Birmingham City University

Bachelor of Music - Jazz

The recent launch of our Eastside Jazz Club has helped consolidate the integral role that Royal Birmingham Conservatoire has to play in a major UK city that enjoys a thriving jazz scene. While Birmingham’s jazz scene has been established over many years, our bespoke new venue strengthens the promise of an exciting future for Jazz in the city.

Our Jazz Department is based around the Club, where student musicians share a platform and get invaluable side-by-side performance experience with the best on the scene, whom we welcome to our stage on a regular basis.

This course meets with the needs of the modern jazz performer – it places emphasis on practical work, with the majority of time dedicated to one-to-one lessons, small group coaching, and private practice. You'll study modules that have been specifically and skilfully designed for jazz musicians, and as part of your learning, we encourage you to explore in-depth the relationship between improvisation and composition, which is central to developing your individual voice. You will graduate as a versatile, professional musician who is knowledgeable about the entrepreneurial opportunities available to you, and aware of the commercial realities for musicians joining today’s UK jazz scene as a portfolio musician.

Delivered by performers, band leaders and composers who enhance their teaching with professional experience, insights, and connections, the course hones both your performance and professional awareness. 

With individual specialist tuition throughout all four years of the course, you will get the individual attention you need to prepare for a successful career in the music profession. You can also apply for additional hours with a Conservatoire tutor of your choice to help support your studies and develop your skills in complementary areas.

As well as having our own club that has taken its place in Birmingham’s vibrant jazz scene, our students enjoy professional experience opportunities with external gigs that familiarise them with the industry – for example through our partnership with Cheltenham Jazz Festival – one of many ways we prepare you for the future.

What's covered in the course?

The BMus (Hons) Jazz course is a specialist course for performers in jazz. Its main aim is to prepare students for a career in the music profession in the field of jazz. At the heart of our course's philosophy is the ideal of the informed musician; someone who is able to combine both advanced skills and musical knowledge in the advancement of their musical career. The BMus (Hons) Jazz course, therefore, aims to develop the specialist skills, the theoretical, historical and practice-based knowledge and to encourage the individual creativity required for you to become an independent learner, a critical thinker, and a reflective practitioner. 

You will be taught by performers, band leaders, and composers, who are ideally placed to share their professional experience, insights, and connections. With their guidance, you will hone both your performance skills and your professional awareness.