Music Education

What is Music Education?

The Bachelor in Music Education provides for the academic, artistic and professional requirements of those wishing to become music teachers at post-primary level (including Northern Ireland). Not all graduates choose to teach however. Some, on graduation, pursue further study at Master's and doctoral levels in performance, conducting, and composition and quite a few pursue postgraduate courses in the media and in the music business.

The degree is taught in partnership with the Technical University of Dublin Conservatoire of Music and Drama (TU Dublin Conservatoire) and, on alternate years, with the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM). The degree is an integrated course of study designed to equip students with a high standard of performance in their principal instrument (including voice) and a competence in related musical skills, such as conducting, keyboard skills, and performance in choral, orchestral and chamber music groups. The course also provides for a solid grounding in harmony, counterpoint, composition, orchestration, analysis, history of music, and Irish traditional music.

This is a restricted entry course therefore application must be submitted to the CAO by 1 February of the proposed year of entry. Applicants who indicate music education as a choice of subject will be called for an interview/audition in late March/early April. Applicants will be awarded a score of up to 200 based on their performance in the interview/audition. For CAO applicants, this score will be added to their Indicative Points Score for the purposes of competing for places in the course. For direct applicants, a minimum score of 80 will be required to be eligible for admission to the course.

Students will also be required to undergo Garda Vetting, you can learn more here.

English Language Requirements

All applicants to Trinity are required to provide official evidence of proficiency in the English language. Applicants to this course are required to meet Band B (Standard Entry) English language requirements. For more details of qualifications that meet Band B, see the English Language Requirements page here.

Applicants for the Trinity International Foundation Programme require IELTS 5.0 overall, with 5.0 in Writing and no band below 4.5.

Applicants for all Undergraduate and Postgraduate programmes must present one of the following English language qualifications.

Music Education is a professional degree accredited by the Teaching Council of Ireland. Graduates have excellent employment records. Most graduates choose post-primary teaching, many garnering reputations as inspirational music teachers; others choose instrumental teaching both privately and in conservatoires. Graduates also go on to work in areas such as professional development, instrumental and vocal performance, academia, agencies associated with the arts, and in fields such as music therapy and music technology. Many students take postgraduate courses majoring in areas such as music education, musicology, performance, and composition. Occasionally graduates pursue disciplines such as accountancy, law and medicine!