Bachelor of Music

Bachelor of Music (B.M., B.Mus., Mus.B. or Mus.Bac.) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree, and the majority of work consists of prescribed music courses and study in applied music, usually requiring proficiency in performing an instrument, voice, or conducting. Programs typically last from three to four and a half years.

The degree may be awarded for music performance, music education, composition, music theory, musicology / music history (musicology degrees may be a Bachelor of Arts (BA) rather than a BMus) music technology, music therapy, music ministry, music business, music entertainment, music production or jazz studies. Recently, some universities have begun offering degrees in Music Composition with Technology, which encompasses traditional theory and musicology coursework, but also adds the element of engineering in a studio, and becoming proficient at full-scale studio production.

In the United Kingdom, the degree of Bachelor of Music – often referred to in speech as a BMus /ˌbiː ˈmʌz/ – is generally a first degree lasting three years (or four years in Scotland) and consisting of a wide range of areas of study (normally including music performance, composition, music theory, musicology/music history), but at the University of Oxford^[1] and the University of Cambridge^[2] it is a one-year postgraduate degree which can only be read if a student is a graduate in music with honours at those universities; the undergraduate course is in the Faculty of Arts and leads to the degree of Bachelor of Arts (and subsequently to the degree of Master of Arts (Oxbridge)).

Post-graduation options

Graduates may apply for music jobs in performance, teaching, or administration. Graduates with an interest in teaching in the school system may go on to complete a teaching degree or diploma. High-performing graduates may go on to apply for a Master of Music (MMus) degree. BMus graduates can also apply to graduate library science programs and public administration programs. BMus graduates in some fields, such as composition, may be able to apply directly to Ph.D programs.

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