Music BA Honours

Why choose BA Music at Middlesex?

This course has been designed for you to channel your passion for music into a specialist degree that represents your skills and interests. You'll be able to graduate with any of the following titles: BA Music, BA Music (Performance/Composition), BA Music (Popular) or BA Music (Production).

What you will gain

As well as gaining a thorough knowledge of musical repertoires and practices, you'll also acquire skills in music composition, music performance and critical thinking.

You will gain a broad knowledge and understanding of music through working on practice-based and scholarly modules. Performance and composition/songwriting are studied throughout, accompanied by modules that cover musicianship skills, the music industry, music production and the cultural significance of music. In your third year you will write music for dance and screen in a collaborative setting. There is also the opportunity to explore interactive music technology.

What you will learn

Our music teaching staff is made up of leading industry professionals from the UK and abroad. You'll be able to make links with the music world through regular visiting guest speakers and master classes from leading practitioners and music industry managers.

You’ll also have the opportunity to engage with visiting professors and artists including Daniel Miller (honorary Professor and founder of Mute Records), Martino Tirimo (visiting Professor of Piano), members of the London Firebird Orchestra and Grammy award-winning producer Alan Branch.

You'll also become part of our friendly, supportive and diverse music community at our Hendon campus in North London. You'll be able to collaborate with students on other creative courses and make the most of our state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, including an industry-standard recording and mixing studio, concert grand pianos, sound-insulated practice rooms, computer suites and access to a wide range of software such as Ableton, ProTools, Logic, Max MSP, Melodyne and access to hybrid analogue/digital recording studio and modular synths.

Part-time study

Study at your own pace alongside work and other commitments and get the skills and knowledge you need to progress in your career.

When choosing a part-time course, you will study the same modules as the full-time course but over a longer period.

Find out more about the many benefits of studying part-time at Middlesex University.

About your course

The course will help you develop: 

• A sophisticated understanding of musical context – cultural, sociological, economic, musicological and aesthetic 
• Advanced practical and creative musical skills
  
• Critical reflection skills, autonomous learning, professional practice and other transferable skills
• Skills that will help you contribute to culture, nationally and internationally, and are employable in a wide range of industries 
• An appreciation of how equality, diversity, and inclusivity are central to music education.  
   

To find out more about this course, please download the Music BA Honours specification (PDF).

Based in The Grove, you will have access to world-class facilities:

• Concert and recital rooms
• 15 soundproofed practice rooms
• 23 pianos (including a Steinway grand and a Bosendorfer grand)
• Hybrid analogue-digital sound recording facilities
• Recording and mixing studio
• Digital media workshop with 15 workstations (Mac computer with specialist music software, two monitors and piano keyboard)

You will also have access to external venues and collaborative access to other creative areas of the University such as dance, theatre, film, television, animation and computer games.

Student support

We offer lots of support to help you while you're studying including financial advice, wellbeing, mental health, and disability support.

Additional needs

We'll support you if you have additional needs such as sensory impairment or dyslexia. And if you want to find out whether Middlesex is the right place for you before you apply, get in touch with our Disability and Dyslexia team.

Wellness

Our specialist teams will support your mental health. We have free individual counselling sessions, workshops, support groups and useful guides.

Work while you study

Our Middlesex Unitemps branch will help you find work that fits around uni and your other commitments. We have hundreds of student jobs on campus that pay the London Living Wage and above. Visit the Middlesex Unitemps page.

Financial support

You can apply for scholarships and bursaries and our MDX Student Starter Kit to help with up to £1,000 of goods, including a new laptop or iPad.

We have also reduced the costs of studying with free laptop loans, free learning resources and discounts to save money on everyday things. Check out our guide to student life on a budget.

Careers

How can the BA Music support your career?

Music is an excellent choice of study because it combines science, technology, history, arts, social and cultural studies, business and media. 

Graduates will be equipped to progress in the growing creative arts industries sector that are aligned to music.  

As well as busy freelance musician careers, the course provides the skills required for the many jobs within the overlapping worlds of live music, audio-visual music and sound.  

The audio-visual industry has opportunities in film, radio, television, advertising, and virtual realities including computer games.  

The course will also prepare those wishing to go into classroom teaching, workshop leading and peripatetic instrumental tuition as well as music journalism, media music.

Graduate job roles

You could find yourself working in media, publishing, cultural organisations, education, festivals, libraries, merchandising, PR, recording studios or record labels, or art charities as any of the following roles:

• Artist management
• Audio/video production
• Business consultancy
• Composer
• Concert performer
• Event management
• Legal (Music)
• Music arranger
• Music distribution
• Music industry accountancy
• Journalism (Music)
• Music mastering and post-production
• Web design (Music)
• Orchestral management
• Session fixers (Music contractors)
• Session musicians
• Specialist music insurance
• Studio design and construction

Teaching is also a popular choice and might be combined with any of the above to form a ‘portfolio’ career.

Placements

You will have the opportunity for an optional placement experience. This is available at Level 6 within the Music and Sound for Screen or Independent Project modules. We have had industry-focused experience with our external partners, e.g., the media company Sitting Duck; and educational placements are available (specifically within the Independent Project) with our partners the North London Conservatoire and other institutions across North London.   

Graduate employers

Our music graduates work in many areas of the music industry and in teaching. You could also go on to further (postgraduate) study. Graduates have gone on to such prestigious institutions as the Royal Hague Conservatoire, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, York University, SOAS and King’s College, London.

MDXworks

Our employability service, MDXworks will launch you into the world of work from the beginning of your course, with placements, projects and networking opportunities through our 1000+ links with industry and big-name employers in London and globally.

Our dedicated lifetime career support, like our business start-up support programme and funding for entrepreneurs, has made us: 

• The top 20 UK universities for business leaders and entrepreneurs – Business Money, 2023
• A top 10 university for producing CEOs – Novuana, 2023.

MDXcelerator Student Start-Up Support

Want to be your own boss? You'll have the chance to pitch your business to gain mentoring and grants of up to £15,000.

Global network

You’ll study with students from 122 countries who’ll hopefully become part of your global network. And after you graduate, we'll still support you through our alumni network to help you progress in your chosen career.

Fees

The fees below are for the 2025/26 academic year:

UK students¹

Full-time: £9,250

Part-time: £77 per taught credit

International students²

Full-time students: £16,600

Part-time students: £138 per taught credit

Additional costs

The following study tools are included in your fees:

• Free access to resources, learning materials and software you need to succeed on your course
• A suite of Macintosh computers loaded with Logic Pro digital audio workstations, Sibelius music notation software and other software for sound generation and processing
• Access to a hybrid analogue-digital recording studio connected digitally with sound-proofed practice rooms and live recording spaces
• Free access to the complete Naxos Music Library online
• Free laptop loans for up to 24 hours
• Free specialist software for your course
• Free printing for academic paperwork
• Free online training with LinkedIn Learning.

Scholarships and bursaries

To help make uni affordable, we do everything we can to support you including our:

• MDX Excellence Scholarship offers grants of up to £2,000 per year for UK students
• Regional or International Merit Awards which reward International students with up to £2,000 towards course fees
• Our MDX Student Starter Kit to help with up to £1,000 of goods, including a new laptop or iPad.

Find out more about undergraduate funding and all of our scholarships and bursaries.

Fees disclaimers

1. UK fees: The university reserves the right to increase undergraduate tuition fees in line with changes to legislation, regulation and any government guidance or decisions. The tuition fees for part-time UK study are subject to annual review and we reserve the right to increase the fees each academic year by no more than the level of inflation.

2. International fees: Tuition fees are subject to annual review and we reserve the right to increase the fees each academic year by no more than the level of inflation.

Any annual increase in tuition fees as provided for above will be notified to students at the earliest opportunity in advance of the academic year to which any applicable inflationary rise may apply.

Student Testimonials

"It was FABULOUS studying in London. This eventually became a stepping stone towards my future studies, providing me with the opportunity to attend and participate in music festivals - an experience one simply can't get in Malaysia.

Studying at Middlesex University was definitely a door opener to opportunities in the UK. I loved the learning atmosphere, which was very different from back home in Malaysia. Students were given free time and space to explore their musical inclinations.

When I returned to Malaysia, I was selected to participate in the prestigious Asian Youth Orchestra and travelled with the orchestra to Vietnam, Japan, Australia, Korea and Hong Kong. I was then lucky enough to perform alongside Hong Kong superstar Jacky Cheung in his Music Odyssey Tour 2002/03 which was a 40 concert tour around the world. The following year, I performed with Taiwanese heart-throb David Tao in his 2003 Soul Power Tour and in 2008 I was invited to play with another Hong Kong superstar, Alan Tam.

I have received several awards since my time at Middlesex University. I was also selected to be included in Marquis Who's Who in the World 2012 edition and in the Malaysia Book of Records 2012. I am also a fully accredited examiner for the esteemed Trinity College Music London Examination board and I currently head the Music Department of Universiti Putra Malaysia."

Joanne Yeoh

Music BA graduate

"One of the reasons I came at Middlesex University was because I wanted to collaborate with other people. Having a module where you can collaborate with theatre and dance students has been really important for me, and being around the other music courses has led to loads of collaborations. I don’t think I’d have done that if I went anywhere else, because here it’s all in one building. This year I got an amazing singer from the pop course to do a rock solo in the middle of my opera!

There are topics that have come up that I wouldn’t have looked at before, that have really captured my attention. I got a placement with the English Touring Opera, before even thinking about writing opera or studying it, and now I might go into opera after I graduate. Before university I was just writing short piano pieces, and I would never have dreamed of writing something that could be called a string quartet or an opera. Now I’ve got two string quartets and an opera, and I’m writing a viola concerto for another student."

Helen Rupp

Music BA graduate

"A highlight of my time at Middlesex has to be performing as a soloist with the London Firebird Orchestra in the university’s Spring Concert. Being given the opportunity to work with a professional ensemble while still at university is something that many do not get the chance to do, and so for Middlesex to offer this really made a positive impact on my time here."

Oliver Pugh

Music BA graduate

We’ll carefully manage any future changes to courses, or the support and other services available to you, if these are necessary because of things like changes to government health and safety advice, or any changes to the law.

Any decisions will be taken in line with both external advice and the University’s Regulations which include information on this.

Our priority will always be to maintain academic standards and quality so that your learning outcomes are not affected by any adjustments that we may have to make.

At all times we’ll aim to keep you well informed of how we may need to respond to changing circumstances, and about support that we’ll provide to you.