Which Music Course should I choose?

I have 3 unconditional university offers however I do not know which one to choose. My offers are;

Music Bmus at University of Aberdeen
Music Bmus at University of Edinburgh
Music MA at University of Glasgow

I really want to study just Music however if I do the course at Glasgow I will have to study 2 other subject and there is no performance involved. Aberdeen is very far away from where I am from and I have had a lot of mixed reviews about Edinburgh.

Can anyone advice me on either of the 3 courses or give me any information that you might know? Thanks

Reply 1

sophomax

Hi. I'm going to Edinburgh next year. Did you come to the Open day? I think it's a really nice, small department and the course looks really good, in a rather traditional way though. Also Edinburgh gives you complete freedom as to who you have as an instrumental/vocal teacher, and they reimburse you £650. You wouldn't have any of that with the MA in Glasgow, and in you'd have much less choice of teachers in Aberdeen obviously. I've got a friend in second year in Aberdeen who's really enjoying it, but obviously it's quite far out. What are you most interested in studying? If you're not sure, Edinburgh will provide you with a good solid foundations in many aspects, and quite a lot of choices in honours years. I suppose someone who's actually at Edinburgh now will be better placed to advise you though. But I'm currently living in Edinburgh and it's such an amazing city to live in! Anyway, good luck deciding :smile:

Reply 2

luluabc123

Thanks, that is really helpful advice. I unfortunately never came to the open day at Edinburgh, I've never been to the university and I really don't know the city well either. I was given an unconditional offer without even auditioning which I thought was quite strange. Is it music that you are going to do at Edinburgh? Have you got any idea how many people are on the course? I know that at Glasgow the bmus only has about 16. I really like the sound of a small department and a traditional way of learning, I really want a sense of community through music :smile:

. My main instrument is violin so I really want to concentrate on that but I love music theory and music history so I just want to do music in general.

Reply 3

sophomax

Yep I'm going to do music :smile:

Yeah they don't audition/interview which I think is really a shame. I think per year there's usually between 20 and 30 people. Have a look here for more details on the programme : http://www.drps.ed.ac.uk/13-14/dpt/utmusic.htm

I wonder what sort of 'mixed reviews' you heard about Edinburgh?
I'll be honest and say that I was fearing that people there would be a bit up themselves, and there certainly are people like that in the uni but when I visited I just thought everyone was very friendly and welcoming. Current students I spoke to were very enthusiastic about the course and said they really like the staff. Playing the violin there's lots of stuff you could do, Music Society has two symphony orchestras, including one that doesn't audition for strings- but there are a lot of other ensembles.

It might be difficult to visit the department now, but you should definitely visit the uni, get a feel for it, the city etc.. !

Reply 4

luluabc123

Thanks for that link, that's really helpful. I phoned them up and I've been told that if I can give a date that I can get up they will try to get someone available to show me around the department, I though the guy I spoke to on the phone was really helpful especially as he was willing to let me come up.

I've spoken to a lot of music teachers (maybe too many), my music teacher doesn't know much about Edinburgh apart from that her sister was at Edinburgh and loved it but it wasn't music, but the music pt from another school in my area told me that Edinburgh's music department doesn't get a very good reputation (but she went to Glasgow so she might have that sort of Glasgow/Edinburgh rivalry), I also read a really bad review on here, but I did get a good feel when I phoned.

Yeah I've heard that at Edinburgh a lot of people can be really up themselves but I guess I could get over that, I wonder if though, if you're doing music, you're a creative person and therefore maybe you'd be more down to earth? But I can imagine it definitely in other areas.

What is your instrument(s)? I noticed that there is a lot more music societies at Edinburgh than both Glasgow and Aberdeen, which does make me wonder how the department can possibly be that bad if it has so much on offer. I don't think Glasgow even has an orchestra apart from a chamber orchestra that you need to audition for.

Reply 5

sophomax

Oh, I'm glad you did that, it would definitely be worth going. If you get the chance to have the full day off you should spend some time in Edinburgh. Actually, if you were up for it, we could meet up?

Generally what I heard about Glasgow is that it's not the department it used to be - and that it's really not where you want to be if you're interested in performance (that's from both people I know there, and someone who used to teach there). Also I know a lot of people who auditioned for the BMus and didn't like the vibe at all! (unfriendly staff, tiny tiny dept...). I don't want to say more cause I haven't been to visit (though I got an offer for MA Music and German) and if you do really consider it you should deffo visit! I don't buy too much into the whole Edinburgh/Glasgow rivalry, I think Glasgow is amazing and I really enjoy going there every now and then (not very often I'll admit). It's definitely a very exciting city where lots is happening culturally, etc.. It reminds me a bit of Brussels, where I am from, in some respects- but Edinburgh just suits me better as a place to live. It's big and active enough, there's always stuff on, yet it feels a bit more like a village, everything is at human scale. And it's sooo beautiful. Some people find it boring though, but most people who live here love it, and feel lucky to be here, which creates a rather special feel, I find. (Boom, that was my love letter to Edinburgh!).

I mainly sing, but I also play the flute (my main instrument before I started singing, really), and dabble at the piano... There are LOTS of singing ensembles, the non-auditioning Chorus on a Tuesday night is amazing (I sang in it the last two terms this year) if you were interested. There are a lot of societies that do shows- musicals, operas, and they'll always need string players if you were interested in that kind of things as well.

I feel like I'm selling Edinburgh to you and I don't want to influence you too heavily! I'm kind of just excited about starting :smile:

Let me know if you decide to come and visit!

Edit: I wanted to say well done on the offers btw!!

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 6

luluabc123

Yeah that is the general feel I got from Glasgow, I've got an offer from MA Music/French but I know that NO performance would kill me. I auditioned for the bmus and didn't get in, they said I wasn't interesting enough but my accompanist messed up while I was playing and they only asked me questions about the essay that I'd handed them so I didn't really get the chance to seem very interesting. I did get the feel that the staff were very unfriendly and it is a tiny department. But the main university is beautiful.

I am in Glasgow fairly often because I live about 30 miles south of it so it's my closest city, I've really only ever been to Edinburgh for hospital appointments because I was in the Sick kids hospital when I was younger (I needed a hip operation haha).

Don't worry about trying to sell Edinburgh to me, I think it's winning just now anyway haha, it's just so good to hear someone saying something positive about it that knows a bit more information :smile:

Reply 7

sophomax

Oh, I'm sorry about your Glasgow audition. Did they really say you weren't interesting enough? That's quite shocking- how could they be in a position to make that kind of judgment? Anyway..I think in the end the department is the most important think to consider. The main uni in Edinburgh is great too. The music collection in the library is just amazing. Hope you visit and have a nice day there x

Reply 8

thedanster

I was planning to attend the University of Glasgow this year but I've decided to take a gap year. I just really want to know if I would feel comfortable doing music as a further course. I currently live in London and I have signed up and paid for a music technology course with The London Academy of Music Production (it's kinda expensive! But we'll see how worth it it is). Do you think it's a dumb move? Should I have just tried the first year of uni? Any advice?

Reply 9

luluabc123

Firstly, thanks sophomax, I'll let you know how I find it when I get a chance to get up :smile:

Thedanster, I don't think it's a stupid move if you're not entirely sure. A gap year will give you a chance to get to know yourself completely. As for Glasgow, have you been up? I know you've probably read all the stuff I've said about it but aside from how I found the music department, the city of Glasgow is amazing and the university is beautiful. For me Glasgow is "the big city" but if you're from London, you'll probably see it as a village haha. What instrument(s) do you play? I think a gap year is something good and you're doing a music technology course so you're not doing nothing. Good Luck :smile:

Reply 10

Metamorphosis646

thedanster- doing a Music Technology course is an excellent idea, as it should open up more options for you. As a result of doing that, you might decide that you would like to do a Music Technology or Recording course at university (or at least a music degree course with this as a large component). You would then acquire skills which would help you to get work in the music industry. If you go on to do a standard music degree, the skills could still come in useful, particularly if you go on to do teacher training afterwards (which a significant number of music graduates do). Secondary school music departments in the state sector these days make a lot of use of music technology, so if you did train to teach later on your skills in this area would give you a head start in the classroom.