BA Music Performance

Year overview

"I've got many happy memories here" - Lewis Capaldi, former student

Lewis Capaldi studied here. Where will your music take you?

This highly practical one-year degree turns talent into a career. You'll perform, write, collaborate and develop the professional skills to build a varied, lifelong future in music, an industry now worth a record £8 billion to the UK economy and employing 220,000 people.

You'll learn across three creative spaces: music modules at our Motherwell Campus, real-world projects with BA Sound Production students at Cumbernauld Campus, and rehearsals at Berkeley 2 Studios in Glasgow, the UK's largest rehearsal studio facility.

Bring the talent and drive. We'll help you take it further.

Entry

Requirements
You'll need an HND in Music, or an equivalent qualification in a related subject. Relevant industry or performance experience may also be considered.

Your audition
Entry is by audition. You'll perform for our panel and have a short, friendly interview, a chance for us to get to know you and for you to ask about the course. We'll send full details when your audition is arranged.

Still at school?
Start with our HNC Music course. This is your pathway onto this degree

Learn

This is a degree built around performing. Alongside three core modules, you'll complete a creative project tailored to your own music, building a repertoire that's ready for the stage and the studio.

You'll learn from industry professionals through one-to-one lessons and group sessions, rehearse at Berkeley 2 Studios in Glasgow, and work with Sound Production students in our recording facilities. You'll also learn the business side of music, from releasing your own tracks to building your audience on social media. Then you'll put it all into practice, performing in our college theatre and at venues across Scotland.

Ensemble Performance
Great bands aren't just great players. They listen. In this module, you'll perform in ensembles matched to your style and specialism, from contemporary bands to other line-ups.

Through regular rehearsals and live performances, you'll sharpen the skills that get musicians hired again: reading the room, communicating on stage, shaping a song together and delivering a tight, expressive performance as one unit. It's teamwork and musicianship, developed the way working musicians actually do it.

Music Research Practice
Knowing your music inside out makes you a stronger artist. This module develops the research and critical thinking skills to explore contemporary music in depth, from history, theory and composition techniques to the cultural and political forces that shape what we hear.

You'll learn to find and evaluate sources, work with primary and secondary material, and present your ideas in writing and in person. These skills matter beyond the classroom too, from writing about your own music to preparing for Honours-level study.

Solo Performance
This is where you find your sound. With individual lessons and coaching on your instrument or voice, you'll develop your technique, interpretation and stage presence, with regular feedback to push your playing further.

You'll choose and prepare solo pieces across genres that suit your strengths, bringing in improvisation and your own creative ideas to build a personal, expressive style.

Along the way, masterclasses, workshops and public recitals give you the chance to perform, take on feedback from lecturers and peers, and grow in confidence.

You'll leave with a clearer sense of the artist you want to be.