English with Music Studies

English and Music Studies is a combination that sits at the heart of the humanities, bringing together the study of language, narrative and literary form with the critical and analytical study of musical composition, performance and culture. Both disciplines are concerned with how human beings express meaning through formal structures, whether those structures are the syntax and imagery of a poem or the harmonic progression and rhythmic pattern of a musical work. Studying them together develops an unusually broad range of critical and analytical skills and an understanding of how literary and musical traditions have influenced and informed each other.

At the University of Aberdeen this four-year full-time degree allows you to explore literature, language and creative writing alongside musicology and musical practice in a distinguished academic environment. Aberdeen's English department has a strong international reputation in literary research, while the music provision draws on world-renowned composers and musicologists. The degree includes a year abroad, giving you the opportunity to develop your studies in an international academic context.

You will develop both academic and practical skills across both subjects, building the kind of versatile profile that opens multiple career pathways in the arts and creative industries and beyond.

Graduates from English and Music Studies degrees go on to careers in arts administration, music education, publishing, journalism, broadcasting, cultural programming, education and the creative industries. The combination of high-level critical writing ability and musical understanding is also valued in arts criticism, academic publishing, music journalism and cultural policy. For those wishing to continue their studies, the degree provides an excellent foundation for postgraduate work in English, musicology, music education or related arts disciplines.