The British Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education Benchmark Statements for music note that music is one of the most diverse of degree types. This diversity is born partly of the reality that music is studied as a theory and a theoretically informed practice, and has a long and ‘charted’ history, which itself is a subject of study. Study in music seeks to examine music not only as a human intellectual product, but also as a specific reflection of experience, manifestation of culture and product of society. The disciplinary study of music has as a core the traditional methodology of Musicology.

The program in music enables students to develop their musicianship, musical skills and contextual understanding of music in preparation for professional work in music areas as diverse as broadcasting, recording, arts administration and advocacy, concert planning, music and general arts journalism.

At the completion of the program, students will have broad expertise in at least one of the sub-disciplines of Musicology; a high level of practical skills in music cognition, analysis, and performance; and a high level generic graduate skills in the gathering, synthesis, criticism and presentation of information. The flexibility of the program allows for emphasis on: scholarly examination of musical repertoires, utilising both traditional and innovative methodologies; technologically based musicology, including the study of electronic music and psycho-acoustics; music aesthetics and criticism, both in historical overview and contemporary application; and music as social and cultural practice, through both historiographically and ethnographically informed study. Students will have a broad contextual knowledge that links to wider fields of historical, philosophical, cultural, and social study.

A student who wishes to gain a minor stream in Music must complete 36 units of credit including 12 uoc in Level 1 core courses, at least 12 uoc at Level 2 and at least 12 uoc at Level 3. A student who is considering doing a minor stream in Music should consult the Music Convenor.

A student who has previously gained the minimum of HSC 2 unit music or extension, or AMEB 7th grade practical (pass) plus 5th grade theory or musicianship, will need to enrol in the following courses in Level 1:

Students with a lesser assumed knowledge in music, will need to enrol in the following courses in Level 1: