Postgraduate foundation module in music
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| 5 Tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) | |
| Examination | No residential school |
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This course is available for study in the countries shown. Fees may vary by country.
Summary
How does music research inform the study of musical performance? This course offers an extensive introduction to the research methods associated with performances (recordings); musical texts; written documents; instruments/voices; and ethnographies. You’ll have the opportunity to study music from many periods and styles, including popular and non-Western music as well as Western art music. You’ll be guided on the use of libraries and other research tools that will enable you to undertake work at postgraduate level. In particular, you’ll be encouraged to make extensive use of online library and bibliographic facilities, including the complete New Grove Online.
Course content
Through the course you will:
- develop an approach to researching music that incorporates different methods;
- learn how to accumulate information about music, and synthesise and present written work in an appropriate way;
- become familiar with some of the main tools that are used for music research;
- encounter different kinds of source that are frequently used by music researchers;
- encounter several different musical topics and themes, which you will have opportunities to develop in this and later courses.
The course has six main sections or ‘blocks’. In the first block you learn the basics of music research, its history and some of the fundamentals of organising study and presenting written work. The remaining blocks continue the study of how music research informs the study of performance, each one concentrating on how a particular kind of source is used. These five categories of source are:
Performances Issues that arise when using recorded sound as a source for researching musical performance.
Musical texts Issues and techniques that are important when examining written music from the Western art tradition. You should note that the programme does not contain a musical analysis option.
Documents Written documents and images that provide evidence to inform the understanding of music and musical practices.
Instruments and voices Musical instruments and evidence about vocal techniques.
People Ethnographies: methods for gathering information from and about people engaged in music making, such as interviewing and participation, and the application of that information to music research.
Each block is broadly structured into a four-week study period. The first week is spent reading course material and learning appropriate research techniques. In the second week you work through guided case studies. The third week is spent practising research and exploring the themes and sources that have been introduced. In the fourth week you work on an assignment for the block. Some flexibility is built in, so that you can extend your reading in areas that particularly interest you, or catch up if you have fallen a little behind.
All the necessary teaching is included in the course material, and there is an offprints collection. The course teaches you how to use computers for music research (but it does not provide basic training in computer operation or word-processing skills), and you will also have unlimited access to an extensive course website that includes:
- a wide range of some of the most valuable published online databases, normally including New Grove Online, History Online, The Oxford English Dictionary, The International Index of Music Periodicals, Early English Books Online;
- annotated indexed and categorised links to hundreds of music websites;
- an interactive online forum;
- direct access to other Open University online services.
Although the emphasis of the course is on teaching research methods, the case studies provide teaching on musical topics from many periods and styles. These include both popular and art music forms and non-Western music. Some of these themes will be the basis for assignments and for your study of other courses in this line.
Entry
To take this course, you must be registered for the MA in Humanities or for another qualification towards which it can count. You should have an honours degree or equivalent, ideally, but not necessarily, in music. If you have not taken a music degree, you should satisfy yourself that you are equipped to undertake the course. You should:
- have a good general knowledge of music, equivalent to that obtained by students who have studied our course Understanding music: elements, techniques and styles (A214);
- be literate in music, to the extent that you can follow an orchestral score and know which instrument is playing which part;
- be able to understand musical discourse that uses technical language and introduces musical quotations (the articles in New Grove II, for example).
You do not need to be able to play an instrument nor to ‘hear’ music by looking at a score.
If you have any doubt about the suitability of the course, please contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.
Preparatory work
You should read:
T. Herbert (2001) Music in Words, ABRSM Publishing. This book, the set book for the course, is in two parts. The first contains advice about how to research music, how to store research data and other basic advice on how to write about music. The second part is a reference manual for writing about music. It will be helpful at this preparatory stage to read the section that introduces scholarly conventions, and the sections that encourage you to think about setting up a personal research bibliography and database.
N. Cook (1998) Music: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press. A stimulating introduction to some of the latest avenues of thought about music and musical scholarship. It is a very personal book, but provides a framework for thinking about different kinds of music by ‘examining the personal, social and cultural values that music embodies’.
Qualifications
A870 is a compulsory course in our
A870 is an optional course in our
- Postgraduate Certificate in Humanities (C20)
- Postgraduate Diploma in Humanities (D35)
- MA in Humanities (F07)
If you leave the programme before obtaining a masters degree it will qualify you for a Postgraduate Certificate in Music or, together with Performances and repertories (A871) for a Postgraduate Diploma in Music. Alternatively, the Postgraduate Diploma in Humanities is available for those who have successfully completed Postgraduate foundation module in music (A870) and another 60 points from specified courses in the MA in Humanities programme, including at least 30 points from subject courses.
Some postgraduate qualifications allow study to be chosen from other subject areas. We advise you to refer to the relevant qualification descriptions for information on the circumstances in which this course can count towards these qualifications because from time to time the structure and requirements may change.
If you have a disability or additional requirement
You will be expected to listen to music. This course makes extensive use of research libraries and/or the internet. You will need to spend considerable amounts of time using a personal computer and the internet.
If you are a new student, or new to courses using a computer or the internet, you will need to inform us of your particular needs as soon as possible, as some of our support services may take several weeks to arrange. Details of how to do this and our range of support services are described in our booklet Meeting Your Needs which you can download or request from our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.
You can also find information about accessible course materials, financial support and the Disabled Students' Allowance, equipment and other services, on our Services for disabled students website. It also includes our contact details for advice and support both before you register and while you are studying.
Course materials
What's included
An offprints collection, study guide, score supplement and other printed material, audio CD, software to enable participation in online forums, access to databases and other resources via the course website and the MHRA Style Guide.
You will need
A CD player.
You will also need adequate facilities to conduct research into music. This can be done using the internet or by using a library or archive that has suitable resources. If you are using a research library, there are likely to be charges for borrowing rights, inter-library loans and photocopying. The Postgraduate Music website houses links to online research resources and sources of information about facilities for studying music in UK libraries.
Computing requirements
This course has online computer activities – you can access these using a web browser that can play Flash and Shockwave.
You will need internet access and a computer. If you have purchased a new computer since 2002 it should meet your course computing requirements. Check our Technical Requirements section if your computer is older than this or is otherwise unusual.
Materials to buy
Set books
- Herbert, Trevor Music in Words, Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music £13.95 - ISBN 9781860962363 (This book is used on A870 and A871)
Teaching and assessment
Support from your tutor
You will have a tutor who will help you with the course work and mark and comment on your written work. All courses in the MA in Music programme offer electronic tuition and you are encouraged to take part in online tutorials with your tutor and tutor group. These tutorials will be held throughout the year and can be accessed from your own computer, in your own time. More details about them will be available at the start of the course. Contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service if you want to know more about study with The Open University before you register.
Assessment
The assessment details for this course can be found in the facts box above.
You can choose whether to submit your tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) on paper or online through the eTMA system. You may want to use the eTMA system for some of your assignments but submit on paper for others. This is entirely your choice.
Students also studied
Students who studied this course also studied at some time:
Future availability
The details given here are for the course that starts in January 2010. We expect it to be available at the same time once a year.
How to register
To register a place on this course return to the top of the page and use the Click to register button. For more information and advice about registration see OU Study Explained.
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A postgraduate course in Arts and Humanities.
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