Our department ethos combines high achievement with a sense of community and a shared passion for music. Our internationally recognised research informs our high-quality teaching and our student experience is second to none. Further information: Computer music and Music technology Music production in the 2000s using a digital audio workstation (DAW) with an electronic keyboard and a multi-monitor set-up The modern English word ' music' came into use in the 1630s. [8] It is derived from a long line of successive precursors: the Old English ' musike' of the mid-13th century; the Old French musique of the 12th century; and the Latin mūsica. [9] [10] [n 1] The Latin word itself derives from the Ancient Greek mousiké ( technē)— μουσική ( τέχνη)—literally meaning "(art) of the Muses". [9] [n 2] The Muses were nine deities in Ancient Greek mythology who presided over the arts and sciences. [13] [14] They were included in tales by the earliest Western authors, Homer and Hesiod, [15] and eventually came to be associated with music specifically. [14] Over time, Polyhymnia would reside over music more prominently than the other muses. [11] The Latin word musica was also the originator for both the Spanish música and French musique via spelling and linguistic adjustment, though other European terms were probably loanwords, including the Italian musica, German Musik, Dutch muziek, Norwegian musikk, Polish muzyka and Russian muzïka. [14] Balkwill, L.; Thompson, W. F.; Matsunaga, R. (2004). "Recognition of emotion in Japanese, Western, and Hindustani music by Japanese listeners". Japanese Psychological Research. 46 (4): 337–349. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-5584.2004.00265.x.

However, in the 1980s and 1990s, musicologists studying this perceived divide between "high" and "low" musical genres argued that this distinction is not based on the musical value or quality of the different types of music. [ citation needed] Rather, they argued that this distinction was based largely on the socioeconomics standing or social class of the performers or audience of the different types of music. [ citation needed] For example, whereas the audience for Classical symphony concerts typically have above-average incomes, the audience for a rap concert in an inner-city area may have below-average incomes. [ citation needed] Even though the performers, audience, or venue where non-"art" music is performed may have a lower socioeconomic status, the music that is performed, such as blues, rap, punk, funk, or ska may be very complex and sophisticated. These traditions, including the cultural strands drawn from the United Kingdom's constituent nations and provinces, continued to evolve in distinctive ways through the work of such composers as Arthur Sullivan, Gustav Holst, Edward Elgar, Hubert Parry, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Benjamin Britten, [20] Michael Tippett, Peter Maxwell Davies and Harrison Birtwistle. Notable living British classical composers include Michael Nyman, James MacMillan, Jeremy Peyton Jones, Gavin Bryars, Andrew Poppy, Judith Weir, Sally Beamish and Anna Meredith. D. Gordon and P. Gordon, Musical Visitors to Britain (Abingdon: Routledge, 2005), ISBN 0-7130-0238-7, p. 62. Many cultures have strong traditions of solo performance (in which one singer or instrumentalist performs), such as in Indian classical music, and in the Western art-music tradition. Other cultures, such as in Bali, include strong traditions of group performance. All cultures include a mixture of both, and performance may range from improvised solo playing to highly planned and organized performances such as the modern classical concert, religious processions, classical music festivals or music competitions. Chamber music, which is music for a small ensemble with only one or a few of each type of instrument, is often seen as more intimate than large symphonic works.A now discredited theory held by many medieval thinkers was that 'music' was descended from the Egyptian word moys, meaning water, thought to connect to Moses. [11] Expressive qualities are those elements in music that create change in music without changing the main pitches or substantially changing the rhythms of the melody and its accompaniment. Performers, including singers and instrumentalists, can add musical expression to a song or piece by adding phrasing, by adding effects such as vibrato (with voice and some instruments, such as guitar, violin, brass instruments, and woodwinds), dynamics (the loudness or softness of piece or a section of it), tempo fluctuations (e.g., ritardando or accelerando, which are, respectively slowing down and speeding up the tempo), by adding pauses or fermatas on a cadence, and by changing the articulation of the notes (e.g., making notes more pronounced or accented, by making notes more legato, which means smoothly connected, or by making notes shorter). Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise expressive content. [1] [2] [3] Definitions of music vary depending on culture, [4] though it is an aspect of all human societies and a cultural universal. [5] While scholars agree that music is defined by a few specific elements, there is no consensus on their precise definitions. [6] The creation of music is commonly divided into musical composition, musical improvisation, and musical performance, [7] though the topic itself extends into academic disciplines, criticism, philosophy, psychology, and therapeutic contexts. Music may be performed or improvised using a vast range of instruments, including the human voice. We invest to create the right environment for you. That means outstanding facilities, study spaces and support, including 24/7 online access to our online library service.

R. H. Fritze and W. Baxter Robison, Historical dictionary of late medieval England, 1272-1485 (Greenwood, 2002), p. 363; G. H. Cowling, Music on the Shakespearian Stage (Cambridge University Press, 2008), p. 6. English singer Ed Sheeran was the foremost folk-orientated artist of the 2010s; the Official Charts Company named him artist of the decade, with the most combined success in the UK album and singles charts in the 2010s. [53] Globally, Spotify named Sheeran the second most streamed artist of the decade. [53] London formed English-Irish pop boy band One Direction were one of the biggest teen idols of the 2010s. [ citation needed] Little Mix, a pop girl group and the winner of the eight series of the British version of The X Factor, established themselves as the UK's biggest girl group and one of the best-selling girl groups in the world. [54] [55] Immigration musical impact [ edit ]For students on a 4 year programme where the 3rd year is spent away from the Department (i.e. as a year studying abroad as part of a Dual programme with languages, or to take up a work placement via the 'BMus Music with a placement year'), the two year module rotation means that you will be out of the department when some options are running. However, since your third year involves a high proportion of modules with a self-directed focus (including dissertation and special project), you should still have plenty of opportunities to pursue your specialist interests.

Scholes states that European classical music had only six stand-alone forms: simple binary, simple ternary, compound binary, rondo, air with variations, and fugue (although musicologist Alfred Mann emphasized that the fugue is primarily a method of composition that has sometimes taken on certain structural conventions. [67]) heterophony: two or more instruments or singers playing/singing the same melody, but with each performer slightly varying the rhythm or speed of the melody or adding different ornaments to the melody. Two bluegrass fiddlers playing the same traditional fiddle tune together will typically each vary the melody by some degree and each add different ornaments. the definition of expression". Dictionary.com. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017 . Retrieved 22 October 2017. Burton, Russell (2015). "The elements of music: What are they, and who cares?". Educating for Life. ASME XXTH National Conference Proceeding. Australian Society for Music Education.: 22.Little Mix are ready to own their status as the biggest girl band in the world". Gay Times UK. 4 November 2020. Archived from the original on 18 November 2020 . Retrieved 1 February 2021.

An individual's culture or ethnicity plays a role in their music cognition, including their preferences, emotional reaction, and musical memory. Musical preferences are biased toward culturally familiar musical traditions beginning in infancy, and adults' classification of the emotion of a musical piece depends on both culturally specific and universal structural features. [85] [86] Additionally, individuals' musical memory abilities are greater for culturally familiar music than for culturally unfamiliar music. [87] [88] Perceptual Small, Christopher (1977). Music, Society, Education. John Calder Publishers, London. ISBN 0-7145-3614-8

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In this module you'll explore in depth a range of models, case studies and themes for the study of Popular Music. You'll be introduced to varying analytical and critical approaches to the study of popular musics in global perspective, with topics including (e.g.): how popular musicians learn; popular music and humour; popular music as world music; reading popular music 'texts'; understanding business models; and conducting a popular music ethnography. As well as developing a factual knowledge of the genres covered in the module, you will develop a critical awareness of research methods and discursive themes in the field of popular music studies. Main article: Music of Asia Indian women dressed in regional attire playing a variety of musical instruments popular in different parts of India