MODULE HANDBOOK

MUS5000-20
Professional Musician
CREDITS 20

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 MODULE
Adam Biggs
CO-ORDINATOR
EMAIL ADDRESS a.biggs@bathspa.ac.uk
For further information about the staff you will work with on the module, please see the
staff contacts section on the module Minerva page.

INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the Professional Musician module. This module is all about helping you to
develop the skills and knowledge you will need to make a career in music. We relate
employment skills to the music industry and to music education, but you will find that many
of the skills that we cover will be of use to you in the other fields entirely, as they are both
transferrable and universal. As you will see from the module outcomes listed below, these
include communication, marketing, planning and organization, time management, teaching
and others. Delivery of the module divides between general industry and employment
issues and specific teaching issues. Besides the weekly lectures and workshops listed
below, you can attend the department-wide Music Think-Tank series in the Autumn term
as well. You should refer to the Minerva site for additional information and resources,
which will be posted regularly.

1 Module code MUS5000-20

2 Module title Professional Musician
3 Subject field Music
4 Core, Required or Required* for BA (Hons) Music (Single, Major, Joint,
Minor), BA (Hons) Music (Community
Music), BA (Hons) Music (Vocal
Performance), BA (Hons) Music (Jazz)
5 Level 5
6 UK credits 20
7 ECTS credits 10
8 Core, Required, Required* or Optional Core
9 Optional for N/A
10 Excluded combinations N/A
11 Pre-requisite or co-requisite N/A
12 Class contact time: total hours Total Hours: 52
13 Independent study time: total hours Total Hours: 148
14 Semester of delivery Semester 1
15 Main campus location Newton Park
16 Module co-ordinator Adam Biggs
17 Additional costs involved None
18 Brief description and aims of module

This module develops awareness of the music industry and music education,
exploring a wide range of skills related to employability in music including teaching,
enterprise, communication, planning, organization, time management and
promotion.

19 Outline syllabus

● You will investigate aspects of teaching instrumental/vocal skills in a

practical context.
● You will undertake research into music education and the wider music
industry.
● You will undertake concert management experience.
● You will assemble a professional portfolio.

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20 Teaching and learning activities

Lectures and workshops

21 Intended learning outcomes How assessed

By successful completion of the module, you will be able to
demonstrate:
1. Application of effective teaching and communication S2, F1
skills embodying knowledge of pedagogic issues and
practice
2. Insight into, experience and knowledge of professional S1, F2
practice in the music industry in its broadest sense
3. Sound understanding of the principles of enterprise in S1, F2
music-related activity

22 Assessment and feedback

Formative exercises and tasks:
F1 Individual teaching lesson preparation
F2 Practical tasks during lectures.

Summative assessments: Weighting%

S1 Portfolio (total: 2500 words) 60%
S2 Assessed lesson 40%

23 Learning resources

University Library print, electronic resources and Minerva:

● Gardner, H. 1983. Frames of Mind. New York, New York: Basic Books.
● Hallam, S. 1998. Instrumental Teaching: A practical guide to better teaching
and Learning. London: Heinemann.
● Harris, P. and Crozier, R., 2000. The Music Teacher’s Companion: A
Practical Guide. London: ABRSM.
● Higgins, L. 2012. Community Music in Theory and in Practice. London:
Oxford University Press.
● Mills, J. 2007. Instrumental teaching. London: Oxford University Press.
● Rutter, P. 2011. The Music Industry Handbook. London: Routledge.

24 Preparatory work

None

KEY INFORMATION
This is the compulsory module for second year B.A. Music. It is an intensive module and
covers a broad set of topics. Applying and sharing your own experiences is an important
part of the module and you will learn from your peers as well as the professional guest
lecturers that will be leading some of the lecture sessions.

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 EMPLOYABILITY OPPORTUNITES

This module will help you begin to start thinking about your career in music and the
different possibilities and options that you might like to explore in the future. To that end
we will consider the areas of music and the music industry that interest you, as well as
presenting new options that you may never have thought of. Performing music, teaching
music, community music, are all areas that we will consider.

SCHEDULE
Registry provide you with a timetable for your studies, but for each module in your course, we
provide you with a schedule outlining the content for each session. We include notes about
homework you may need to do in advance of each session or work or items you need to bring
for each class. We also indicate where the formative assessment activities happened and the
dates of summative activities, including deadlines. For more detail on summative
assessments, please see the relevant assignment brief.

Can we remind you:

● We expect you to attend all sessions
● There is no substitute for being in class with your lecturers, who can answer your
questions and help you understand the topics of each session
● If you do miss a class, it is your responsibility to catch up
● Do not expect tutors to re-cap session content because of absence, it is not fair to
other students

If we must cancel sessions (such as snow days) or if staff are ill, the schedule below might
change, but in such instances, we will aim to recover any lost time.

KEY
EW EXAM WEEK
RW READING or REVISION WEEK
SW SPA WEEK

DATE SESSION TITLE TUTOR

Week

1 3 Oct Introduction to Professional Musician

2 10 Oct Concert Assistants Suzanne Harris

3 17 Oct Your Career Adam Biggs

4 24 Oct Freelance: Mike Daniels Mike Daniels

5 31 Oct Education: One to One Teaching Adam Biggs

SW - SPA WEEK

6 14 Nov Education: An overview Dylan Gwyer-Roberts

7 21 Nov Armed Forces Bands – Army Grainne Devery

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 8 28 Nov Classroom: NQT v’s Experience Alaina Herbert & Paul
Calvert

9 5 Dec Music Therapy: Building a Business Rosie Mead

10 12 Dec Marketing Materials Adam Biggs

WINTER VACATION

11 9 Jan Running a Venue: Colston Hall Clare Jack

12 16 Jan Making Money Adam Biggs

MONDAY 20 “Composing for Non-Professional Musicians” Adam Biggs/Matt

Jan - Performance Hub Sergent

13 23 Jan

14 31 Jan EW - ASSESSMENT AND SUBMISSION WEEK - Marketing Materials

Due

15 3 & 4 Feb Assessed Lessons - See Timetable Here

SELF-DIRECTED STUDY
You will be required to give another student 10 twenty minute one to one lessons over the
course of the semester.

ASSESSMENT
The following explains the assessment requirements for the module.

The purpose of assessment is to enable you to demonstrate that you have fulfilled the
objectives of your course, and achieved the standard required for the award you seek.

Assessment is a matter of judgement, not simply of computation. Marks, grades and

percentages are not absolute values, but symbols used by examiners to communicate
their judgement of different aspects of your work, to provide information on which the
final decision on your fulfilment of course objectives may be based.

The aims of assessment are:

● to provide a measure of your achievement in any component of the course

● to ensure that the award granted is appropriate for such a level of achievement
● to safeguard the standard of award recommended by the University
● to provide work targets and feedback to you
● to provide feedback for the staff teaching the particular programme component
● to ensure compatibility with similar standards elsewhere

You can read more about the BSU approach to assessment here and the university
assessment policy is here.

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 TYPES OF ASSESSMENT
As with every university in the UK we talk of two types of assessment.

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT is where your tutors set you a task to complete and
then provide you with feedback to help you improve your work in future. We provide
formative assessments at all levels of study. The feedback does not go towards your
final degree result, but it does help you to determine what you need to do to achieve
the best marks you can. Please remember, every time a tutor tells you how to
improve you work, or corrects your technique or approach, this is formative feedback.

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT is where you demonstrate your understanding and

acquisition of the knowledge and skills you are here to learn. While the music and
performing arts programmes very rarely ask you to sit exams, you should regard the
performance activities in much the same way. Whether an assessment is practical or
written, we are asking you in that task to demonstrate what you have learned. The
tasks we set are therefore a moment in time, in which we expect you to invest as
much of your learning as you can. The grade for each summative task goes toward
your end of year result.

REMINDERS
We know that you have come from a school system that places great emphasis on
grades and achievement. We know you are driven to succeed, but we also know that
at higher education level things are not as cut and dried and so we will often question
your ideas and solutions. For that reason, we urge you not to be ‘grades driven.’
Focus on the feedback you receive and listen to what that feedback tells you about
how to improve. You are all here to study an art form, art is not exact – if it were
everybody could do it. So expect to get things wrong, to make mistakes and to know
that you will often learn most by your mistakes. We want you to succeed, but as staff
we also have exceptional experience and so we have to give you honest feedback
and tell you when things work and when they do not.

SO PLEASE REMEMBER:
● In each assessment your tutors are looking to see how well you have achieved
the ILOs of the module. The ILOs are in section 21 of every module descriptor.
● We never mark the amount of work you do or the effort you put into the task.
We expect you to put in the effort but only mark the quality of the outcomes.
● You must pass every assessment item in every module to pass the whole
module. If you fail one part of the module you must retake or resit that task
before you pass the module.
● You are allowed 2 attempts to pass each task. If you fail the second attempt,
then you must retake the whole module.
● The grade that staff award you is an academic judgement. Modules are
second-marked by a second tutor; a third tutor moderates this marking; and the
external examiner considers all the range of grades for each module. This is a

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 minimum, your practical work might be second marked by more than two
members of staff.
● Because of the rigor of that process, you cannot appeal the academic
judgment – i.e. your grade
● You can appeal if you think that the assessment process has not been carried
out properly, or if you believe there was information about your ability to
perform the assessment that your tutors did not know at the time. You can link
to the Appeals Procedure here
● Feedback is not personal criticism.
● Formative feedback is there to tell you how to improve.
● Summative feedback describes why you have given your particular grade.

BUT ABOVE ALL

Remember that we want you to succeed, it is why we teach and it is why we invest so
much time and effort in your education. Our job is to determine how much you have
learned.

SCHEDULE
Here is the assessment schedule for this module. The Submission Due is the
deadline for when you must submit work. The Feedback Due indicates the time you
should expect to receive feedback from your tutors.

%
TASK SUBMISSON DUE FEEDBACK DUE
WEIGHT
F1 Individual teaching
lesson preparation
F2 Practical tasks
Formative during lectures, will N/A 0%
Assessment take place throughout
the semester

Summative S1 Portfolio Essay

60%
Assessment 1 (2500 words)
Summative S2 Assessed lesson
40%
Assessment 2

WHAT YOU ARE ASKED TO DO

Please read the descriptions below carefully. Tutors will give you further detail in
classes, but to ensure fairness you must follow the instructions provided.

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
Throughout the semester you will be required to participate and contribute to the
discussions in the weekly lectures, and you will be giving your ‘student’ a one to one
lesson each week.

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT 1

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The Portfolio is a combination of two things.

1 Creation of marketing materials (40% of module) – Due Friday 31 January 2020, Feedback due
Friday 14 February, 2020

You should create marketing materials either for yourself (as performer, composer, community musician or
teacher) or for a music-related project or business. The materials should be designed to professional standard.
You should present all printed materials as PDF files, and all audio/video materials on an online platform of your
choice. You should also provide a commentary of 500 words on your project, explaining the product and its
target audience. Credit will be given for the following:

 Quality of content

 Quality of layout

 Professionalism of presentation

 Coherence of materials and sense of branding

 Relevance and appropriateness of materials to product or service

 Relevance and appropriateness of materials to target audience/market

Concert Assistants (20% of module)

You will contribute to stage-managing an event within the Music Department and you will be assessed on
fulfilling this role with professionalism, reliability and a good sense of teamwork. A rotor will be created for all
concerts during the year and you will be required to complete an online assessment on Minerva relating to your
work.

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT 2

Assessed Lesson (40% of module)

You are required to give a 10-minute lesson to a fellow student, in an appropriate instrument/voice/skill, as
agreed with the module coordinator. You are also required to give a performance of a new skill that you have
learned from you teaching partner. In most cases, this will be a short performance (of about 3 minutes) of a
piece on an instrument that is new to you, at about ABRSM Grade 3 standard. However, in some cases it may be
agreed with the Module coordinator for you to perform on an instrument of which you have prior experience,
but in a style that is unfamiliar (for example, a classical pianist may play a jazz standard with appropriate
improvisation). In other cases, you may have been taught a skill that does not involve performance: for
example, you may have been taught video editing skills. In this case, you will be required to give a
demonstration of your new skills and produce an appropriate object, as agreed with the module coordinator.

Marking Criteria

Specific Marking criteria for lesson:

You are expected to create a sympathetic and constructive learning environment. There should be evidence of
appropriate structure and planning. Reference should be made to your pupil’s previous
lessons/knowledge/experience. You should make appropriate use of demonstration and you should be
prepared to give technical advice and diagnose difficulties or problems as and when necessary. You should use
your imagination in solving problems and creating exercises for your pupil, and you should – where appropriate
– use imagery as a means of communication. You should be prepared to give musical interpretative advice and
guidance for future progress.

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 ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
The aim of assessment is not to say how much you demonstrate the ILOs, but to look
at the activities we set and the qualities you demonstrate in completing them. This
helps us to gauge your command of the ILOs.

We then look for a series of qualities in your work, which we can quantify and
therefore we can grade your attainment of the module ILOs

For this module the assessment criteria are as follows.

Teachers will be assessed on the following points:

 Structure and planning of lesson

 Communication with pupil

 Appropriateness of material chosen

 Knowledge and understanding of technique

 Knowledge and understanding of interpretative demands

Pupils will be assessed on the following points:

 Fluency of performance

 Accuracy of notes

 Accuracy of rhythm

 Quality of sound

 Variety of sound

 Accuracy of dynamics

 Accuracy of phrasing

 Accuracy of articulation

 Use of appropriate tempi

 Use of appropriate style

 Communication with audience

GRADING BANDS
We grade your assessments within the degree classification system. However, at the
top and bottom ends of the classifications there are still levels of attainment, so we
group the marks into the following grading bands and in the following ways

NUMERICAL DEGREE
DESCRIPTION
SCORE CLASS
90% + 1ST Exemplary

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 80-89% Outstanding
70-79% Excellent
60-69% 2:1 Very Good
50-59% 2:2 Proficient
40-49% 3RD Basic
30-39% Insufficient Evidence
20-29% FAIL Little Evidence
0-19% No Evidence

THINGS THAT AFFECT ASSESSMENT

MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES
If you are unable to complete assessments due to circumstances outside of your
control or ability to foresee, such as serious medical or personal issues, you can
submit a Mitigating Circumstances claim. For more information, and guidance on how
to submit a claim, please read the Student Services Mitigating Circumstances policy
and guidance document, available here.

ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT/UNFAIR PRACTICE

Bath Spa University believes it is important that all students are judged on their own
ability and that all assessments submitted should be original. Unfair practice is
defined as any activity used by a student which provides them with an unfair
academic advantage over others. Unfair practice is sometimes called 'unacceptable
academic practice'. For more information, please view the Unfair Practice Policy on
the Hub.

ATTENDANCE MATTERS
Regular attendance and active engagement with teaching and learning is an essential
component of successful student retention, progression, achievement and
employability. For more information about Attendance Matters, please follow this link
to the Hub.

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