Are you looking for an introduction into the music industry and music performance? This course combines production, technology and performance to give you a broad grounding of the industry. You will explore a wide range of performance and technical skills as well as different styles of music, looking at what ‘building blocks’ make up a style of music as well as how they make you feel.

The music industry is part of the rapidly expanding creative sector worth over £100bn to the UK economy. It is a rewarding and exciting area to work.

Did you know:

• Music makes a £4.5 billion contribution to UK economy;
• 145,815 people are employed full time in music;
• Music generates £2.6 billion export revenue, driven by artists such as ACC Ambassador, Ed Sheeran, Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, Sam Smith and Harry Styles.

The music industry is seeing rising revenues from digital sources, allied with a buoyant live sector and a growing demand for niche products, such as vinyl. It has also been revolutionised by social media channels, which means that artists now have more tools to build their brand and sales. The upshot is that music artists and musicians have many more opportunities to develop a sustainable career in music, whether as a freelancer, or as an element of a portfolio career.

Qualification: RSL Level 2 Diploma for Music Practitioners (Performance)
(Equivalent to GCSEs Grade 4-9)
How Long: Three to four days a week for one year, September to July (daytime). How long you are in college will depend on what additional English and Maths sessions you need to attend.
Where: Birmingham, Bristol, Lincoln, London, Manchester, Norwich, York
Entry Requirements: You’ll need a heap of passion and a mix of GCSE grades 1-3 (F-D), or equivalent.
Assessment: This qualification is coursework based and does not contain exams. Some assessments take place practically and involves your ability to carry out a task or brief being recorded. Coursework is assessed through a variety of methods with the qualification being gained through a good balance of practical and written assessments.
Fees: If you are aged 16-18 on 31st August 2020, then the course is FREE. If you are aged 19+ please refer to our 19+ information on the fees page.

How to Rehearse As a musician, we recognise that your development takes place on your instrument, so time is spent working with others towards a live showcase of your skills. With regular tutor input, you will improve every week that you are at college.

Live Performance Live performance on the stage is one of the most exciting aspects of being a musician. You will learn how some of your favourite artists have developed their image and persona as a performer, as well as show off your skills developed from rehearsals on the stage. Every performance is recorded to video, allowing you to gain peer and professional critique.

Recording as a Performer Essential to any musician’s abilities is how to be at the top of your game in a recording environment. You will develop your ability to prepare for a recording session, getting you ready for when an engineer hits record and providing you with a song you can show to others.

Auditioning You will almost certainly need to go to an audition at some point in your career, whether that be for a college place or for a band. You will get help with your preparation, and you get the chance to gain industry feedback from tutors.

Arrangement & Composition Skills You will learn important arrangement and composition skills that will help you write music. You will apply these skills by creating arrangements of a song and making them into your own versions, learning valuable ICT skills as part of the process.

At Level 2 we will give you a broad grounding in music performance to enable you to move on and develop your skills further at Level 3. You will start to build a basic portfolio of work which is at the heart of any creative artist; you will develop your repertoire and performance skills as well as gaining wider work skills and your understanding of careers in the creative sector.

Much of this journey will be done through careers and employability skills which will be embedded into your course work. On top of this you will get focused time in Personal & Professional Development sessions working with dedicated staff who will help transform your experiences in preparation for your next steps.

You will also have access to Kompass, our online careers portal. This will provide you with real world music opportunities brokered by ACC and its partners, which could be anything from performing at a festival to a songwriting or remix competition. The site also has loads of info, advice and guidance on working as a music artist/musician and on wider work skills.

Access Creative College is home to a range of creative young people who study music production, event production, games development, video production, photography and interactive media. This means there is ample opportunity to collaborate on multi-media projects.

Each year you will have three weeks which have a focus on employability and careers. The first is Careers Week which is just before Christmas and looks at creative careers and wider work skills. Industry Week takes place during National Careers Week and includes guest sessions and workshops from leading creative and business practitioners as well as exciting live briefs from industry partners. Awards & Showcase Week at the end of the year gives you a chance to celebrate your achievements and perhaps gain an award for your work!

This course is designed to give you the skills to move on to further study in preparation for a career in music.

When you’ve completed the course, why not level up to Level 3 performance, production or vocal courses, where you can really get into specifics or try something new like games or events.

It is also important to have an understanding of future career opportunities. Music artists and musicians are usually self-employed – it is very rare to be employed. You may either operate as your own small business, or complete freelance work for others, or you may incorporate music as part of a wider portfolio career. Being self-employed will mean you will need a broad skill set to support your music, including enterprise, networking, brand development, marketing and promotion, all embedded in the use of digital tools such as social media channels.

Job roles relating to music performance include:
performing and recording artist
session musician
songwriter/composer
theatre musician

Many musicians move into music industry support roles such as event management and production, artist and touring management, publishing and record labels.

The wider skills you develop, such as creative thinking, teamwork, problem solving, communication, promotion and enterprise will help you in any job situation. All of these are skills in high demand from today’s employers and our students use their talents in a range of creative roles

The skills you will need are creativity, passion, instrumental ability, compositional skills, marketing and promotional skills, ambition, courage, resilience, teamwork/communication skills and business and enterprise awareness.

Applying for this course is easy. All you need to do is fill in our short online application form. After you have created an account you will be able to provide links to online work, upload relevant documents and book an interview slot. Once we’ve received your application, we’ll be in touch within a couple of days.

SKILLS SET: – For school leavers we will require evidence of your predicted and actual grades, ideally backed up by a school reference.

– Please note you will not be able to enrol if you will be under the age of 16 on 31st August. Applications from people under this age are still welcome, but will be deferred to the following year.

INTERVIEW: – Please come prepared to talk about your music, what artists you like and your ambitions.

– For the audition element, please prepare a short performance (around 5 minutes) of two contrasting pieces on an instrument and/or a vocal performance. You may wish to do this to a backing track. Please bring your instrument with you. We have amplifiers, drum kits, keyboards and PA systems. You may want to demonstrate any original compositions.

– You can view/download a detailed Interview Guide here