BMus (Hons) Songwriting

The first Creative Industries module will introduce you to the strategies and tools to set you on the right path toward pursuing a successful career. Whether focused on a particular career goal or considering several future possibilities, you will broaden your knowledge of the opportunities available to you as a future creative industry professional.

In this module, you will be taken through the process of arranging and rehearsing your compositions to a standard suitable for public performance. After initial composition workshops where you’ll receive feedback and guidance on writing, there’ll be further activities in live arrangement skills whether that be for a duo, trio or multiple musician line-ups. Much of what you study in the Songwriting Techniques module will help inform what you do in this module, such as dynamics, harmony, rhythm/groove, structure and the use of backing tracks. You will also engage in co-writing, co-arranging and creative collaboration as part of your ongoing development.

Regarding live performance skills, you will work towards achieving and maintaining appropriate rehearsal methods and instrumental and vocal performance skills. Additionally, the development of musical director skills will promote listening and performing simultaneously, as well as communicating effectively with other musicians and leading an ensemble in rehearsal.

The techniques module enables you to explore songwriting through a carefully constructed programme of practical creative tasks. The course is delivered by a teaching team of established, published contemporary songwriters. Career planning, research and freelance skills are embedded in the curriculum, and you will also benefit from opportunities to collaborate with production and performance students.

Further study will be the building blocks of songwriting: chord theory, melody, harmony, lyrics and rhythm. The module involves aural perception, giving you the opportunity to develop your musical ear and recognise intervals and chord sequences by listening.

The module will take a traditional view of songwriting as well as contemporary, by exploring how approaches have changed over time. There will be writing partnerships, giving you the ability to collaborate effectively. Chord theory, structure and writing intuitively will be the focus of the module, as well as an introduction to lyrical and poetic devices.

Summary

Music theory is the language and building blocks of all compositions and is a powerful creative tool that established composers and artists/songwriters use to convey their artistic vision. Gaining a foundational level of music theory can help songwriters become more versatile composers and can enhance their ability to collaborate and communicate effectively with musicians and industry professionals. It can enhance creativity by providing essential knowledge on how music is created, allowing for more interesting chord progressions, melodies, and song structures.. Additionally, music theory can make songwriting more efficient, as it allows songwriters to quickly identify what chords, harmony and melodies work to help convey the emotional intent of the song.

Module Aims

You will study music theory used in popular music. Many important aspects of the way music works will be studied, with a firm emphasis on making the content practical and appropriate in today’s creative environment for the composing, recording and performing musician. The module will cover important music theory concepts in a way that helps you to use fundamental theory in modern compositions and recordings.

In this module, you will further develop your investigative skills, exploring relevant underlying concepts and principles and interpreting these within the context of your area of study. You will explore the nature of creativity, the wider context of the industry and practice reflective techniques.

You will also evaluate sources and consider issues such as potential biases and cultural diversity. This evaluation will contribute to developing an enhanced awareness of your creative identity and greater insight into the topics that inspire and motivate you. In addition, you will improve your understanding of how your area of interest intersects with the wider creative industry.

Using academic enquiry, you will develop a reflective journal to evaluate your strengths and areas for self-development in relation to your studies, careers and personal aspirations. This investigative work will help establish a connection between the skills you have identified concerning specific careers and areas of the industry, enhancing your understanding of what is required to be a successful professional practitioner.

In this module, you will explore performance in its many forms, drawing not only on classic and contemporary musical performances but also taking inspiration from the broader arts such as theatre and contemporary art to create your own artistic vision. You’ll go from simply playing your songs, to researching ideas for inspiration, to collaborating through improvisation and planning a unique ensemble performance either as a songwriter/performer or as a songwriter/ musical director. In either instance, it is necessary for you to contribute to the songwriting aspect of the composition performed for your assessment.

Throughout, you’ll be supported by a team of experienced lecturers in experimenting with fresh arrangements, stagecraft, and sound and visuals; all helping to bring your ideas to life while building your confidence and independence as a songwriter and/or artist.

Styles and Genres is concerned with the deconstruction of musical and non-musical elements that create successful popular songs. This module will analyse the historical, social and biographical contexts that may have had a bearing on specific musical genres and notable songwriters, as well as examining external influences on these styles.

The module will require you to employ critical listening and aural perception to analyse music and lyrics objectively in order to understand how songs may work on us subjectively. This module will also look to broaden your songwriting vocabulary via the creation of an original work/song, in addition to providing a platform for self-reflection on the skills and aptitudes necessary for lifelong learning in this field.

Summary

Developing skills in Digital Audio Workstation recording, arrangement and mixing techniques are essential for songwriters to create polished and professional-sounding compositions. Additionally, arrangement techniques are crucial for songwriters to give shape and structure to their musical ideas and to create a cohesive and compelling musical expression. By developing these skills, songwriters can effectively express their creative ideas and communicate a creative vision with greater precision.

Module Aims

This module will allow you to build your music theory, arrangement, and aural perception skills and use these to support a more in-depth study of mixing and arrangement techniques using a (DAW).

Summary

This module will build on the skills you developed in your first year. In The Creative Industries and You module, you utilised concepts and principles to explore the nature of creativity, developing a short and longer-term plan for your personal and professional practice.

In this module you will carry out an individual investigation, utilising secondary research to investigate the lineage of your creative practice. You will directly apply ideas to your own discipline and development, selecting an area of investigation relevant to your own practice, and communicating your argument in writing or via a narrated slide presentation. The concepts you explore in this module, including your positionality and identity, are themes you will encounter frequently as a creative professional.

Module Aims

By examining existing case studies and undertaking a research case study you will further develop secondary research skills and contextualise your professional identity. The research methods and study skills you develop throughout this module will prepare you for next year’s Final Project, in which you will self-direct a significant piece of academic, creative and/or professional practice. Additionally, this module will help you develop the following graduate attributes:

• Global Awareness
• Self-awareness
• Intellectual curiosity
• Professionalism

This module will familiarise you with the fundamental issues in music publishing, including key concepts of music copyright, collection societies, music publishing companies, and the royalty streams that they administer.

By placing publishing within the context of releasing music you will gain insights into the industry. Playing live to support a release will raise your development in a real-world context, and success on the module will allow you to interpret key terms used in management, recording and publishing contracts.

Musicians will be shown the impact that the various agreements can have on their careers, and you will develop an understanding that will enable you to make decisions, and to communicate with professional advisors in an effective and informed manner.

This module will allow you to further develop the tools required to put creative energy into practice, inspiring you to engage in compositional techniques and technological processes to improve your skills as a songwriter and enhance your creative and professional practice.

You will utilise Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) for writing purposes, including the recording, editing, mixing and production of new material using industry-standard software and equipment.

Summary

In the Defining Your Practice in Context module, you evaluated the lineage and traditions of your creative practice, investigating how it connects to artistic and industry practices. This module will require you to utilise your acquired knowledge to plan and create, collaboratively, a piece of work that links to your practice. Collaborating with others can help you develop new and innovative ideas and can also help you develop confidence as a creative practitioner whilst practising your communication, project management, reflection and feedback skills.

Module Aims

• To develop collaborative working practices.
• To plan and execute a creative project.
• To document your creative process including the nature of your collaboration.
• Seek and use developmental feedback.
• Evaluate the nature of teamwork, communication and collaboration.
• Appraise your professional values, ethics and goals.

Additionally, this module will help you develop the following graduate attributes:

• Employable and Entrepreneurial.
• Creative, Collaborative and Connected.
• Socially Responsible.
• Self-awareness.
• Professionalism.

In Songwriting & Arrangement, you will study established musical arrangement aesthetics, approaches and techniques in order to inform and inspire your own artistic exploration in the creation of original musical arrangements. Classes will be a combination of the stylistic and technical analysis of existing artistic and aesthetic approaches, and a process of experimentation through creative arrangement workshopping.

You will reflect on your artistic exploration of arrangement approaches, culminating in an overarching reflection on your writing and composition throughout your BMus study at the college, as well as practical work undertaken during your Songwriting & Arrangement module learning journey.

In this module, you will undertake a significant project of your own choosing. It’s your chance to explore your passion within the industry and creative arts: experiment, take risks, strengthen your skills and create a product/cohesive portfolio of work that you are proud to showcase at the end of your degree.

This module will support you in consolidating the broad learning and development from the course so far, building a bridge into the industry, the workplace and future opportunities. You will be supported to self-direct your own learning through a series of lectures, seminars and 1:1 tutorials with expert supervisors.

This module requires you to present a final body of practical work in an appropriate ‘industry ready’ format. You will provide elements appropriate to the needs of current and future industry expectations for up-and-coming songwriters, composers and artists. You will reflect on your current work rigorously measuring it against industry examples.

The work presented should evidence equal weight to aesthetics, original music and appropriate material for furtherment in your chosen career path.

Success on the module will enable you to tailor your branding to address the commercial songwriting career path to which you aspire.

In this module, you will undertake a significant project of your own choosing. It’s your chance to explore your passion within the industry and creative arts: experiment, take risks, strengthen your skills and create a product/cohesive portfolio of work that you are proud to showcase at the end of your degree.

This module will support you in consolidating the broad learning and development from the course so far, building a bridge into the industry, the workplace and future opportunities. You will be supported to self-direct your own learning through a series of lectures, seminars and 1:1 tutorials with expert supervisors.

This module is the final step in your journey and will support you as you look to enter your chosen field as a creative professional. Drawing on evidence from throughout your time here. you will critically self-evaluate your personal learning journey and industry engagements to date. You will explore concepts and theories of personal and professional development to support, challenge and test your assumptions, to determine your readiness for work in the creative industries. You will have the opportunity to discuss this with your peers and learn from your collective experiences in both small degree path groups and large mixed discipline sessions.

With this position in mind, you will then be challenged to create and consolidate creative assets to give you the edge over the competition in your chosen field. Specialist workshops will be offered throughout the module, informed and delivered by our wide-reaching connections and specialist lecturers in the creative industries. This culminates in the creation of a portfolio which tells the story of your personal and professional journey so far, communicating your unique professional identity and future career plans in the creative industries.