Where should I study music at Uni?

I want to do music at university but I really don't know where. I keep thinking that my ideal course would be really creative (as I enjoy composition), not too intense but also quite academic so that I can learn orchestration etc... What worries me a lot is the type of people - I don't want to go somewhere where everyone's got 6 grade 8s and they all went to NYO etc... I want something more laid back and down to earth but then still not a rubbish uni. I play the violin so I would like to learn the classical side of things as well as more current music but still not miss out on the social side of things that come from being in a uni where there are loads of different people into different music styles. I've looked at places like Falmouth (which looks really creative and fun but not quite classical enough) and Royal Holloway (which looks really classical and they have a lot of focus on composition but is quite 'posh' if you know what I mean). I know what I don't want: a conservatoire education or to study somewhere that I feel out of touch with the people because they've been hot housed into being amazing at music. Basically, I don't really know where to go.

Reply 1

AccountingBabe

Wouldn't you be better going to some specialist college/institution for music, rather than a University? :confused:

Reply 2

sluggage

Original post by AccountingBabe

Wouldn't you be better going to some specialist college/institution for music, rather than a University? :confused:

Yeah I'd thought about it but they're so based on performance or just one principle study that I'd pretty much ruled it out.

Reply 3

Metamorphosis646

Original post by sluggage

What worries me a lot is the type of people - I don't want to go somewhere where everyone's got 6 grade 8s and they all went to NYO etc...

You'll definitely want to avoid studying music at the University of Birmingham then, which is where I went. The number of people who had been to specialist music schools or in the NYO was quite disheartening. On a previous thread I mentioned someone on my PGCE course who studied Popular Music at Salford, and whose skills went down very well in schools in which he was placed on teaching practice because he had up to date knowledge of the main programs and other technology which are used in school music departments.

You might be interested to know that Ian Livingstone (the guy who composed the music for Channel 4's Big Fat Gypsy Weddings) went to Salford, so I'm sure you could find a course there which includes important compositional skills such as orchestration. When I found out that Ian had been to Salford rather than one of the more 'prestigious' universities I was pleasantly surprised- as far as I know no one who has studied music at Birmingham has done as well for themselves as him. I also know of a few classical musicians who enjoyed their music courses at the Colchester Institute, which is somewhere that seems more progressive (one of the courses it offers is in Film Music and Sound Track Production, which should give you a headstart if you wanted to make a living out of composing music).

Reply 4

ZoeM95

Hey

I'm starting my music degree this September, hopefully at KCL, if results day goes to plan! (AAA needed). I think it's one of, if not the best music course in the UK due to the balanced modular programme of composition, performance and musicology. I'm a first study operatic singer and pianist and think the opportunities of studying in London for 3 years is invaluable to a music undergraduate :smile:

Where should I study music at Uni?

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