Hey all!!
I want to do music at uni... because I love it ~ and I really want to teach when i'm older! I've been going to a few open days and have got a lot of prospectuses but I would really love to hear about your own uni experiences and which places you recommend etc, if it's any help i'm looking at ABC grades (ish) so Oxford and Cambridge are a no no! hehe cheers everyone, G.

It depends on what you're looking for from a course. For example, my friend loves medieval and early music and she went to Queens and loved it. I would have died a slow painful death doing that and opted for Nottingham, with a very lovely music dept and modules such as jazz and film music to play with which was much more my thing. It also depends on other stuff such as do you want to be in the centre of a town or on a campus? Do you wish to study close to home or get as far away from there as possible? What do you want to leave having learnt from your degree with? What would you like to do in the future? A PGCE? A masters?

I'm hopefully going to Bangor, elmo is going to Hull, Katet is going to Lancaster, cheeble and hgirl - Cambridge

So avoid those if you don't want to run into our rabble!!!

Composition has to be an important role in any course I will choose. I would like to travel quite far away from where I am now (leicester) but it's all about finding that place where I feel best at.. that may be on my doorstep - so to speak! I want to go the PGCE after my degree and then get straight into teaching! So far, Lancaster and Norwich (east anglia) look great!

I would say that if you really really love music, then beware of it at university. It could turn it from a love to a hate thing.

It depends also on what sort of teacher you want to be - school or peripatetic?

Prospectus' do not tell the whole story, but neither do open days. Open days are a showcase for their wonderful university.

Sadly, it's hard to get a grasp of reality until you actually go there!

What instruments do you play? What performance standard?

You really do need to be grade 8 or equivalent, despite what they say about being 6 or 7. When I went, half the intake were already DipABRSM, and there was me with me grade 7 which they had promised was adequate. This is part of the reason I didn't stick it out.

I'm honestly not trying to put you off here, but the reality of music study at university is so different to what people think it's going to be.

David

No it's ok... it's best I know what it's really like before i go. I want to be a school teacher and will have G8 Tuba and G6 Piano hopefully under my belt before I go! I don't know what to say now lol... I hope I do stick it out ~ im sure I will

David is right about the culture shock, you can go from being top of your year at school to being absolutely nothing remarkable at uni, and it can be quite a dent in your confidence! Also you may think that you'll meet loads of likeminded people on your course, again, that's not always the case! Although on the other hand it can spur on and challenge your own beliefs which can be a good thing. Some are just arrogant wee so and sos!

A music course is a funny thing. I kept mine interesting by taking 'subsids', ie modules from other departments and learnt about psychology, English, Italian, and Cultural studies while still getting my necessary credits for music. That doesn't always work for other people but a music course can really isolate you from the rest of the uni (we had our own library so techinically never needed to leave our little corner on campus!).

I felt much less 'musical' for some reason at uni due to fear of being rubbish (although this changed when I changed instruments). High standards mean orchestra places aren't always guaranteed, not just in the music dept, there are a lot of very talented medics and philosophers out there too! However, you can really immerse yourself in music as long as you don't get the 'little fish, big pond' cripple.

I can't imagine doing anything else after all that though! I'm so proud of myself for doing it, and for possibly writing the most unusual disseration topic!!

Have you considered going to a music conservatoire like the RCM or RAM? There are several dotted around the country with several in London that you could have a look at? Unless of course you are wanting to do a BEd (if thats what the degree is called?!) with music as your specialism.
I went to a conservatoire and am now doing a PGCE to enable me to be able to teach in school (as well as have any music service salary increased due to this qualification!!!)

Music in college .. Im studying it and I will say quite honestly that it's not what I expected. I'll paste an IM in here in a second that I sent to someone else on this forum about it. I study it in Cork School of Music in Ireland.

I think the reason people advise against doing a full bmus music degree is the lack of jobs out there. Apparently its more intelligent to maybe do a BA with music and another subject, because that way you're not closing off all avenues. To be honest, I did music because I didn't know what else to put on my CAO (the 'grading' system for college in Ireland)

The course isn't what I expected. It's very much theory based, and very little performance based - which is what I'm into. The only performance opportunities every week are my lesson, Wind Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra. Other than that its lectures lectures lectures.

However, that said, music IS a good course IMO, and if you love it then it's probably made for you. It explores a lot of avenues - all courses being different (where do you plan to do yours?) - emphasize on different aspects. So Guildhall for eg is mostly performance, same for RIAM in Ireland, CSM (Cork School Music - my college) is theory/performance. They're all different, so research and talking to the people in the colleges goes a long way.

But, after all that, yup I think its worth it - i love it, and i love being surrounded by musicians, and the year last year absolutely flew - can't believe im in second year already. I would say go for it, if its what you love.

Even if you change direction afterwards, not wanting to teach or whatever, you still have your music degree ...

Hey there G!

I'm from Leeds where we have a School of Music at the University and also the Leeds College of Music which is a specialist place doing everything from FE level courses to post-grad stuff. The Uni's courses offer optional modules on composing, conducting and all sorts, so it might be of interest to you. Have a look at both of the websites, (LCM is re-building theirs, but the old one is still up as an idea), where you can see detailed descriptions of all the programmes.

Hope that helps!

In the practical matter of how your degree will help your job prospects, music degrees are a relatively good choice, in that music graduates are less likely to be unemployed than the average of all graduates. What may matter, and it may be difficult to find out beforehand, is how much any particular department will help you become a good writer, by which I mean both the subtler grammatical and stylistic points of English, that are not always taught at school, and the construction and organisation of arguments on a larger scale. This is not just a question of how many essays you are expected to write,* but also how much care your lecturers will take in pointing out errors and possible improvements.

* While reading Mechanical Sciences, 1953-6, I wrote no proper academic essays at all, just descriptions of some experiments. Fortunately, in those days the Civil Service insisted on its Scientific Officers learning how to write.

After all the advice about music at uni, if you're still looking to go the standard music offer for Durham is ABC. Royal Holloway is ABB and you also get lessons at the Royal College of Music if you choose to go there. I'm hopefully going to King's College London or Royal Hol depending on how reulsts day goes on thursday... ARGH!

Hey everyone.

Thanks so much for all of your advice it has been really helpfull. I guess not everyone's experience of Uni/Music college is a good one, but I'm still really really up for it! I'll let everyone know how thursday goes for me, and good luck for everyone waiting for exam results - be sure to let me know how you do!

I just finished a music degree at university and loved it. Most music courses are very broad now and you usually get a lot of choice what to focus on, like performing, composing, history, studio work, community/teaching and the like. Mine had not so many written exams, usually performance exams, or written papers/folios, or projects of some sort.

Good luck making your choice, and to everyone awaiting results.