Music Foundation Year

You will work in an environment in which all learning is informed by the academic expertise and research specialisms of our staff.

In performance, you will receive individual instrumental/vocal tuition. This is complemented by seminars covering strategies for practice/performing and performance practice, attendance at concerts and open rehearsals, and participation in masterclasses and workshops. This introduces you to the way performance is taught throughout the Northumbria Music degree.

Music history combines lectures with seminars based around group discussion of musical texts or broader questions, with seminars often led by students. Music history is brought alive in this module through visits to libraries, archives, houses and other institutions, where you will have the opportunity to engage with the primary source materials of music history, giving you insights into how music research is done.

Workshops allow you to develop practical skills and provide a means of putting theory into practice. For example, your theoretical knowledge of harmony will be developed through practical workshops involving the guitar and improvisation on your instrument; you will learn to play the piano in small groups.

In preparation for your future career, the Foundation Year has a module introducing you to the music profession in which you will interact with musicians pursuing various career paths, and will take you out into the wider city and community, taking advantage of our partnerships with various musical and arts organisations.

Our staff are internationally renowned specialists in their fields and, having previously held positions in various universities across the UK, are highly experienced teachers. With their areas of expertise ranging from 16th-century music and performance practice to the history of instruments and American popular music, you will benefit from learning from outstanding scholars. You will also meet external professionals working in various areas of music and the arts, and will have tuition with highly accomplished and experienced instrumental and vocal specialists who also teach on our degree programme.

A personal tutor will be assigned to you during induction week who will help you manage the transition to university smoothly and successfully. They will continue to support you throughout the course of your studies, and can provide support for both your personal and academic development.

The programme leader and module tutors also play active roles in guiding you through your course with specific time allocated to students to allow for private feedback and consultation, giving you a great deal of individual support.

Practical classes take place at the world-renowned Sage Gateshead, a major concert venue and home to the Royal Northern Sinfonia. There are dedicated music spaces for instrumental teaching and learning, including soundproofed facilities to allow you to practise. Concerts take place on campus in the Great Hall, which is ideal for smaller scale performances, and elsewhere in the City, making good use of our partnerships with various organisations. For example, concerts often take place in Newcastle Cathedral, a venue well suited to larger-scale performances involving orchestras, bands and choirs, and at the Lit and Phil Library.

You will have access to software such as Sibelius on computers equipped with midi keyboards, as well as use of computer suites across campus for the completion of written work.

The University library, including books, reference works and a range of digital resources, will be available to you throughout the entirety of your study. You will benefit from our state-of-the-art electronic reading lists, which allow you to access resources for each module directly, and our electronic learning platform, Blackboard, will help you make the most of your independent study time.

All music staff at Northumbria are engaged with producing research in their respective fields at an international level, and the team contains active professional performers. Their research is embedded into the Foundation Year, which greatly enriches the study of music. As a student, you will be taught by everyone on the academic staff.

From the onset, you will have opportunities to develop an understanding of how to research music through visits to libraries, archives and other institutions containing original source materials, which brings music history to life.

Throughout the duration of this course, you will experience research- and practice-informed teaching, which is both contemporary and innovative and will allow you to develop your musical skills and academic knowledge.

The Foundation Year develops key musical skills in piano playing, theory, harmony and aural, all of which are necessary for an advanced study of Music, and for careers in performance, musicology and music teaching. It helps you to develop as a performer, and gives you the intellectual skills needed for degree-level study. Above all, you will develop confidence in all areas of study to proceed to the next level.

Successful completion of this course guarantees you a place on our BA honours Music degree. The Foundation Year and the Music degree are fully integrated, and have been developed together to allow a seamless transition from one to the other.

Music in the Home will furnish you with the intellectual skills you need, fostering critical enquiry and encouraging your curiosity. The dedicated performance strand gets you ready for high-level study in the degree, where your individual lessons will be supported by seminars relating to the act of performance as well as interpretation and performance practice (how repertoire was performed in its time).

The Foundation Year introduces the skills required to manage a freelance, portfolio career and work in arts administration, which are later developed upon in the BA (Hons) Music degree. It will allow you to interact with musicians pursuing various career paths, and will take you out into the wider city, taking advantage of our partnerships with various musical and arts organisations.