BMus (Hons) Jazz

Studying Jazz at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, you will experience a high level of training aimed at cultivating your development as a creative and versatile jazz performer.

Our Jazz department is vibrant and energetic and continues to produce successful musicians and new voices within the UK jazz scene. The BMus programme explores jazz in the broadest possible terms and provides the opportunity to play, perform, compose and record in many different jazz styles and settings. It is the first and the only full-time degree-level jazz course in Scotland and offers many creative and artistic opportunities to you as a performer across a wide-ranging curriculum.

You’ll receive tuition from some of the finest jazz musicians and educators in the UK and benefit from high contact time offered, with weekly individual lessons focusing on your principal study instrument. The opportunity to study a second instrument is also made available.

The programme is delivered to a small, focused cohort of students in each year group that form a unique ensemble and grow together throughout the BMus jazz pathway. You're encouraged to interact with other students from other disciplines in the spirit of our cross-disciplinary curriculum.

Through class teaching in our dedicated studios, you’ll study the essentials of chord-scale harmony, improvisation, classic repertoire, composition, history, music business and arranging. Our vision of jazz is comprehensive and inclusive, and you’ll be introduced to the full range of contexts from solo and ensemble work to big band settings.

Studying Jazz at the Conservatoire provides numerous opportunities to perform. On our campus are our RCS Jazz Orchestra with our Visiting Artist series featuring distinguished conductors/artists, Blue Monday Concerts, featuring students and tutors, often performing alongside special guests. There are also opportunities to attend Scottish National Jazz Orchestra concerts and learn from their Internation