Music: General Studies

at UBC's

Vancouver Campus

General Studies is designed to provide a broad, flexible, general higher education in music, including private lessons on the instrument that you play best. You'll have the freedom to choose many elective courses, allowing continuation into various professional options, including graduate degrees.

Visit program website

Program information

  • Campus: Vancouver
  • Faculty: School of Music
  • Degree: Bachelor of Music
  • Length 4 yrs
  • Co-op Yes
    You can combine your studies with full-time, paid work at top local and international organizations.
  • Honours No
    You can study intense specialization in a single field.

Students admitted to the Bachelor of Music program may follow one of four streams: General Studies, Advanced Performance, Scholarship, or Composition. Every stream includes four years of private lessons in an instrument or voice, along with ensemble performance (4 years), music scholarship (3 years), and non-music electives (4 years). The distribution of required and elective courses, in Music and in other subjects, is different for each stream. General Studies is designed to provide a broad, flexible, general higher education in music, including private lessons on the instrument the student plays best. Most undergraduates admitted to the School of Music are eligible to enrol in this program. In General Studies, you may select from three streams:

General Studies (concentrations include Piano, Organ, Voice, Opera, Guitar, Harpsichord, Orchestral Instruments, Historical Musical Instruments);
General Studies – Elementary Education Stream (preparation for studies in education leading to certification as a teacher in BC elementary schools);
General Studies – Secondary Education Stream (preparation for studies in education leading to certification as a music teacher in BC secondary schools).

Campus features

The School of Music offers cutting-edge performance facilities like the Gessler Multimedia Teaching Studio and the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, recently named one of the world’s greatest concert halls.

Your future

A UBC education will introduce you to people and ideas from around the world, open doors to new opportunities, and take you places you never imagined. You’ll graduate not only with expertise in your chosen field, but with the skills you need to continue growing, learning, and evolving with your career over time.

Program requirements

English-language requirements

English is the language of instruction at UBC. All prospective students must demonstrate English-language competency prior to admission. There are numerous ways to meet the English Language Admission Standard.

General admission requirements

IB Diploma Programme

  • Completed IB Diploma, including at least three Higher Level courses.

IB Certificate Courses

  • IB Certificate courses (Standard and Higher Level) may be used in an admissions average if you are graduating from a recognized high school curriculum that can be used as your basis of admission.
  • IB Math Applications and Interpretations SL, or IB Math Studies, do not satisfy the math requirement for admission to UBC’s science-based programs, the Faculty of Management, the UBC Sauder School of Business, or the Vancouver School of Economics.

Degree-specific requirements: Music

  • No specific courses required beyond those needed for general admission
  • Audition, portfolio (students in composition), and letters of reference

Related courses

The following subject categories are particularly relevant for this degree. Consider taking courses in these areas in your junior year and senior year.

  • Language Arts
  • Second Languages
  • Visual and Performing Arts
Visit program website