Creative & Contextual Studies

Units of study offered by the department include the History of Western Music, Analysis, Aural Skills, Orchestration and Arranging, Electroacoustic Composition, Music Aesthetics, World Musics, and in conjunction with the Performance departments, units in Style in Performance.

The Department of Academic Studies, which also assumes overall responsibility for the sub-department of Composition, supports all undergraduate courses in the School of Music by delivering a wide range of contextual and compositional components, all of which have a direct relevance to students' practical studies. It is, in staffing terms, one of the largest departments in the School of Music.
 

Almost all of the tutors and lecturers involved in teaching are themselves either performers, conductors, music historians, researchers or conductors, and they bring to their teaching a wide range of skills that have a direct bearing and influence on the performance and composition students whom they teach. The Department also has a crucial role in delivering the music skills units within the BEd [Music] course, a bespoke course for students wishing to become class music teachers, and one that is delivered in conjunction with the Faculty of Education of the University of Glasgow.

Crucially, the department is also concerned with the development of students' skills of literacy, their knowledge and use of information Technology and other increasingly important life-long and transferable skills.

Head of Department: Gordon Munro
Email: g.munro@rsamd.ac.uk