Examination arrangement

Course content

As a subject, musicology unites many different fields of research including historical musicology, ethnomusicology, popular music and jazz studies, music pedagogy, musical analysis and theory, ecomusicology, artistic research and other music-based research areas within cultural studies, historiography, aesthetics, media studies, technology, cognition/pyschology, sociology, and other fields. The course provides an introduction to the most central of these through the teachers' own areas of research expertise with a focus on the theoretical and methodological framework of their research fields.

MUSV3004 is designed in part as a discussion of the diverse theories and directions of musicology, and in part as an introduction to central ideas, perspectives, methodologies, and approaches within the study of music. The course lectures and readings introduce students to a wealth of music studies practices and perspectives that will provide a broadly informed foundation for the later topical choice and development of an MA research thesis.

Learning outcome

Knowledge:

An examinee with a completed qualification in MUSV3004

• has knowledge about character and relevance of central musicological fields
• has knowledge about theories and methods required by central musicological fields
• has knowledge about central analytical methods and their usage according to the character and requirements of central musicological fields
• has knowledge about important problems within the musicological fields

Skills:

An examinee with a completed qualification in MUSV3004

• can acquire knowledge about theories and methods relevant to central musicological areas
• can utilize the research methods and analytical tools relevant to different musicological fields
• can critically reflect on central musicological theories and methods, both in writing and speech
• can formulate his/her knowledge about theories and methods of central musicological fields
• can update his/her knowledge about theories and methods of central musicological fields

Learning methods and activities

The Master's seminar prepares students for their work on the MA thesis.

The seminar may vary from semester to semester but will contain: meetings with external music and cultural representatives; planning and developing of master projects; practical work on musicological methods; and questions regarding searching for sources, library and databases, academic writing at a master's level, etc.

Within the seminar series, students will submit and deliver a description of their master project, and will be appointed an academic supervisor.

Lectures and seminars include discussions of the course reading list together with written and oral assignments.

Instruction is obligatory and demands minimum 80% attendance.

Compulsory assignments

• Approved written exercises
• Satisfactory participation in lecture and seminar activities

Further on evaluation

The final exam portfolio will include three written assignments, each being 6.5 pages maximum (typewritten at 1.5 line spacing, and in a 12-point font). The portfolio will have a maximum length of circa 20 pages (typewritten, 1.5/12-pt.).

If the course is not passed, the student must retake the whole assessment. If the candidate retakes the exam, there is no need to retake the compulsory assignments.

Specific conditions

Required previous knowledge

Requires admission to the Master's programme in Musicology, or to the master's programmes in Music Technology or Music Performance.