Contemporary rhythmic musician

The Master's programme Rhythmic Musician is a practice-oriented artistic education focusing on you developing a highly relevant set of professional skills. Its purpose is to make you a proactive, competent and well-informed musician who understands how to translate reflection into professional action. The programme is holistic and aims to help you develop your own artistic and professional profile as a basis for a multifaceted career in music and cultural life.

The Master's programme focuses on five important and mutually supportive key roles for the professional musician:

THE PERFORMER:
The performer represents the core of musicianship at Danish National Academy of Music. This is where you develop your technical, musical and artistic skills, enabling you to achieve a high degree of musicality and mastery of your instrument, as well as to communicate your artistic vision in an engaging way to different audiences.

THE TEACHER:
The teacher is your ability to communicate and convey your musical knowledge and skills. Teaching is a central part of many musicians' careers, which is why the programmes offer a strong basic pedagogical education, where you will learn to plan and implement teaching programmes for different target groups, including children, young people and adults.

THE CREATOR:
The creator is the role in which you explore and develop your own creative practice, whether in composition, improvisation, sound art or concept development. This role supports not only the traditional understanding of creating music, but also innovation in artistic expression and projects.

THE DEVELOPER AND ENTREPRENEUR:
The developer and entrepreneur role focuses on preparing you to navigate the economic and organisational realities of music and cultural life. Here you will acquire the tools to realise your own projects, create new opportunities and build a sustainable career.

THE LEADER:
The leader represents your ability to take responsibility and inspire others. This role is trained through collaboration, project management and organisational understanding, giving you the skills to take on leadership roles in various artistic, musical and interdisciplinary contexts.

 

During your master's programme, you will acquire a high level of knowledge, competencies and skills that will enable you to perform as a musician at the highest level and contribute to the development of the music industry and the arts and culture scene. You will have the opportunity to put this into practice in the large community-oriented project in the second semester, where you will apply your music and professional skills in a social and welfare-relevant context in close collaboration with an external partner. The Master's programme is a well-rounded educational programme that provides you with a foundation for a sustainable musical, artistic and pedagogical working life.

Through your studies, you will develop the ability to make independent choices based on an approach where artistic expression and creative drive go hand in hand with solid technical skills. The programme is characterised by a strong focus on creating music, where both composition and improvisation are paramount across subjects and projects. Here, you will have ample opportunity to immerse yourself in a wide spectrum of rhythmic genres and potentially everything in between – including jazz in all its forms, pop, rock, free improvisation, singer/songwriter, Afro-Cuban, Indian, third stream and fusion... or perhaps something completely different based on a suggestion from you as a student. 

In addition to scheduled classes, the programme offers interdisciplinary project-oriented focus weeks, masterclasses, theme weeks, artist talks, entrepreneurship days, subject group projects and a wealth of concerts. Your student life will take place in a local and close-knit study environment where there is room for you and where you will be in demand. The vast majority of students live here, practise here and play here in countless constellations, creating fertile ground for a special culture of both personal and joint initiative and project creation.

Besides prioritizing main instrument teaching and ensemble playing, the Master's programme also focuses on instrumental pedagogy with teaching in ensemble conducting, pedagogy and psychology.

 

SCHEDULE

Your schedule will vary from week to week throughout the year. Some subjects are only available for limited periods during the year, while other subjects are available throughout the year. In addition to the scheduled classes, you should plan to set aside time for practicing and for unscheduled study activities such as masterclasses, workshops and concerts. When you do not have scheduled classes, you can reserve available rooms for practicing alone or with other students.

Below is an example of what a schedule might look like in a random week during the year.

 

• 'Jazz/Pop, Odense' is a programme for those who want to immerse themselves in jazz and let it form the basis of their life as a professional musician.
• 'Composer - Jazz/Pop' is a programme for those who want a greater focus on composition.