Jazz - MMus / PgCert / PgDip
Currently viewing course to start in 2023/24 Entry.
The recent launch of our Eastside Jazz Club has helped consolidate the integral role that Royal Birmingham Conservatoire has to play in the city. While Birmingham’s thriving jazz scene has been established over many years, our bespoke venue strengthens the promise of exciting future developments in this area.
- Level Postgraduate Taught
- Study mode Full Time/Part Time
- Location Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
- Award MMus / PgCert / PgDip
- Start date September 2023
- Fees View course fees
- School Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
- Faculty Faculty of Arts, Design and Media
This course is:
Overview
The recent launch of our Eastside Jazz Club has helped consolidate the integral role that Royal Birmingham Conservatoire has to play in the city. While Birmingham’s thriving jazz scene has been established over many years, our bespoke venue strengthens the promise of exciting future developments in this area.
It is in this context that we offer our taught postgraduate courses in Jazz. Designed for recent graduates and suitably qualified mature students, these programmes provide high quality advanced-level tuition, enabling you to specialize either as a Jazz performer or instigator.
These courses also provide excellent opportunities for you to develop other skills relevant to a future career in the music profession.
What's covered in this course?
- Regular individual specialist tuition from professional jazz musicians active on today’s scene.
- Emphasis on the art of improvisation.
- Regular opportunities to rehearse and perform with small and large jazz ensembles.
- Priority access to guest masterclass sessions.
- The chance to develop a distinctive musical voice.
- In PgDip and MMus, a core career development module designed to get you thinking about your future professional plans.
- In PgDip and MMus, the flexibility to choose from a broad menu of Professional Development modules designed to help you work towards achieving your personal career aspirations.
- In MMus, a core module designed to develop your skills as a researcher or informed practitioner.
- In PgCert, the ability to focus wholly on the Principal Study area.
- The possibility of transferring between PgCert, PgDip and/or MMus (as appropriate) once you have begun your studies (but before completion of your original course).
Why Choose Us?
In addition to the fact that we have a very lively Jazz department, at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire we provide a friendly and supportive environment in which you can pursue your postgraduate studies. This is a time when you need to think particularly carefully and strategically about the direction of your developing career as a musician. We therefore encourage you to be ambitious in pursuing your aspirations, and endeavour to provide you with the flexibility to mould your course to your individual needs, both within your Principal Study area and – for PgDip and MMus students – in complementary modules.
Open Day
Join us on campus where you'll be able to explore our facilities and accommodation in person, and chat to staff and students from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
Next Open Day: Thursday 7 December 2023
Entry Requirements
MMus/PgDip/PgCert
| Essential |
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UK students should normally hold an honours degree, ideally but not necessarily in Music. |
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Non-UK students should hold a Bachelor's degree or a similar degree-equivalent diploma, ideally but not necessarily in Music. |
Audition requirements
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All applicants for this course will be auditioned. |
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Home student auditions will be scheduled live in Birmingham. |
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EU/international students outside the UK at the time of application may submit a recording or may travel to one of our International Audition Centres. |
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Jazz performers should perform two contrasting pieces with a rhythm section (provided), as well as a short transcribed solo (unaccompanied). |
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Pianists, bassists and drummers audition by taking their place in the rhythm trio. |
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Guitarists may choose to audition with just bass and drums, or the full rhythm trio. |
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The panel will be interested to hear you talk about your artistic influences, your inspiration to be a musician and your career objectives. |
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The audition and interview together will last for about half an hour. You will be invited to arrive before the audition for a warm-up that will last for 25 minutes. |
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For full details, audition requirements and audition advice, please visit the Music Auditions section of the Conservatoire website. |
English language requirements
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IELTS 6.0 overall with 5.5 minimum in all bands. |
Fees & How to Apply
UK students
Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.
Award: MMus
Starting: Sep 2023
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 2 years
- £11,500 in 2023/24
- Apply via UCAS
- Part Time
- 3 years*
- £1,917 per 20 credit module
- Apply via UCAS
Award: PgCert
Starting: Sep 2023
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Part Time
- 1 year*
- Show fees
- Apply via UCAS
- £1917 per 20 credits
- Year 1 - 60 credits
Fees for Part-time students
This course can be studied on a Part-time study basis. The cost per year of study is based on credit requirements for that year.
Award: PgDip
Starting: Sep 2023
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 1 year
- £11,500 in 2023/24
- Apply via UCAS
- Part Time
- 2 years*
- Show fees
- Apply via UCAS
- £1917 per 20 credits
- Year 1 - 60 credits
- Year 2 - 60 credits
Fees for Part-time students
This course can be studied on a Part-time study basis. The cost per year of study is based on credit requirements for that year.
International students
Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.
Award: MMus
Starting: Sep 2023
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 2 years
- £24,950 in 2023/24
- Apply via UCAS
Award: PgDip
Starting: Sep 2023
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 1 year
- £24,950 in 2023/24
- Apply via UCAS
*Part-time fees
Your fees are charged per 20 credits, depending on the number of credits studied in each year. The fee table above outlines recommended credit loads in each year; if you choose to study a different credit load, please be aware that your fees will be charged accordingly.
*Professional Placement option
The Professional Placement version of the course is optional and is offered as an alternative to the standard version of the course. However, it is not possible to apply for direct entry to the Professional Placement version of the course since the decision to transfer may only be taken after consultation with your course tutors and after successfully completing at least 120 credits.
Completing a 20-week Professional Placement towards the end of your Masters degree enables you to further improve your employability skills which will, through the placement experience, allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market. Furthermore, by completing the Professional Placement, you will be able to develop and enhance your understanding of the professional work environment, relevant to your chosen field of study, and reflect critically on your own professional skills development within the workplace.
You will be responsible for finding and securing your own placement. The University, however, will draw on its extensive network of local, regional and national employers to support you in finding a suitable placement to complement your chosen area of study. You will also benefit from support sessions delivered by Careers+ as well as advice and guidance from your School.
Placements will only be confirmed following a competitive, employer-led selection process, therefore the University will not be able to guarantee placements for students who have registered for the ‘with Professional Placement’ course. All students who do not find a suitable placement or do not pass the competitive selection process will be automatically transferred back to the standard, non-placement version of the course.
Please note that tuition fees are payable during your placement period.
Completing your application
Further information on writing your personal statement can be found on the UCAS Conservatoires website.
Course in Depth
PG Cert
In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete one of the following CORE modules (totalling 60 credits):
Principal Study 1: Jazz Instigator
As a postgraduate Jazz student, the Principal Study 1: Jazz Instigator module enables you to advance your training in your specialist area.
As the focus of this module is entirely on your development as an instigator in the context of jazz performance, you will spend considerable time not only on developing your own playing, but also advancing your leadership and directing skills and your mentoring and coaching abilities. You will work on your rehearsal technique and stagecraft, and gain experience of working autonomously. You will additionally enhance your own specialist knowledge and your research skills.
Your work in this module is supported by one-to-one tuition and mentoring. A number of one-to-one hours can be allocated to teachers and mentors from outside the Jazz Department, for example with Classical composers, promotors, band leaders, artists, and researchers from within the faculty. You will have regular contact with promoters of jazz and the creative arts.
OR
Principal Study 1: Jazz Performer
As a postgraduate Jazz student, the Principal Study 1: Jazz Performance module enables you to advance your training in your specialist area.
As the focus of this module is entirely on your own continued development as a jazz performer, you will spend considerable time not only developing your technique alongside your musicianship and improvisation skills, but also expanding your knowledge of the tradition and advancing your experience as a collaborative performer and leader.
Your work in this module is supported by one-to-one tuition and a variety of related activities in the Jazz Department and wider Conservatoire, including weekly performance platforms, termly performance platform festivals, masterclasses (led by guest international artists) and workshops by touring bands, as well as a number of special events throughout the year, for example the Thelonious Monk Festival (Monkathon), the Cheltenham International Jazz Festival, and regular collaborations with our partners in Paris, Berlin and Siena.
PG Dip
In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete the following CORE module (totalling 60 credits):
Principal Study 1: Jazz Instigator
As a postgraduate Jazz student, the Principal Study 1: Jazz Instigator module enables you to advance your training in your specialist area.
As the focus of this module is entirely on your development as an instigator in the context of jazz performance, you will spend considerable time not only on developing your own playing, but also advancing your leadership and directing skills and your mentoring and coaching abilities. You will work on your rehearsal technique and stagecraft, and gain experience of working autonomously. You will additionally enhance your own specialist knowledge and your research skills.
Your work in this module is supported by one-to-one tuition and mentoring. A number of one-to-one hours can be allocated to teachers and mentors from outside the Jazz Department, for example with Classical composers, promotors, band leaders, artists, and researchers from within the faculty. You will have regular contact with promoters of jazz and the creative arts.
OR
Principal Study 1: Jazz Performer
As a postgraduate Jazz student, the Principal Study 1: Jazz Performance module enables you to advance your training in your specialist area.
As the focus of this module is entirely on your own continued development as a jazz performer, you will spend considerable time not only developing your technique alongside your musicianship and improvisation skills, but also expanding your knowledge of the tradition and advancing your experience as a collaborative performer and leader.
Your work in this module is supported by one-to-one tuition and a variety of related activities in the Jazz Department and wider Conservatoire, including weekly performance platforms, termly performance platform festivals, masterclasses (led by guest international artists) and workshops by touring bands, as well as a number of special events throughout the year, for example the Thelonious Monk Festival (Monkathon), the Cheltenham International Jazz Festival, and regular collaborations with our partners in Paris, Berlin and Siena.
In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 20 credits):
Members of the music profession require not only high-level specialist skills but also the ability to target those skills strategically to different circumstances. This module focuses on a range of different aspects of a musician’s professional development that directly relate to the music industry and their preparation for it: from self-promotion and self-management, to funding and wellbeing. It is thus central to a programme which aims to prepare you for a career as a musician in the 21st century.
It requires you, near the beginning of your postgraduate studies, to reflect ambitiously yet realistically on your professional aspirations, and to formulate a plan that helps you stand the best chance of achieving your goals. Weekly workshops, delivered by internal staff and external professionals, will focus on the practicalities of a career in music, providing you with a better insight into the industry you will be entering, as well as encouraging you to be self-reflective about your own personal and professional development needs.
In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete at least 40 credits from the following indicative list of OPTIONAL modules.
Each module listed is worth 20 credits.
Conservatoire based
- Concepts in Musicology
- Contemporary Music Concepts and Practice
- Creative Interactive Music Technology Performance
- Critical Editing Techniques
- Documentation
- Experimental Performance in Context(s)
- Historical Instrument Performance
- Historical Performance Practice
- Independent Scholarship in Music
- Music and Ideas
- Music Technology Contexts
- Orchestration
- Performing and Producing in the Studio
- Professional Music Criticism
- Self-Promotion Project
- Teaching Matters: Principles and Practice
- Work Placement
- Writing Music for Media
- Conference Paper
- Preparation for Research
- Music, Community and Wellbeing (BMus module)
School of Art based
- Art and Ecologies
- Contemporary Philosophy and Aesthetics
- Discourses in Art and Design
- Models and Methods of Curatorial Practice
- Queer Strategies in Practice
- Small Arts Business Set Up
- Social Practice in the Visual Arts
School of Media based
- Live Events and Festival Management
- Social Media as Culture and Practice
Core modules are guaranteed to run. Optional modules will vary from year to year and the published list is indicative only.
MMus
In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete THREE CORE modules (totalling 140 credits):
Members of the music profession require not only high-level specialist skills but also the ability to target those skills strategically to different circumstances. This module focuses on a range of different aspects of a musician’s professional development that directly relate to the music industry and their preparation for it: from self-promotion and self-management, to funding and wellbeing. It is thus central to a programme which aims to prepare you for a career as a musician in the 21st century.
It requires you, near the beginning of your postgraduate studies, to reflect ambitiously yet realistically on your professional aspirations, and to formulate a plan that helps you stand the best chance of achieving your goals. Weekly workshops, delivered by internal staff and external professionals, will focus on the practicalities of a career in music, providing you with a better insight into the industry you will be entering, as well as encouraging you to be self-reflective about your own personal and professional development needs.
Principal Study 1: Jazz Instigator
As a postgraduate Jazz student, the Principal Study 1: Jazz Instigator module enables you to advance your training in your specialist area.
As the focus of this module is entirely on your development as an instigator in the context of jazz performance, you will spend considerable time not only on developing your own playing, but also advancing your leadership and directing skills and your mentoring and coaching abilities. You will work on your rehearsal technique and stagecraft, and gain experience of working autonomously. You will additionally enhance your own specialist knowledge and your research skills.
Your work in this module is supported by one-to-one tuition and mentoring. A number of one-to-one hours can be allocated to teachers and mentors from outside the Jazz Department, for example with Classical composers, promotors, band leaders, artists, and researchers from within the faculty. You will have regular contact with promoters of jazz and the creative arts.
OR
Principal Study 1: Jazz Performer
As a postgraduate Jazz student, the Principal Study 1: Jazz Performance module enables you to advance your training in your specialist area.
As the focus of this module is entirely on your own continued development as a jazz performer, you will spend considerable time not only developing your technique alongside your musicianship and improvisation skills, but also expanding your knowledge of the tradition and advancing your experience as a collaborative performer and leader.
Your work in this module is supported by one-to-one tuition and a variety of related activities in the Jazz Department and wider Conservatoire, including weekly performance platforms, termly performance platform festivals, masterclasses (led by guest international artists) and workshops by touring bands, as well as a number of special events throughout the year, for example the Thelonious Monk Festival (Monkathon), the Cheltenham International Jazz Festival, and regular collaborations with our partners in Paris, Berlin and Siena.
Principal Study 2: Jazz Instigator
For a postgraduate Jazz student, the Principal Study Project 2: Jazz Instigator module builds on the groundwork of the Principal Study 1: Jazz Instigator or the Principal Study 1: Jazz Performance module. It demands not only a high level of performance skills, but also encourages independent decision-making in relation to the student’s own project, the development of an individual artistic concept, and an awareness of the contemporary jazz market (i.e. the professional context). The module clearly provides professionally-relevant experience for the intending jazz instigator.
Indeed, the focus of this module is entirely on your continued growth in this role. It will thus be concerned with the further development not only of your own skills as a performer, but also as a leader, director, mentor and coach. You will continue to hone your rehearsal technique and stagecraft, and to gain further experience of working autonomously. You will continue to expand your own specialist knowledge and to exercise your research skills.
OR
Principal Study 2: Jazz Performance
For a postgraduate Jazz student, the Principal Study 2: Jazz Performance module builds on the technical, musical and improvisation skills acquired in the Principal Study 1: Jazz Performance or Jazz Instigator module, encouraging a greater sophistication of approach, independent decision-making in relation to the music-making, and the emergence of an individual ‘voice’. The module clearly provides professionally-relevant experience for the intending jazz musician.
The focus of this module is entirely on your continued growth in this field. It will thus be concerned with the continued development of your technical, musicianship and improvisation skills, your knowledge of the tradition and your experience as a collaborative performer and leader. In addition, it will encourage you to develop your own original sound and concept, and enable you to enhance your musical communication and interaction in the ensemble setting.
In order to complete this course, a student must successfully complete at least 100 credits from the following indicative list of OPTIONAL modules:
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THREE Professional Development modules (20 credits each), and
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ONE MMus optional module (40 credits)
Professional Development modules (20 credits each)
Conservatoire based
- Concepts in Musicology
- Contemporary Music Concepts and Practice
- Creative Interactive Music Technology Performance
- Critical Editing Techniques
- Documentation
- Experimental Performance in Context(s)
- Historical Instrument Performance
- Historical Performance Practice
- Independent Scholarship in Music
- Music and Ideas
- Music Technology Contexts
- Orchestration
- Performing and Producing in the Studio
- Professional Music Criticism
- Self-Promotion Project
- Teaching Matters: Principles and Practice
- Work Placement
- Writing Music for Media
- Conference Paper
- Preparation for Research
- Music, Community and Wellbeing (BMus module)
School of Art based
- Art and Ecologies
- Contemporary Philosophy and Aesthetics
- Discourses in Art and Design
- Models and Methods of Curatorial Practice
- Queer Strategies in Practice
- Small Arts Business Set Up
- Social Practice in the Visual Arts
School of Media based
- Live Events and Festival Management
- Social Media as Culture and Practice
MMus optional modules (40 credits each)
- Research Project
- Critical Edition
- Lecture-Recital
- The Reflective Practioner
- There are two pathways through this module: 1. Professional Placement, and 2. Creative Interdisciplinary Artist.
Core modules are guaranteed to run. Optional modules will vary from year to year and the published list is indicative only.
Course structure
Whichever course you choose, work in the Principal Study area – both individual tuition and Departmental activity – lies at its heart. The Principal Study modules in Jazz are entirely practical in nature, whether you specialise as a performer or instigator. For performers, they mainly focus on performance within a small ensemble, though part of Principal Study 1 also requires you to share your own practice methods. While instigators need to be able to demonstrate high-level performance skills of their own, Principal Study modules on this pathway are focused on exercising skills in directing rehearsal and performance, as well as on developing your creativity and artistic vision in constructing jazz performance projects.
Preparation for Principal Study modules of both types is supported by individual specialist tuition, as well as by the programme of performance activities you undertake throughout the course.
If you are an MMus or PgDip student you will take a Career Development module, which will require you, near the beginning of your course, to reflect ambitiously yet realistically on your professional aspirations, and to formulate a plan that helps you stand the best chance of achieving your goals. You will also choose, in addition, some Professional Development Options from a varied list. The following gives an indication the kind of optional modules which may be offered in a given year, including some offered by Birmingham City University’s Schools of Art and Media (note, not all will run every year):
MMus students will additionally choose a 40-credit option from one of two categories: ‘The Emerging Researcher’ or ‘The Reflective Practitioner’.
Part-time options
There is some room for negotiation in how the course unfolds for a part-time MMus student over three years, or in the case of part-time PgDip students, over two years.
Employability
International
Royal Birmingham Conservatoire has a growing community of international students from across the world.
We appreciate the challenges of moving to a new country to live and study and aim to be as supportive as possible.
Aside from being friendly and welcoming, we have various support mechanisms in place to help you settle in as an international student, including:
- An international students' 'orientation week', including a special Conservatoire welcome event
- A dedicated international student admissions administrator
- A full-time staff member employed as International Student Support Programme Director (who speaks Mandarin)
- A mentoring system in which you, as a new postgraduate international student, are mentored by continuing postgraduate international students who will be supporting you both pastorally and academically though weekly workshops
- Additional supporting classes for international students that are particularly designed to help you further develop your English reading, speaking and comprehension skills
- Additional academic skills support provided by expert tutors from the BCU's Centre for Academic Success
Further information for prospective international students is available on the University's international pages.
Facilities & Staff
Royal Birmingham Conservatoire’s £57 million music building opened in September 2017, and is located on Birmingham City University’s City Centre Campus in the Eastside ‘learning quarter’ of the city.
This state-of-the-art music facility includes five public performance venues – a 440-seat Concert Hall, 150-seat Recital Hall, Organ Studio, Eastside Jazz Club and the experimental black box performance venue known as The Lab. As well as these stunning performance venues, we have nearly 100 practice spaces, including 70 small practice rooms and larger ensemble rooms and workshops.
Our home is the first conservatoire built in the digital age, and as such it has been vital to ensure that the technical infrastructure installed is on par with any advanced commercial facility. We have seven recording studios, a mastering suite, a distance learning hub, and all of our performance venues feature high specification audio-visual equipment that enables interconnectivity and advanced functionality throughout the building.
These impressive modern facilities guarantee that we are able to excel in our unique dual purpose of providing the highest standard of music education deserved by our students, as well as meeting our role as a concert and performance venue for the people of Birmingham, taking our place in the vibrant cultural landscape of the UK’s second city.
Our staff
Jeremy Price
Head of Jazz
Jeremy Price (born 1970) studied at Birmingham Conservatoire and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and has since followed a career as a freelance trombonist and jazz educator. Jeremy has been Head of Jazz at Birmingham Conservatoire since the Jazz Department was established in 1999 and wrote the Conservatoire's first ever BMus (Hons) Jazz...
More about JeremyDr Andrew Bain
Deputy Head and Senior Lecturer of Jazz
Andrew Bain is one of the leading performers and educators in Europe. He has performed with Wynton Marsalis, Natalie Cole, Kenny Wheeler, Randy Brecker, Dave Liebman, Bob Mintzer, John Taylor, Mike Gibbs, NDR Big Band in Hamburg, Elliott Sharp, Gavin Bryars, John O’Gallagher, Jason Rebello, George Colligan, Jon Irabagon, Walter Smith III, Iain...
More about AndrewJohn Turville
Jazz Piano Tutor
John Turville is one of the leading pianists and educators on the UK scene. A graduate of Cambridge and the Guildhall, he has since received numerous awards, including the MOJO #3 Jazz Album of the Year (2012), ‘Best Album’ in the Parliamentary Awards 2011, ‘Best Instrumentalist' in the 2010 London Jazz Awards, the 2009 Promoter’s...
More about JohnMark Hodgson
Visiting Tutor
Born in Kendal, Cumbria and coming from a musical family Mark originally began playing the Electric Bass in his early teens. Aged seventeen he was inspired to take up the Double Bass after seeing The Oscar Peterson Trio, featuring Ray Brown.
More about MarkDr Luan Shaw
Director of Postgraduate Studies (Music)
Dr Luan Shaw is Associate Professor: Director of Postgraduate Studies (Music) at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire where she has taught since 2011. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and was made an Honorary Member of RBC in 2001. In her former role as RBC’s first Head of Pedagogy (2011-2018), she led the significant...
More about LuanEd Puddick
Lecturer in Jazz
Ed Puddick is an award-winning jazz arranger and composer who has been part of the UK jazz scene since graduating from the Birmingham Conservatoire in 2004. His Ed Puddick Big Band was formed in 2002 and its debut album ‘Guys & Dolls’ was released in 2010 on Diving Duck Records. Ed has written for the BBC Concert Orchestra (featuring Yazz...
More about Ed