Music General Studies major

Music General Studies is a stepping stone to a variety of careers within and beyond the music profession. This major provides you with a rigorous, high-quality tertiary music education with an intermediate specialisation in performance or composition. These studies enable you, as an emerging musician, to transfer to Specialist Music Studies at national and international centres of music excellence, and to postgraduate study to become an accredited music teacher.

Outcomes

Students are able to (1) demonstrate a developing instrumental, vocal or composition technique; (2) demonstrate foundational knowledge of key issues relating to music that include music psychology, musical memory, practice strategies, composition techniques; (3) demonstrate an intermediate level of musicianship in presentation of works within solo, small and/or large ensemble settings; (4) demonstrate an awareness of relevant historical and stylistic conventions; and (5) demonstrate an experimental and creative orientation.

Degree-specific major

Music General Studies can be taken as a degree-specific major in the following degree courses:

BP001 Bachelor of Arts
BH005 Bachelor of Philosophy (Honours)

Overview of unit sequence

Music General Studies is a degree-specific single major comprising:

  • two Level 1 units
  • three Level 2 units
  • three Level 3 units
Key to availability of units:
S1 = Semester 1; S2 = Semester 2; N/A = not available in 2020

Note: Units that are indicated as N/A may be available in 2021 or 2022.

Pre-2019 students re-enrolling, refer to the 2018 Handbook for course sequence.

Level 1

Degree-specific major units
Take all units (12 points):
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S1, S2 MUSC1741 Practical Studies A
Prerequisites:
passed Conservatorium of Music audition/composition portfolio
Co-requisites:
MUSC1591 Music Large Ensemble 1 and Must be enrolled in the Music General Studies Major
Incompatibility:
MUSC1341 Principal Studies 1
S1, S2 MUSC1742 Practical Studies B
Prerequisites:
MUSC1741 Practical Studies A and enrolled in Music General Studies
Co-requisites:
MUSC1592 Music Large Ensemble 2
Incompatibility:
any MUSC Principal Studies 1-6 unit

Level 2

Degree-specific major units
Take all units (18 points):
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S1 MUSC2341 Music and Practices of Listening
Incompatibility:
MUSC2331 Western Art Music 1 (Renaissance and Baroque) MUSC2332 Western Art Music 2 (Classical and Romantic) MUSC3331 Western Art Music 3 (Modernist and Postmodernist)
S2 MUSC2342 Music in Action
Incompatibility:
MUSC2331 Western Art Music 1 (Renaissance and Baroque) MUSC2332 Western Art Music 2 (Classical and Romantic) MUSC3331 Western Art Music 3 (Modernist and Postmodernist)
S1, S2 MUSC2741 Practical Studies C
Prerequisites:
MUSC1742 Practical Studies B and enrolled in the Music General Studies
Co-requisites:
MUSC2591 Music Large Ensemble 3
Incompatibility:
any MUSC Principal Studies 1-6 unit

Level 3

Degree-specific major units
Take the following unit:
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S1, S2 MUSC3741 Practical Studies D
Prerequisites:
MUSC2741 Practical Studies C and enrolment in the Music General Studies major
Co-requisites:
MUSC2592 Music Large Ensemble 4
Incompatibility:
any MUSC Principal Studies 1-6 unit
Degree-specific major units
Take unit(s) to the value of 12 points:
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S2 MUSC3335 Music in the Sixties
Prerequisites:
any level 2 unit (this unit does not require any technical music literacy)
S2 MUSC3336 Music in Film, TV and Video Games
Prerequisites:
any level 2 unit (this unit does not require any technical music literacy)
N/A MUSC3341 Music, Society, and Ideas
Prerequisites:
MUSC2342 Music in Action
Incompatibility:
MUSC3331 Western Art Music 3 (Modernist and Postmodernist)
S1 MUSC3353 Music in the Community
Prerequisites:
any Level 2 MUSC unit
Incompatibility:
MUSC2010 Music in the Community
S1, S2 MUSC3543 Advanced Ensemble
Prerequisites:
any Level 2 Music unit
Co-requisites:
enrolled in the Music Studies major (degree specific major)
Incompatibility:
MUSC3401 Practical Studies 5, MUSC3402 Practical Studies 6, MUSC4401 Practical Studies 7, MUSC4402 Practical Studies 8

Choosing your degree-specific major

You must satisfy the requirements of a degree-specific major before you complete your course. The flexible structure of an undergraduate course allows you to try out a number of different subjects to see what interests you before nominating your degree-specific major. You have the choice to either nominate your degree-specific major when you first enrol in the course or delay nominating it until your second year.

To plan the first year of your study without nominating a degree-specific major, you are advised to choose units that will pave the way to two or more degree-specific majors that are of interest to you. For examples of the choice of units available in first year, search the first-year study plans .

To fully understand the structure of an undergraduate course, read the course structure information and the Undergraduate Degree Course Rules.

The following example illustrates how the Music General Studies degree-specific major can be included in the Bachelor of Arts course.

There are more choices open to you. For more examples, search the study plans .

Choosing a second major

You also have the option to choose a second major from those available in the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Biomedical Science, Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Design Only available to re-enrolling students. or Bachelor of Science course, giving you the opportunity to pursue your interests no matter how different they are.

The following example illustrates how the Music General Studies degree-specific major can be combined with a second major in the Bachelor of Arts course.

For more examples of combinations of majors, search the study plans .

Music General Studies can also be taken as a second major.

Second major

Music General Studies can be taken as a second major in the following degree courses:

Overview of unit sequence

The Music General Studies second major is a single major comprising:

  • two Level 1 units
  • three Level 2 units
  • three Level 3 units
Key to availability of units:
S1 = Semester 1; S2 = Semester 2; N/A = not available in 2020

Note: Units that are indicated as N/A may be available in 2021 or 2022.

Pre-2019 students re-enrolling, refer to the 2018 Handbook for course sequence.

Level 1

Second major units
Take all units (12 points):
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S1, S2 MUSC1741 Practical Studies A
Prerequisites:
passed Conservatorium of Music audition/composition portfolio
Co-requisites:
MUSC1591 Music Large Ensemble 1 and Must be enrolled in the Music General Studies Major
Incompatibility:
MUSC1341 Principal Studies 1
S1, S2 MUSC1742 Practical Studies B
Prerequisites:
MUSC1741 Practical Studies A and enrolled in Music General Studies
Co-requisites:
MUSC1592 Music Large Ensemble 2
Incompatibility:
any MUSC Principal Studies 1-6 unit

Level 2

Second major units
Take all units (18 points):
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S1 MUSC2341 Music and Practices of Listening
Incompatibility:
MUSC2331 Western Art Music 1 (Renaissance and Baroque) MUSC2332 Western Art Music 2 (Classical and Romantic) MUSC3331 Western Art Music 3 (Modernist and Postmodernist)
S2 MUSC2342 Music in Action
Incompatibility:
MUSC2331 Western Art Music 1 (Renaissance and Baroque) MUSC2332 Western Art Music 2 (Classical and Romantic) MUSC3331 Western Art Music 3 (Modernist and Postmodernist)
S1, S2 MUSC2741 Practical Studies C
Prerequisites:
MUSC1742 Practical Studies B and enrolled in the Music General Studies
Co-requisites:
MUSC2591 Music Large Ensemble 3
Incompatibility:
any MUSC Principal Studies 1-6 unit

Level 3

Second major units
Take the following unit:
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S1, S2 MUSC3741 Practical Studies D
Prerequisites:
MUSC2741 Practical Studies C and enrolment in the Music General Studies major
Co-requisites:
MUSC2592 Music Large Ensemble 4
Incompatibility:
any MUSC Principal Studies 1-6 unit
Second major units
Take unit(s) to the value of 12 points:
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S2 MUSC3335 Music in the Sixties
Prerequisites:
any level 2 unit (this unit does not require any technical music literacy)
S2 MUSC3336 Music in Film, TV and Video Games
Prerequisites:
any level 2 unit (this unit does not require any technical music literacy)
N/A MUSC3341 Music, Society, and Ideas
Prerequisites:
MUSC2342 Music in Action
Incompatibility:
MUSC3331 Western Art Music 3 (Modernist and Postmodernist)
S1 MUSC3353 Music in the Community
Prerequisites:
any Level 2 MUSC unit
Incompatibility:
MUSC2010 Music in the Community
S1, S2 MUSC3543 Advanced Ensemble
Prerequisites:
any Level 2 Music unit
Co-requisites:
enrolled in the Music Studies major (degree specific major)
Incompatibility:
MUSC3401 Practical Studies 5, MUSC3402 Practical Studies 6, MUSC4401 Practical Studies 7, MUSC4402 Practical Studies 8

Choosing a second major

The flexible structure of an undergraduate course allows you the option of including a second major. You have the choice to either nominate your second major when you first enrol in the course or delay it until your second year. For a major to be recorded on your academic record it must be nominated before the requirements of the course are completed.

To fully understand the structure of an undergraduate course, read the course structure information and the Undergraduate Degree Course Rules.

The following example illustrates how Music General Studies can be included as a second major in an undergraduate degree course.

For more examples of combinations of majors, search the study plans .

Music General Studies can also be taken as a degree-specific major.