Introductory Courses

• MU1008 Exploring Irish Traditional Music (5 credits): An examination of Irish traditional music in its historical and cultural contexts.
• MU1009 Music in Modern Ireland (5 credits): An examination of Irish traditional music in its historical and cultural contexts.

Irish Traditional Music

Irish Traditional Music Courses:

• MU1021 Irish Traditional Music Studies and Introduction to World Music. (5 credits): The study of various topics and research methods in Irish Traditional Music and World Music.
• MU2036 Collectors, Collections and Fieldwork in Irish Traditional Music (5 credits)
• MU3031 Revival to Riverdance (5 credits): The course looks at the 'revival' period in Irish traditional music (1950s-60s) and follows developments up until Riverdance in the 1990s.

Irish Traditional Music, Song and Dance Performance Courses:

(2.5 credits per semester or take two courses and get 5 credits)

• MU2053 Bodhrán (Irish drum)
• MU2054 Button Accordion
• MU2055 Concertina
• MU2056 Fiddle 
• MU2057 Flute 
• MU2058 Harp
• MU2059 Uilleann Pipes 
• MU2062 Step dancing
• MU2063 Whistle
• MU2094 Melodeon 
• MU2042 Ensemble playing in Irish Traditional Music (available to experienced Irish traditional music students) 

Information on Performance courses in Irish Traditional Music: 

• Courses delivered at beginner/intermediate/advanced standards.
• The Department has instruments for student’s use.
• All performance classes are held in St. Vincent’s, Sundays Well Road, Cork.

Musicology: Classical, world, and popular music

Classical Music and Musicology Courses:

• MU1020 Western Music, Culture and Media (5 credits)
• MU2120 Music Perception and Cognition (5 credits)

Ethnomusicology/World Music Course:

• MU2125 Applied Ethnomusicology (5 credits)

Popular Music Courses:

• MU2081 Planet Rap: Global Hip Hop and Post-colonial Perspectives (5 credits)

Music Education and Community Music

• MU2113 Music in Community (5 credits)

Composition, Musicianship, & Music Technology

Composition Courses:

• MU2108 Organising Musical Materials (5 credits)
• MU2040 Song-writing (5 credits)
• MU2077 Improvisation: Concept, Culture and Practice (5 credits)

Musicianship, Applied Musicology, and Music Theory Courses: 

• MU2102 Harmony and Counterpoint (5 credits)
• MU2105 The Language of Jazz (5 credits)
• MU2119 Choral Artistry: Conducting, Collaboration and Innovation (5 credits) 

Music Technology Courses:

• MU2087 Creating Music with Ableton Live (5 credits)

(For second-year students, MU2089 only allowed with prior permission of the Department due to pre-requisites.)

Performance Courses

Classical Music Performance Courses:

(2.5 credits per semester or take two courses and get 5 credits)

• MU2043 Chamber Music Ensemble
• MU2044 Early Music Ensemble Studies
• MU2052 Renaissance Vocal Ensemble

Jazz and Pop Music Performance Courses: 

(2.5 credits per semester or take two courses and get 5 credits)

• MU2050 Jazz/World Music Ensemble Studies
• MU2051 Pop Ensemble Studies
• MU2066 Jazz Piano Workshop
• MU2093 Jazz Ensemble Studies

World Music Performance Courses

(2.5 credits per semester or take two courses and get 5 credits)

• MU2048 Sitar
• MU2068 Gamelan Gendér Wayang

Information for Visiting International Students

Q - How do I apply for Music courses?

1. You need first to contact UCC’s International Education Office, which handles your application to UCC as a visiting student, your registration and other formal matters. Ask there about “pre-registering” for Music courses in advance.
2. You may then liaise directly with the Department of Music concerning the Music courses you would like to take.
   • You must keep the International Education Office informed of your course-choices once they are definite choices.
3. Near the beginning of each semester - when courses are about to start or have just started - visiting students who have been approved for study at UCC will find it convenient to use our online course database. Here you can browse information on the various courses open to visiting students, and also to define your own selection of courses.

Q -  Where do I find timetable details?

Information on class times and venues is given with course details.

Q - Am I guaranteed a place on courses for which I am applying?

Applications for most Music courses are at first approved on a provisional basis, pending your arrival in Cork and the beginning of those courses. Ultimately the Department’s acceptance of you for the courses you choose depends on whether you have the musical skills and experience to cope with those courses.

Please be aware that competition for places on our courses is intense, and that applications are sometimes refused. For instance: the class for a particular course may already be full and closed to further enrolment; you may have insufficient musical experience at university level to cope with the demands of the course; your GPA is not sufficiently high (our normal expectation is 3.0 or higher); you apply too late after the course has begun; etc.

Q - Do I need to understand and use music notation?

Not necessarily.

For many courses it is only to be expected, at university level, that you will need to be able to read scores fluently for study purposes and to read notation fluently when performing various types of music.

There are, however, various courses where use of music notation is not required. This may be, for example, where the musical tradition being studied is an oral one, or where Western music notation is simply not relevant (e.g., the music of Java). And we have certain performance options (for instance, in step dancing and set dancing) where students will not need to read notation.

If you are not sure whether your ability with notation is sufficient, the best thing to do is initially to go ahead and apply for the courses of your choice and then, after you arrive, consult the tutors for those courses. You will of course be able to withdraw from particular courses if it becomes apparent that you are struggling to meet the technical demands of their classes.