Contemporary Performance

is a comprehensive program of technical skills, musical knowledge and performance experiences. As a Contemporary Performance major you will have training in music industry knowledge and skills that will prepare you for your career. You will work with specialist staff and have access to a range of quality facilities for live performance, studio recording and music production. 

Diploma of Music

Conducted over 4 semesters of full time study, the Diploma is designed to develop skills in all areas of contemporary music performance, including ensemble work, individual tuition, theory and genre specific performance studies.

*A Diploma also provides a pathway to a Bachelor of Music.

For the first 2 semesters, Diploma students receive specialist units of study. In semesters 3 and 4, Diploma students continue their study as per Bachelor 1 and 2. (see ‘Bachelor of Music’ for more details)

Instrumental Major (Diploma 1 and 2)

Instrumental Major provides a 45 minute one on one tuition on the student’s chosen instrument.

Concert Practice

Concert Practice runs for 2 hours weekly and is run in a formal setting reflecting work being undertaken in Instrumental Study.

Musicianship

All students undertake academic studies at the Australian Institute of Music. These units are comprised of Musicianship, Keyboard Harmony and Aural, helping students develop skills relevant to Contemporary Performance.

Associated Studies

Associated Studies are elective units that supplement the education of the Contemporary student at the Australian Institute of Music. Students elect two Associated Studies every semester from a wide range of exciting offerings such as Songwriting, Arts Law, Digital Technology, Music Production, improvisation and Arranging.

Ensemble

The core performance opportunity at the Institute is the ensemble, in which students are given the opportunity to develop their individual and collective skills . This is an exciting and challenging weekly class , where students develop and rehearse a 20 minute set per semester for public performance. Ensembles typically contains a line up of bass, drums/percussion, guitar, voice, keyboard and woodwind/brass.

The more you perform, the more you perform: The Institute prides itself on the number and and quality of performance opportunities that it provides its students. Our students regularly perform in front of staff, peers, industry reps and the general public in weekly performance classes, ensemble nights, graduating recitals and our ‘Soulfood’ concert series. Highlight performances from these events are included in industry-based showcase concerts.

Core Studies

Ensemble  - Through a range of instrument combinations and music styles including rock, blues, jazz, swing, reggae, and Latin, students develop skills in improvisation, transcription, transposition, interpretation, notation, band leading, accompaniment and rehearsal techniques.

Music History - Students undertake a two-trimester overview of the development of the history of music in Western civilisation from the beginning of Christianity to the present day. Attention is then given to the contribution of music to the total dramatic entity that is opera over its 400-year history and to the 100 years of film. Students also examine and compare various significant aspects of 20th-century music drawn from both the ‘classical’ and ‘contemporary’ streams. In the final trimester, classical students will study chamber music from its beginning to the present day, while contemporary students examine the styles, performers and composers in 20th-century popular music.

Theory - Students undertake a comprehensive grounding through the revision of basic principles and an introduction of the main elements of classical and contemporary music theory. This includes: modes, voice leading, jazz chords, inversions, guide tones, pentatonic and blues scales, chordal pluralities, and dominant 7th and extended chords. Further studies are done in more developed aspects of classical theory, including: harmonisation, two-part inventions, chromaticism, tonicisation, chordal techniques, non-functional harmony and atonal music.

Aural - Students develop the aural skills essential for professional musicians based on a program of rhythm, interval, melodic, tetrachord and 12-tone row dictation; chord, scale and mode recognition; and the development of relative pitch.

Research - Students are introduced to the processes of research methodology and, through individual research purposes, identify techniques and procedures used to investigate and document strategies, and provide information relevant to the presentation of a research paper.

Associated Studies

Music Technology - Students are given the theoretical knowledge and practical skills in the use of MIDI. They develop an understanding of the synthesiser, computer operations and software needed to generate compositions, sequencing and score editing.

Teaching Techniques By investigating some of the established and newer methods and approaches to music teaching, students develop a firm background upon which to tailor effective teaching strategies of instrument practice and performance. Students also focus on the special needs related to the teaching of their particular instrument in the one to one situation in a private studio.

Undergraduate Awards:

Diploma of Music
Advanced Diploma of Music
Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music, Honours

Post Graduate Awards:

Graduate Certificate of Music
Graduate Diploma of Music
Master of Music                

Instruments Available in Contemporary Department:

Vocal, Guitar, Bass, Drum, Percussion, Piano, Percussion, Saxophone, Brass, Woodwind and Strings.