, and Stylistic Composition.

Conducting (for classical students)

The aim of this module is to enable students to perform in a competent manner when faced with a situation in which they have to lead/direct/conduct a group of musicians. Following on from the conducting module in Year 2, the content here is more technical, involving a considerable amount of knowledge of techniques in general and on particular chosen pieces.

Electronic and Produced 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.

Historical Performance: Performance (for classical students)

This module offers Second Study in historical instruments and vocal ensembles. It provides students an opportunity to explore different sound worlds and styles of performance through individual lessons and participation in ensembles. No previous experience in historical instruments is needed; an audition on modern instruments is required if you have not previously taken this module (or Second Study in Year 2). Vocal ensembles are allocated in collaboration with the Vocal Department.

Interpretation through Improvisation (for classical students)

The aims of this module are to combine a real-time awareness of structural, harmonic and stylistic factors with an individual search for interpretation, to encourage active listening and the ability to lead as well as to follow in an ensemble performance situation of both extemporised and composed music, to encourage the inner ear to ‘hear forward' beyond the actual notes played at any given moment and strengthen the real-time use of memory in performance, to strengthen the awareness of harmonic progressions and music structures as real-time dynamic events in motion, rather than just as theoretical issues, to develop the awareness of emotional expression in the context of musical performance.

Introduction to Music Therapy

The aims of this module are: to introduce music therapy, examining what it is and how it can be defined; to give students a broad overview of the application of music therapy in relation to different client groups and areas of work; to examine how theory is applied to the practical application of music therapy; to promote an awareness of different levels of activity in the work of music therapists – musical, interactive, psycho-dynamic and the ‘psychological overlay’.

Jazz Performance

The aims of this module are to develop students’ abilities to prepare and execute tonal jazz performances, to develop stylistic awareness through the study of rhythmic, melodic and harmonic materials; to establish a basic repertoire of tunes, and to address issues of interaction and spontaneity in performance.

Music, Philosophy and the Arts

The aims of this module are to give students an understanding of music in the context of the arts and culture in general, to ground students in techniques of philosophical analysis and critical reading, thinking and writing, to develop students’ understanding of their musical/performance studies in the context of contemporary society, and to develop students’ abilities in written presentation and abstract thinking.

Opera and Theatre (available only to Year 4 Principal Study singers)

This module aims to develop in the singer a good capacity for individual and ensemble performance in dramatic contexts, to equip singers with expertise which could be used in a broad range of professional contexts, to develop capacities of confidence, independence, self-reliance and self-reflection within contexts that require musical and dramatic expertise, to provide experience and opportunity on stage which correspond to the development of singers’ artistic and professional needs, and to develop appropriate communication and interaction skills in relation to audiences and performance partners.

Piano Works (pianists only)

This module develops expertise in preparing and performing contemporary pieces, and encourages curiosity and a level of familiarity with the areas of repertoire and their cultural backgrounds. It also gives experience of working, within this repertoire, in duos and small ensembles.

Research Project

The aims of this module are to further develop students’ appreciation of and engagement with musicology, to promote students’ independent study in musicology and increase their confidence in this work by developing their research skills (from identifying and refining a personal topic of enquiry to producing a final paper on this subject), to promote students’ critical faculties in reading, thinking, discussion and writing on musicological topics, and to develop a sophisticated understanding of the relevance of musicological study to the practice of performance artists.

Second Study

Second Study offers students the chance to have one-to-one lessons in a specific area where they have demonstrated exceptional ability and accomplishment. The intention is to enable students to work intensively and to follow an individual study path which is devised in collaboration with their tutor. Students can elect this module in consultation with their Head of Department and Principal Study teacher; an audition is required if Second Study was not taken in the previous academic year. Students need to have extensive previous experience and expertise on their chosen instrument and a level of playing comparable, in the choice of repertoire, to Principal Study module requirements at I/5 and H/6.

Workshop Skills

This module prepares students to lead music workshops in a variety of contexts. In the first semester, students will explore a number of areas of workshop practice including collaborative composition and repertoire-based workshops in schools, community, healthcare and hospital situations. In the second semester they will explore one area of workshop practice in greater depth, which will lead towards delivering their own workshop session.