Creative Music Making

Teaching and Learning

The course consists of 22 online units. Each unit provides reading and listening materials to reflect upon, exercises and ideas to take into your personal practice. 

Throughout the course, you will be asked to record your own musical development through a reflective journal and occasional audio recordings. This process will not require specialist audio equipment – a mobile phone or tablet, for example, may be an adequate recording device. 

There are weekly reading, listening, and practical tasks to enable you to apply new ideas to your own music making, alone and with others. Online group tutorials and discussion forums complement your learning. You will develop and contextualise your learning about practice through your personal involvement in music making within local group activities, observation of the music-making practices of others, online forum discussion, and reflective practice tasks. 

Tutorial learning will be delivered in small groups, building on information you have already acquired through your personal study of the course materials made available online. 

Your own practical experience is underpinned with theoretical knowledge to help develop your practical and observational skills and your creative responses to challenges. 

Residential Learning Week

The residential learning week is an immersive practical course taking place between Monday 7 April 2025 – Saturday 12 April 2025 (inclusive) at King Charles Court in Greenwich. During the residential week, you will participate in group activity and engage with supporting academic discussions and debates. This will expose you to a variety of views and approaches current within the world of professional music practice. 

The timetable has been designed to help you apply your prior learning at home to group practical music sessions. Your week with us will include a mix of ensemble-based music making, tutorials, workshops, choir, and one-to-ones, all leading up to an informal performance. We provide optional evening sessions where you can meet and hear from other guest musicians, guest speakers or just socialise with other students studying on the course. 

Accommodation, breakfast, lunch and dinner for the week are provided within your course fee. 

A typical day starts with a whole-group session of practical music making that gets you warmed up and ready to learn. Alongside our practical sessions, we also offer seminars with your tutor. These sessions provide a valuable opportunity to reflect on your previous assignments and plan your final project. During the afternoons, we provide a range of practical workshop sessions, with opportunities to learn from specialist tutors in a range of subject areas. These sessions build on content from online Units, and include improvisation, arranging, creative music technology, musicianship, and composition. You will be placed in a creative ensemble where you will work alongside a creative tutor to create and develop your own new music, putting into practice skills learned through the online content. You will stay within your ensemble throughout the week, working towards an informal performance on the final night. We round off our day with a whole-group vocal session in which you’ll work alongside our vocal leader to learn new repertoire to be performed on the final night. 

In addition to the main programme, there are a series of optional daytime sessions including: 

• Personal Project (Group) Surgery 
• Careers Advice Surgery 
• ‘Meet the Programme Leader’ appointments 
• Open University study advice appointments 
• Access to the Jerwood Library (at scheduled times throughout the week) and our practice rooms at King Charles Court. 

Assessment

• You will be set four formative assignments and a summative personal project, which you must pass to gain the Level 6 (Level 3 OU) Certificate qualification. 
• The assignments will require you to demonstrate critical engagement with course materials as well as wider research and listening in related subjects. You will be asked to describe how you have applied concepts and theories to your own musicianship, and with what result. 
• You will not be assessed upon your performance ability, but on how you have engaged with and synthesised musical ideas. 
• Assignments will be supported by regular online tutorials with a member of Trinity Laban staff, including group discussion with other students. 
• You will receive regular and on-going feedback from staff through tutorials and discussion forums.  

Practical

• There is no audition for this course, however, you should be actively involved in practical music making, including some form of music making with others (e.g. playing in a band, rehearsing as a duet) for the duration of the course. 

• If you are not already involved in group music making, please note that successful completion of the course will require you to participate in group music making on a regular basis. Confirmation of your planned practical activities will be required prior to enrolment. 

Academic

• We welcome learners from all academic and non-academic backgrounds. If you are unsure about whether to apply, please contact us at admissions@trinitylaban.ac.uk – we’ll be happy to help and discuss the course with you. 

• Applicants are typically expected to hold academic credit at Level 5 on the FHEQ, normally acquired through prior completion of degree level study (Foundation degree, HND, DipHE or the second year of Bachelor’s degree study or equivalent). 

• OU students must have passed A224 Inside music, A232 Music, sound and technology, A234 Understanding music, or A342 Central questions in the study of music before studying this module, and should have completed stages 1 and 2 of their degree. 

• For others, this prior learning may be demonstrated in the following ways: 

• • Music study at Level 5 or above in another institution (you may, for example, have studied for an academic music degree in the past and now wish to focus more on performance) 

• • Study at Level 5 or above in a related subject combined with significant experience of practical music making (e.g. regular music making for 2 years or more) 

• • Equivalent entry qualifications or professional experience may be considered for entry to the course, subject to completing the Institution’s RPL procedures. 

• • Applicants for whom English is not their first language should demonstrate proficiency in English equivalent to a pass at Trinity Integrated Skills in English (ISE) Level IV, GESE Levels 7-9, IELTS 6.5 overall (min. of 6.0 in all areas). Equivalents from other English language course providers may also be considered. 

• • Students must play an instrument or sing (at any standard in any genre) and make music regularly with at least one other person, who does not need to be a student, throughout the course. 

UCAS Conservatoires

As well as providing information about any prior qualifications you hold, you are asked to attach a personal statement, outlining any other relevant experience, your reasons for wishing to enrol on the course, and your current or planned musical activity. 

A standard UCAS Conservatoires application fee of £27.50 applies. Please note the application cycle for this course differs from most conservatoire courses. 

The application system on UCAS Conservatoires requires you to name two referees in support of your application. However, these are not normally contacted as part of the assessment of applications for CMM. 

Late applications may be considered – late applicants are advised to directly contact Admissions (admissions@trinitylaban.ac.uk).