Because he took a year out after his A-Levels in 2017, it was a long wait before he finally arrived to study at Goldsmiths. Now that he’s here, BMus Popular Music student James Williams tries not to take it for granted, and to make the most of his time as a Goldsmiths student!
On the popular music course, my day can consist of anything from songwriting workshops and ensemble performance practice, to history lectures and digital composing classes. But first, my morning starts with everyone’s favourite activity: the commute. I was lucky enough to get a room in Surrey House (one of the university’s halls of residence), meaning the walk to campus takes only five minutes. This becomes especially useful when I have a 9am lecture to get to!
The walk to campus from Surrey House, along Lewisham Way
An advantage of taking the BMus Popular Music course here is the variety of what you study: there’s a good balance of theoretical and practical classes in the first year. We also share some modules with the BMUS Music students, which makes for some interesting debates in seminars! One of these shared modules is ‘Approaches to Contemporary Music’, in which we examine periods like Modernism and Postmodernism, and discuss the compositional techniques and theories used around these time periods, as well as some social context. This module is predominantly delivered through lectures, but we also have two seminars and an essay tutorial in the final week.
Students arriving to a lecture on Approaches to Contemporary Music
Another shared module class is Creative Music Technology, in which we work in music production software like Logic Pro and Ableton Live, and either work towards making a soundtrack for a film scene, or working on production for a song composition. These are tutorials, as you bring your laptop (or borrow one from the department), and work alongside the tutorial leader.
Students receive a tutorial on Logic Pro in a Creative Music Technology class
After this, my course mates and I like to go for a coffee, usually at the SU Café, conveniently located just outside the entrance to the Music department. Our other favourites include Mughead Coffee, next to Dean House (another Goldsmiths halls), and Goldsmiths Café, opposite the library.
Bella Barton performing on the Student’s Union stage during Simon Says
The fun doesn’t end there though – now I have just enough time to get home, have dinner, and visit the SU bar in the evening for the monthly Popular Music showcase night, “Simon Says.” These nights are some of my favourites, as it’s great to see my course mates on stage, and get a chance to watch the second and third year students perform. Especially in first year, it’s an event that can be really helpful for finding out what kind of music you’re into. It’s also really easy to network here, and people from different music courses tend to be very sociable. Who knows – you may even end up finding yourself a new band member for your next project…
If you are interested in studying Popular Music at Goldsmiths, please click through to the programme page. For more information about the Goldsmiths Music Department, visit the university website.