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The BMus with Integrated Foundation Year 0 provides an opportunity for talented applicants to receive funding for a pre-BMus year of training within a higher education, conservatoire environment, thus preparing them for successful study on the BMus.
Key Features
- secure grasp of the foundational skills required by the contemporary profession in its widest sense, but with a focus on Western Art Music
- perform and/or create music as an instrumentalist, vocalist or composer at a level appropriate for entry to conservatoire BMus
- develop your instrument/voice-specific performance skills alongside practical study in areas that support your fluency and your internalised and embodied perceptions of music
- make connections between core musical knowledge and skills and performance activities, including generative music
- generate and input creative ideas and skills to collaborative projects taking a leadership role where appropriate
Course Details
The Foundation Year 0 is designed for aspiring musicians who wish to develop their musical skills and techniques through a dedicated programme of study rooted in studio or practice-based activity.
By the end of five years of professional training, you will have an established individual musical identity underpinned by strong technique and musicianship. You will have developed keen awareness of a range of performing practices and traditions as required by the contemporary music profession. You will have the opportunity to develop supplementary musical skills and knowledge which will enhance your employability and support you in entering the career pathway of your choice. There is an emphasis on learning through practical activities in all elements of the programme.
Course Structure:
| Year of Study | Credits | Weighting |
| Year 0 | 120 | 100% |
| Year 1 | 120 | Pass/Fail |
| Year 2 | 120 | 10% |
| Year 3 | 120 | 30% |
| Year 4 | 120 | 60% |
Modules (Foundation Year):
Group Music Making Foundation
Group Music Making focuses on the core technical and artistic training required for instrumental and/or vocal group work at foundational level. The module is designed to foster the nascent skills and musicianship of individual learners to provide a secure foundation for the study of group music making on the BMus programme.
Students learn through a combination of small-group tuition and rehearsals, non-directed and directed group work, departmental classes, and visits from guest artists. All foundation students participate in the annual CoLab festival, and department-specific directed and non-directed group work.
Dance, Film, Narrative Foundation
Dance-Film-Narrative is a module that is designed to find artistic ways for composers to engage with issues surrounding composition for other art forms, in particular contemporary dance and film.
At foundation level, this module is designed to introduce the relationship between narrative and abstraction in music and how these help other art forms to function. The module will provide an overview of key movements in contemporary dance, explore contrasts between musical trends in Hollywood and other film genres, as well as considerations of theatre, performance art and gaming.
At foundation level, this module also includes participation in the annual CoLab festival.
Foundation: Music, History and Society
This module introduces students to a range of academic skills in order to prepare them for study on a BMus programme. Students will develop their abilities to examine and compare historical sources, and learn how to analyse and synthesis data. Key information relating to historical periods will be discussed, and foundational analytical methods will be applied to selected genres and repertoire. Students will work on small academic tasks both during seminars and during personal study time.
This module brings together readings, music and other media from musicologists, ethnomusicologists, critics, sociologists, philosophers, and musicians. It investigates an array of topics from various perspectives, such as gender, race, narrative, religion and empire, to support the development of knowledge of stylistic elements of various types of music, music’s role in society, cultural, political and historical awareness, as well as the development of critical thinking, basic research techniques, communication and presentation skills. It investigates an array of topics from various perspectives, such as gender, race, narrative, religion and empire, to support the development of knowledge of stylistic elements of various types of music, music’s role in society, cultural, political and historical awareness, as well as the development of critical thinking, basic research techniques, oral and written communication and presentation skills.
Applied Musicianship Foundation
Offered throughout the duration of the academic year, at foundation level the Applied Musicianship module supports the students’ instrumental/vocal studies alongside Music, History and Society and the Performance Programme. The module focusses on the development of preliminary core musical skills including aural awareness and improvisation and the acquisition of core music theory including harmony, harmonic function and form in a practical and instrument/voice-related environment. It provides a creative environment to support retention through practical engagement, and relates this learning to the performance/composition elements of the Programme. The module is designed to foster the individual musicianship skills of each individual learner and provide a secure foundation for entry to BMus. It references a range of related repertoire and resources and embed application, performance contexts and learning strategies.
Principal Study Foundation
Principal study focuses on the core technical and artistic training required for instrumental/vocal/compositional skill at foundational level. The module is designed to foster the nascent skills and musicianship of the individual learner to provide a secure foundation for entry to the BMus programme. Students learn through a combination of individual and small-group tuition, departmental classes, and visits from guest artists.
Teaching and Learning
Hours
The Foundation Year 0 assumes 1200 learning and teaching hours. The BMus assumes 4800 learning hours. Contact time is defined as tuition which is delivered by a tutor. It includes performances, individual tuition, larger group tuition, seminars, departmental and academic classes, directed rehearsals, masterclasses, competitions and supervised study. Contact and self-study time is itemised in module descriptions. Rehearsal and performance contact time will vary according to the instrumental discipline.
How will I learn?
Learning takes place through a blend of formal tuition, experiential learning and personal study. There is a blend of in-person and online provision, some of which is delivered asynchronously. Instrumental / composition / vocal tuition is the central element of provision consisting of individual tuition, group tuition, rehearsals, workshops, seminars and masterclasses. You will develop and contextualize your individual tuition within a broad range of solo, small group/non-directed and large group/directed activities. Visiting artists, ensemble directors and lecturers will expose you to a variety of views and approaches current within the profession. CoLab is an integral element of performance studies and is a ring-fenced period of the academic year where students work together to create and develop creative projects and where artistic risks and innovation are prioritised.
The programme aims to enable you to develop independent learning strategies for self- directed, autonomous, lifelong learning. Your tutors will regularly encourage you to reflect on learning and to formulate personal programmes of study and targets for learning.
View the list of music Teaching staff.
How will I be assessed?
Assessment methods as far as possible mirror professional contexts. In the Principal Study and Group Music Making modules, assessments for performance/composition activities will include a combination of solo, small/non-directed group, large/directed group and technical work. Work will be captured in an online portfolio, requiring critical reflection on a range of contextual matters (the wider profession, audience, performance practice etc). Other modules, including The Artist as Entrepreneur 6 (1), Music, Culture and Society, Applied Musicianship and Electives feature a blend of assessment methods both written and practical (including arrangement, writing, verbal presentations, composition, improvisation, performance etc.) relating to performance practice, contextual and historical knowledge, and musicianship; elective assessments will focus on employability skills and knowledge.
Assessment in some performance activities and the CoLab festival takes place through the development of an online portfolio of materials. There is an emphasis on developing students’ digital skills, with regular updates of key software and platforms. Assessments are both formative, in that they offer detailed feedback to the student, and summative, in that they offer a mark and justifications for that grade both to the student and the institution. The programme throughout takes the view that assessment is primarily a learning rather than a grading tool, and students will undertake regular formative tasks in lessons and seminars.
Alumni Destinations
Our graduates go on to follow careers in solo, ensemble and orchestral performance, composition and arranging, creative project work, instrumental/vocal teaching, community project work, collaborative projects with other media/art forms, postgraduate performance/composition study, other related postgraduate study or PGCE.
For more information on the successes of Trinity Laban music graduates, visit our Alumni Profiles.
Entry Requirements
Trinity Laban places greater emphasis on its own audition process than on formal qualifications. The course is aimed at students considering entry to undergraduate study at conservatoire, and places are offered to candidates who demonstrate the potential to reach that level within the year. As a guide, ABRSM/Trinity College London
Grade 8 or equivalent would be the minimum expected level of entrance to the programme, although this is not a pre-requisite. All applicants should note that Trinity Laban will not consider applications for deferred entry. The programme accepts students in all Western Art Music instruments and voice.
Applications for the programme are made online through UCAS Conservatoires.
Audition Requirements
Applicants unable to attend the audition in person may be considered for entry to the programme by submitting a recorded audition via the Embark.
Applicants must prepare two contrasting pieces of their own choice, written for their principal study instrument or voice, and lasting no longer than 15 minutes in total. Applicants may be required to take a short sight-reading and/or playing-by-ear test, but are not expected to have prior experience of improvisation.
Composition: Applicants must submit a portfolio of between 3 and 6 compositions in advance. Any styles are acceptable and unfinished works may be included. The portfolio must illustrate the applicant’s ability to produce notated scores and recordings should be submitted where possible. Portfolios will normally be assessed by the Head of Composition and an additional relevant member of staff, who will then conduct an interview with applicants which will take the form of a discussion about the applicant’s compositions, interests and ambitions.
Composition applicants will also be asked to perform a prepared piece of 2-3 minutes of their own choice in length in a style and on an instrument of their choice (including voice) and they may also be asked to improvise.
Successful applicants will be able to demonstrate the following through the application, audition and interview:
- a level of technical competence and fluency appropriate to foundation level performance study;
- a nascent but clear artistic identity as appropriate for ongoing conservatoire study;
- The motivation for in-depth detailed development of performance skills;
- The capacity for independent, critical and reflective judgment;
- The ability to organise and communicate ideas effectively.
English language Requirements
The Foundation Year 0 has an English language entrance requirement of CEFR B2 (ISE II – Integrated Skills in English or IELTS Level 5.5 in all 4 areas). For Student Visa purposes the IELTs will need to be the specific IELTs for UKVI test.
Fees and Finance
Home student tuition fees are aligned with the maximum tuition fee cap set by the UK Government. International tuition fees are subject to annual inflationary increases based on RPI-X.
Accommodation and Living Costs
This information can be found on our Accommodation and Costs of Living pages.
Financial Support
Read about financial awards and external funding opportunities in the Fees and Finance section.
Key Facts
| UCAS | 305F |
|---|---|
| Location | King Charles Court |
| Duration | 5 years (full time) |
| Start Date | September |
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