Overview

Within this Music MA programme from The Open University UK your studies will be based in the digital humanities using creative technologies to develop your research skills and critically analyse a variety of musical sources. You'll encounter a number of musical topics, themes and repertoires from different periods and styles – as you engage with Western, non-Western and popular music – and will be able to tailor your studies according to your musical interests.

Key facts:

Introduces essential music research skills
Explores a range of sources including text, music criticism and performance
Investigates different musical styles and genres from across the world
Concludes with a dissertation on a subject of your choice

Career opportunities:

If you wish to pursue a career in academia or research, this qualification will provide a route towards a higher level research degree (e.g. PhD), which is an essential prerequisite for such a career. A masters degree can help to enhance your career prospects as a teacher in secondary and higher education.

If your aim is to enter professions associated with the media, culture or knowledge industries, or if you already have a career in one of these areas and are seeking a further qualification as a means of career development, then a masters degree, supplemented by relevant skills and experience, can be useful.

Programme Structure

Courses include:

Block 1 is the section, in which you look at the history of how music is studied and how the idea of musical knowledge has changed over the last century. It also includes the following topics: People and communities; Composition and creativity; Performance and listening; Musical biographies; Music criticism and journalism.
Block 2 focuses on the significance of the ‘digital humanities’ for the study of music, and some of the emerging questions. Key utilities and databases are learned.
Block 3 guides you towards looking critically at different types of digital resources and the challenges associated with them. The topics are: Documents; Images; Places; Repertories and musical sources; Instruments; Performances and recordings.
In Block 4 you will develop the work begun in Block 3 by drawing together different digital resources in case studies devoted to the BBC Promenade Concerts, Copland, music in Tudor London and Joni Mitchell.

Key information

Duration

Part-time
- 24 months

Start dates & application deadlines

Starting 2026-10-01 00:00:00
- Apply before 2026-09-11 00:00:00
Starting 2027-02-01 00:00:00
- Apply before 2027-01-08 00:00:00
Starting 2027-04-01 00:00:00
- Apply before 2027-03-12 00:00:00

Language

English

IELTS

Prepare for Your English Test

Cathoven AI IELTS Preparation

Learn your IELTS Score

AI-powered IELTS feedback. Clear, actionable, and tailored to boost your writing & speaking score. No credit card or upfront payment required.

Trusted by 300k learners
98 accuracy using real exam data
4.9/5 student rating

Credits

180 alternative credits

Delivered

Online

Campus Location

Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

Disciplines

Music View 14 other Masters in Music in United Kingdom

Join for free or log in to access our complete career info list.

Academic requirements

GPA

Upper Second Class _{(recommended)}

English requirements

IELTS

Prepare for Your English Test

Cathoven AI IELTS Preparation

Learn your IELTS Score

AI-powered IELTS feedback. Clear, actionable, and tailored to boost your writing & speaking score. No credit card or upfront payment required.

Trusted by 300k learners
98 accuracy using real exam data
4.9/5 student rating

Other requirements

General requirements

You must hold an honours degree to study for our MA in Music course. Although your degree need not be in music, you must have the basic skills expected of a graduate in that area.
You should be aware that a degree of at least 2.1 or equivalent will greatly increase your chances of successfully completing the MA. It is expected that your spoken and written English will also be of an adequate standard for postgraduate study.
If English is not your first language, we recommend that you will need a minimum score of 7 under the International English Language testing system (IELTS).

Tuition Fees

Tuition fees are shown in and the most likely applicable fee is shown based on your nationality.

International Applies to you

Applies to you

Non-residents

6145 GBP / year

≈ 6145 GBP / year
Domestic Applies to you

Applies to you

Citizens or residents

3950 GBP / year

≈ 3950 GBP / year

Funding

Win a €10000 Scholarship! Deadline: 30 June 2020

Embark on your journey with the Studyportals Scholarship! We're giving away a total of 20,000 euros to help you achieve your dream of studying abroad.

Win a €10000 Scholarship! Deadline: 30 June 2020

Embark on your journey with the Studyportals Scholarship! We're giving away a total of 20,000 euros to help you achieve your dream of studying abroad.

In order for us to give you accurate scholarship information, we ask that you please confirm a few details and create an account with us.

Scholarships Information

Below you will find Master's scholarship opportunities for Music.

Available Scholarships

You are eligible to apply for these scholarships but a selection process will still be applied by the provider.

On this page

About

Overview

Key facts:

Career opportunities:

Programme Structure

Key information

Duration

Start dates & application deadlines

Language

Prepare for Your English Test

Credits

Delivered

Campus Location

Disciplines

What students do after studying

Academic requirements

English requirements

Prepare for Your English Test

Other requirements

General requirements

Tuition Fees

International Applies to you

Domestic Applies to you

Funding

Scholarships Information

Available Scholarships

Our partners