I'm getting way ahead of myself here, but I've been wondering whether there are many decent part time music courses at the post grades / diploma levels. Does anyone know?

I know that many of the music colleges such as Trinity and the Royal College of Music have part-time post graduate courses (PG Dip and MMus), that you do over 2 or 3 years, as opposed to 1 year full-time. Is that the kind of thing you were considering?

Not quite - I was thinking of post grade (i.e. grades 1-8) rather than post grad (i.e. after a first degree). Although I have first degrees in drama (including musical theatre), and in psychology, I think I'd want to do a first degree in music rather than trying to accelerate past it. And I'm very much in musing fantasy mode, as I need to get through some quite basic grades before I even contemplate higher education!

Hi,

I don't know where you are, but in London, there's Goldsmiths, Thames Valley, and Roehampton, which all do fairly flexible part-time music degrees. I believe Trinity also does part-time courses too. In fact I really do get the feeling that education is now really opening up. You'll find lots of colleges now run
'continuing education' courses. I just did a quick search on the web for 'part-time music degree' (UK search), and it came up with lots of places.

Iona

Why don't you join me and mr bouffant and do an OU MA in music?

wooo the OU!
absolutely...
although I have a hankering after the MA is done to pursue a nice part-time MMus at one of the London colleges in performance....

I love the OU (used to teach for them) and wouldn't hesitate to do a course with them. But do they do an undergrad course?

Hi. Yes, OU does undergrad music stuff: http://www3.open.ac.uk/courses/classificat...music_page.shtm.

Remember, diplomas carry credit points so can also be used towards an OU degree (DipABRSM and ATCL = level 1; LRSM and LTCL = level 2. FRSM but not FTCL (as far as I am aware) = substitute for an MA Music module).

Ah ok. But that's all very much theoretical stuff. I'd be more interested in performance oriented studies.

Don't forget, mrb, there's also a nice part-time Kodaly certificate available not far from you that you could add to your collection!!

If you wanted to do performance studies but nothing 'theoretical' you may as well study for the AB or Trinity performance diplomas, then!

I'd be really interested in studying music at uni or pre-uni level - after a fairly unsuccessful attempt at Edexcel A level music last year (my composition got lost and was never marked!) I'm thinking about the OU. To be honest I'd love to go to a Conservatoire, but A) I'm too old not talented enough (according to RWCMD) and C) couldn't afford to give up work so I would be interested in the OU.

With the diploma in music, I take it thats a pre-university level course? And if you passed the course and gained that diploma, could it be used as entry qualification for either an OU degree or a main University degree in Music?

What about dance? Do the OU offer courses in dance? And could you combine one with music?

As for the part-time element of the course - are you required to attend lectures and seminars as part of your course (wouldn't mind doing that at all, just would have to fit it around work)?

I already have a first degree (in Ancient and Medieval History) but not sure if I'd want to go in at Post Grad level - might feel I was a bit in over my head. . .

Nope, it's university level. The OU do a DipMus rather than a BA in music as they don't have enough undergraduate music modules to make up the necessary number of credits. It's what would be the hard half of a BA in music: equivalent to half of the 2nd year, and the whole 3rd year.



Now, given you already have a first degree, the OU do 'credit transfer' where you can count existing study towards the degree. If you did the three modules that would otherwise get you a DipMus and used credit from your existing degree for the remaining 180 modules, you might be able to get a BA from it.



Don't think they do; I'm not 100% certain though.



One of the OU music modules, the level 2 one, has a 1-week residential element; the others don't. All course material is issued to be studied in your own time. There are no lectures, but there are interim deadlines for assignments during the course, and an exam at the end of each of the three modules.



In which case the DipMus material would be ideal. You could then, if you wish, go on to study for an OU MA in Music.

Good luck with your future studies .

The OU don't do dance

And for the first time this year there is no requirement to do the summer school, you can do an alternative on-line assessed module instead. Though why anyone would NOT want to do the A214 summer school beats me, was one of the best weeks of my life!!

Didn't notice that; I just glanced at the 'Assessment' section by the course summary where it says 'One-week residential school'. Thanks for the information .

Thanks Janexx and YAP. That was really helpful.

What a shame they don't do a course in dance! As a Ballet and BharataNatyam student I'd have loved to do something with that!

I'd love to do a summer school! I'd have no probs with going to seminars etc, the only problem would be whether I could fit it around work (don't like my job and would prefer not to do it but finances dictate I'm afraid!)

Is any funding available to help with course fees, book-buying etc? I know how expensive they are from my first degree!

Have a look at the OU financial support page:

http://www3.open.ac.uk/courses/about/p6_1.shtml

It depends on where you live, how much you earn and so on.

So are you saying that with a Dip Mus you can go on and do an MA in music?

I'm looking at doing this Dip Mus - or possibly a part-time music BA at my local uni if they'll have me, or if I can find a way to find the time...

Violinia

You don't actually need any music qualifications for the MA in Music, other than the ability to read and understand musical terms and orchestral scores etc. However you do need a degree-level education in something. I am adequately qualified with my BA in Theology, my B. Sc in Psychology (if I ever bothered to cash in my transferred credit and collect it ) and my general musical knowledge.

Unfortunately I have all the necessary prerequisites except time.

So how many credits do you get for previous degrees? I have a BA and MPhil.... does that get me part of the way there?

I've got the CTABRSM, which counts 30 credits towards an OU degree at 2nd year level, apparently. No, what I meant was, could you do the OU Music Diploma and then a music MA without having an actual degree?

Violinia

You should have a look at the OU website, they offer an under-graduate diploma in music which takes 2 years to do. They also have a few options of music courses at 2nd and 3rd university level as well as the MA course and steps towards it (PGCert, PGDip) etc. From my experiecne the music teaching (so far) has been excellent.

I don't think you can: the MA seems to need a Bsomething first. Jane might no better, but reading the regulations that's the impression I get.

If you wanted to do an OU BA you need to do 360 credits. The DipMus modules count for 180 credits; adding the 30 credits for your CTABRSM gives 210; leaving 150 credits to find. All of these can be at Level 1, so if you want to go down this route pick and mix modules from any discipline you like . For a start, there's a 60 credit 'An Introduction to the Humanities' module, recommended as an extra for DipMus candidates in any case.

To be honest, from what I gather the staff are very helpful; no harm in asking if they'd let you do a DipMus then a MA in music .



Anyone with a Bachelor's degree, such as yourself, can take the MA in Music straight off. To quote the regs:



It's up to you to ensure you're ready for it. As for the number of credits for your existing qualifications: depends on what your degree is in and what you want to study. Have a look at http://www3.open.ac.uk/credit-transfer/ .

You can do the MA in Music at the OU as long as you have a degree (not necessarily in Music), although they do warn you that you will be studying at a post-grad level and therefore have a suitable background in music to enable you do do this.

Thanks for all the info, folks - really helpful. I think I'm going to do the music module leading to the DipMus that Janexx did. Need to work out which is the best way to go. Also feeling I should do the DipARSM, especially as the CTABRSM can substitute for the written part of it. Reading what all you lot get up to is making me feel the lack of letters after my name, although the time factor is a worry, and I'm not getting any younger!!!

Violinia

Letters are only letters; one is fortunate enough to be in a position earn them should one's interests align with what people are willing to award letters for. From what I can gather you're good at what you do, so don't lose heart .

Actually, I wonder; does the BKA award letters? There's nothing stopping them from doing so, if they wish .

As I already have a degree (a BA Hons in Ancient and Medieval History from Cardiff Uni) I guess the MA in music would be feasible but I dunno, I just feel it would be jumping the gun a bit, I haven't even passed Grade 7 in any of my instruments yet and I feel I should do something preliminary . . .

Whats the difference between the DipMus and the MA in Music apart from the need to have a degree before you take the MA?

The DipMus is an undergraduate course, made of level 2 and 3 modules (2nd and 3rd year undergraduate level); the MA is a postgraduate course.

If you're unsure whether the MA feasible given your existing skills, you could always do one or more of the DipMus modules first .

*intrigued* ????

Learned societies within the UK may award relavent post nominals if they wish. They can be awarded either for earnt qualifications - such as diplomas - or used to indicate membership, or both. It's down to the organisation in question on what basis they choose to award post-nominals; the convention is to award, for instance, somethingBKA.

If I recall, the BKA award a diploma; they could make the decision to allow those who have earnt it to append ABKA or similar to their names. If there were higher diplomas (sorry, I'm not familiar with the BKA exam system) I guess they could entitle the holder to LBKA and/or FBKA.

The post-nominals can also be granted honorarily, to recognise a person's contribution the society or the area of the society's interest; for instance, Kodaly boffs such as yourself could be awarded honorary FBKAs .

Then, of course, there can be academic dress to go with it; did Kodaly have a favourite colour?

Many thanks for this, YAP - also for the most helpful advice and comments in your PM.

I rather like the thought of being a 'Kodaly boff' (a rather nicer description that some that I've had from this forum ) - perhaps the p-n should be just KB

Though I think an honorary FBKA sounds cool!

*goes off to research Zolly's favourite colour*

I don't know... looks a bit profance, like the French Connection logo...

Try as I might, I can't seem to make a rude word out of FBKA...

(Sorry to be a tad thick but what does 'profance' mean???)

Nor can I; it'd need two letters changing to make any of the four-letter-words....

Never mind. I'm not talking about the acronym, but rather the appearance of the word. And I didn't mean a literal profanity, merely the appearance of one. It was a light hearted remark.

Profance: I'm dyslexic, so I do tend to make the odd spelling error.

That's ok, meerkat! I just thought it was a word I hadn't come across before!