Undergraduate Studies in Music
Music at Otago
Music at Otago offers you a wide range from which to choose, including Western classical music, contemporary rock music, music technology and world music.
If you want to develop as a performer, a composer or a songwriter we have stimulating papers in the creation of music to explore to a high level.
Music as a Major subject
How much music do you want to study?
- If you would like to make Music papers the main focus of your study, then a Bachelor of Music degree (MusB) is a good option for you.
- If you would like to study many Music papers but also be able to include a range of papers from other subject areas, then a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree with a major in Music is a good option for you.
Do you want to perform music?
- If you would like to focus on performing music, then you will need to study one of our performance majors within the Bachelor of Music (MusB): Classical Music Performance, or Contemporary Music Performance.
- It is also possible to take performance papers without making performance the main focus of your degree.
In order to be admitted to papers in performance you must pass an audition.
Music to honours level
Both the MusB and the BA in Music can be studied to honours level.
Music as part of a double degree
You can study Music as part of a double degree - for example a Bachelor of Music (MusB) and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom), or as part of a double major – for example Classical Music Performance and Popular Music for a MusB, or Music and History for a BA.
Music as a Minor subject
Music can also be studied as a Minor subject for the BA or another degree, and you can take stand-alone papers in Music.
The range of areas of Music you can study at Otago
Classical Music
The Classical Music major is a specialised programme offered for students wishing to develop their historical, analytical and stylistic knowledge of western classical music from the 16th to 21st centuries. Students will acquire a high level of musical literacy as they undertake cumulative papers in the materials of music, as well as papers focussing on the social, historical and stylistic aspects of music.
The programme has the flexibility to encompass a range of other subjects, while at the same time developing skills aimed at a deep intellectual and artistic engagement with classical music. This major is a good preparation for further study in musicology, as a background for Classical Music performance, or for someone interested in media work around Classical Music.
In the first year students on this programme will normally take
- MUSI 101 Materials of Music 1
- MUSI 102 Music in Western Culture
- MUSI 103 Music in Popular Culture
- MUSI 104 Music in World Cultures
together with other 100-level papers in Music or another subject.
An Adviser of Studies will help you make good choices. For advice please email either Dr Ian Chapman, Dr Robert Burns or Professor Henry Johnson.
If you wish to take a paper in music performance you will need to pass an audition. Go to the Audition Information page for more information on auditions.
In the later stages of your degree you will specialise more in Western Classical Music.
Classical Music is also available as a Minor.
Classical Music Performance
The Classical Music Performance programme develops performing potential through individual lessons and workshops under expert staff guidance. The Department of Music offers a supportive and inspirational environment in which individual instrumental or vocal technique and musical awareness are fostered and promoted. Many Classical Music performance students have achieved outstanding national and international success, based upon the foundations and mentoring offered by the classical performance staff.
On offer is a broad spectrum of instrumental and vocal possibilities, with regular performance opportunities both within the University’s public music programmes and beyond. This major is a preparation for a possible career as a performer, or as a studio music teacher.
Entry to the performance programme requires an audition. Go to the Audition Information page for more information on auditions.
Early applications are encouraged.
In the first year students on this programme will normally take
- MUSI 101 Materials of Music 1
- MUSI 102 Music in Western Culture
- MUSI 103 Music in Popular Culture
- MUSI 104 Music in World Cultures
- MUSI 141 Performance 1
In the later stages of your degree you will specialise more in Western Classical Music Performance with backup papers in music history.
An Adviser of Studies will help you make good choices. For advice please email either Dr Ian Chapman, Dr Robert Burns or Professor Henry Johnson.
Composition
A comprehensive training in Composition (including Music Technology and Song-Writing) is provided to students at all levels of study. Broad-ranging in content, the Composition major caters to all forms of musical creativity and music style.
In the first year of study students may specialise in one area or mix different interests, such as Classical Music or Popular Music. In the following years, opportunities are made available for specialisation in writing for other media such as film, dance, television or theatre.
There are no minimum entry requirements for the first-year composition papers, although students with little or no music reading ability are strongly encouraged to up-skill in the first semester.
This major is a preparation for a career as a creative musician working in whatever personal style you develop.
In the first year students on this programme will normally take
- MUSI 101 Materials of Music 1
- MUSI 102 Music in Western Culture
- MUSI 103 Music in Popular Culture
- MUSI 104 Music in World Cultures
and one or more of
together with other 100-level papers in Music or another subject.
An Adviser of Studies will help you make good choices. For advice please email either Dr Ian Chapman, Dr Robert Burns or Professor Henry Johnson.
In the later stages of your degree you will specialise more in Composition with backup papers in music history.
Contemporary Music Performance
Two study pathways are offered in Contemporary Music Performance. These innovative courses form the foundation of Otago’s programme in Contemporary Music and the Department is proud of the success achieved by many of the students who have taken them.
Two study pathways
Students have a choice of study between the song writing–orientated pathway and the one that specialises in instrumental technique with a view to becoming a freelance musician. Both of these options offer students a path of study that has been constructed by Department staff with backgrounds in the professional world of music-making at the highest levels.
Students are also able to combine study in Contemporary Music Performance with historical, analytical and cultural studies of music, providing a vital insight into the consumption and effect of popular music in contemporary societies. This major is a preparation for a career in the musical community, or as a studio music teacher.
In order to be admitted to papers in performance you must pass an audition. Go to the Audition Information page for more information on auditions.
Early applications are encouraged.
In the first year students on this programme will normally take
- MUSI 101 Materials of Music 1
- MUSI 102 Music in Western Culture
- MUSI 103 Music in Popular Culture
- MUSI 104 Music in World Cultures
- MUSI 145 Contemporary Performance 1 OR
- MUSI 146 Professional Practice 1A and MUSI 156 Professional Practice 1B
In the later stages of your degree you will specialise more in Contemporary Music Performance with backup papers in music history and theory.
An Adviser of Studies will help you make good choices. For advice please email either Dr Ian Chapman, Dr Robert Burns or Professor Henry Johnson.
Music for Education
The programme is designed for students wishing to prepare for a career in school music education, and it includes all the main musical activities required by the New Zealand National Curriculum. Having completed the major, students will then take a one-year qualification at the College of Education which enables them to work in schools.
In the first year students on this programme will normally take
- MUSI 101 Materials of Music 1
- MUSI 102 Music in Western Culture
- MUSI 103 Music in Popular Culture
- MUSI 104 Music in World Cultures
together with other 100-level papers in Music or another subject.
An Adviser of Studies will help you make good choices. For advice please email either Dr Ian Chapman, Dr Robert Burns or Professor Henry Johnson.
If you wish to take a paper in music performance you will need to pass an audition. Go to the Audition Information page for more information on auditions.
Music Industry (Minor)
The Music Industry minor enables students to negotiate the modern music business and achieve success in their careers. This minor provides a pathway for those students wishing to gain a comprehensive insight into the ways in which the creative industries work.
Consisting of papers in music industry studies, music technology, songwriting, marketing and communication and popular culture studies, the Music Industry minor reflects the plurality of creative and business skills necessary for achieving your goal as a performer, composer, producer or music industry professional.
This pathway provides a professional focus for students whose aim is to combine their artistic and creative abilities with practical and necessary commercial skills. This combination of skills will prove very valuable in the music industry.
If you are interested in this programme please contact a Music Adviser. Please email either Dr Ian Chapman, Dr Robert Burns or Professor Henry Johnson.
Music Studies
The Music Studies major is the most flexible of the Music majors. This major is the least specialised and allows students to structure their own course of papers. The student must take several required papers and in addition must take two further papers in Classical, World or Popular Music – one of which must be at third-year level. As well as its flexibility, the Music Studies major will be useful to students who start a Performance or Composition major but then decide not to go to third year in that discipline.
In the first year students on this programme will normally take
- MUSI 101 Materials of Music 1
- MUSI 102 Music in Western Culture
- MUSI 103 Music in Popular Culture
- MUSI 104 Music in World Cultures
together with other 100-level papers in Music or another subject.
An Adviser of Studies will help you make good choices. For advice please email either Dr Ian Chapman, Dr Robert Burns or Professor Henry Johnson.
If you wish to take a paper in music performance you will need to pass an audition.
Go to the Audition Information page for more information on auditions.
Music Studies is also available as a Minor.
Music Technology (Minor)
The music world of today is comprised of overlapping media and technologies and new music professionals will need a range of skill-sets to make their mark. Desktop tools for music creation and production provide an unparalleled opportunity for people to create their music outside of traditional studio-system production houses.
Along with these increased opportunities comes a need for related skill-sets in using the technology to create sophisticated and meaningful media products. The Music Technology minor caters to any music genre or style, from classical to traditional folk music, jazz and beyond.
The papers are designed to empower students with the tools necessary to create, perform, record and enjoy music on all levels in the constantly expanding digital environment we experience today.
If you are interested in this programme please contact a Music Adviser. Please email either Dr Ian Chapman, Dr Robert Burns or Professor Henry Johnson.
Popular Music
The Popular Music major is an innovative programme for students interested in the diverse popular musics of the world and their cultural contexts. Suitable for students with or without a background in music performance, this major allows for a flexible combination of papers in film music, world music, and cultural studies, as well as marketing and industry papers to equip our graduates with the practical skills necessary to enter the creative industries.
Popular music is a contemporary phenomenon and Otago’s Popular Music major will provide you with the ability to critically evaluate its function in your everyday life and the world around you.
This major is a preparation for those who wish to do research in the field, or become commentators and critics, or work in the media in relation to popular music.
In the first year students on this programme will normally take
- MUSI 101 Materials of Music 1
- MUSI 102 Music in Western Culture
- MUSI 103 Music in Popular Culture
- MUSI 104 Music in World Cultures
together with other 100-level papers in Music or another subject, and an Adviser of Studies will help you make good choices.
If you wish to take a paper in music performance you will need to pass an audition.
Go to the Audition Information page for more information on auditions.
In the later stages of your degree you will specialise more in Popular Music.
Popular Music is also available as a Minor.
An Adviser of Studies will help you make good choices. For advice please email either Dr Ian Chapman, Dr Robert Burns or Professor Henry Johnson.
World Music
Otago offers a wide range of subjects covering diverse musics of the world. We examine the social and cultural meanings of any musical style of any culture, how to study music and the people performing it, how music fits into its cultural context, and specific music of Asian, Pacific, Latin American, and European cultures.
We also offer students the chance to play Javanese gamelan (Indonesian percussion), Japanese koto (zither), and West African drums (djembe) as practical studies in ethnomusicology, either as stand-alone papers or within a specific area of study.
This major is a preparation for those who wish to do research in the field, or become commentators and critics, or work in the media in relation to world music.
In the first year students on this programme will normally take
- MUSI 101 Materials of Music 1
- MUSI 102 Music in Western Culture
- MUSI 103 Music in Popular Culture
- MUSI 104 Music in World Cultures
together with other 100-level papers in Music or another subject, and an Adviser of Studies will help you make good choices.
If you wish to take a paper in music performance you will need to pass an audition.
Go to the Audition Information page for more information on auditions.
In the later stages of your degree you will specialise more in World Music.
A Minor in Ethnomusicology is also available.
An Adviser of Studies will help you make good choices. For advice please email either Dr Ian Chapman, Dr Robert Burns or Professor Henry Johnson.