A contemporary approach to music studies

The Music and Performance Studies (M&PS) degree was introduced in 2019 and represents a new and exciting educational product in the Caribbean. It is unlike other regional music qualifications in that it recognises processor-based technologies such as smartphones, tablets and the personal computer as primary conduits through which musical creativity is increasingly explored, expressed and experienced.

The themes that constitute the programme cover a wide range of topics grounded in musicological, ethnomusicological and performance studies concepts, but with a focus on the region’s rich history and culture; acknowledging the eminent role of Caribbean creativity on the world stage but also how that role continues to develop and evolve in the 21st century.

The core of the M&PS degree is centred around music theory and aural training as the common language of music study but students can enter the programme without formal training on a traditional musical instrument. This progressive approach recognises the significant growth in artificial intelligence and software algorithms that are reshaping the way in which music is increasingly composed, arranged, captured, produced and consumed.

The M&PS degree also complements other undergraduate offerings within the Institute of Caribbean Studies (ICS), such as the Entertainment and Cultural Enterprise Management and the Culture and Creative Industries degree programmes. The offering of these three undergraduate degrees by the ICS provides a rich academic environment, and students can select from a diverse range of courses after completing their core programme requirements.

COURSES

Courses on offer range from the design and implementation of government policy for the arts through music industry operations, event planning, copyright protection and branding, creative practice, methods of production and management. The ICS therefore provides a broad academic umbrella under which students can study the creative arts but, while doing so, begin the important task of building a career network with future industry leaders and innovators. This is an often overlooked but important part of the University of the West Indies (UWI) experience and brand.

The Book Keeper’s Lodge, located on the Mona campus, is home to many of the M&PS courses, and houses two dedicated classrooms with a new suite of iMac computers, musical instruments, studio reference monitors and audiovisual facilities. Course offerings include Music Technology, Introduction to the Digital Audio Workstation, Introduction to Sound Design, Music and Moving Image, introduction to Iconography, Music in World Cultures, Recorded Sound in Jamaican Popular Music, Musics of The Caribbean, Bob Marley and His Music, The History of Jazz and Blues and The Production of Popular Music. Students are encouraged to explore individual creativity but through the development of critical reading, writing and thinking skills, which remain the hallmark of any UWI education.

For further information on the M&PS programme and the rage of opportunities it offers, contact the coordinator Dr Ray Hitchins at: rhcourseinfo@gmail.com and/or Kaydiann Williams at: kaydiann.williams02@uwimona.edu.jm