Music Explorations
This is the course for anyone who loves music and wants to understand it more deeply. Through hands-on activities, critical listening and exploration of modern technologies such as streaming platforms and AI tools, you'll develop greater confidence in engaging with music as both a listener and creator.
No prior music training is needed. Learn alongside like-minded music enthusiasts, explore music's connections to culture, dance, health and wellbeing, and be inspired by instructors from the NUS Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music. Rediscover the joy of learning and transform the way you experience music every day.
In partnership with
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The course comprises of one three-hour class a week, conducted over five weeks. By the end of the course, you should be able to:
- Identify core musical elements and apply critical-listening strategies to describe and discuss music clearly and confidently, using appropriate vocabulary and evidence from listening examples.
- Explore cross-cultural and interdisciplinary perspectives in music, including how musical practices reflect the values and identities of different communities, and how music interacts with other art forms such as dance to shape audience experience.
- Understand how technology and AI shape music today, including the influence of recording, production, and streaming platforms on listening behaviours, as well as the opportunities and considerations of AI in music creation and appreciation.
- Describe music's contribution to health and wellbeing across the lifespan, and evaluate community music interventions by considering their potential benefits and limitations in real-life contexts.
- Collaborate creatively and synthesise personal learning through group music-making and reflective activities, culminating in a personalised curated Spotify playlist that captures developing musical awareness and preferences.
Find out more about the topics to be covered in each class below.
Wed, 20 Jan 2027, 9.30am–12.30pm
Identify and describe the core elements of music (e.g. pulse, rhythm, melody, harmony, texture, form) through guided activities and listening examples. Then, develop confidence in applying critical-listening strategies to describe and discuss musical excerpts.
Wed, 27 Jan 2027, 9.30am–12.30pm*
Analyse how music interacts with other disciplines (e.g., music and dance) by examining selected interdisciplinary examples, and explore cross-cultural musical practices, while explaining how music can reflect the values and experiences of different communities.
Wed, 3 Feb 2027, 9.30am–12.30pm*
Describe how recording, production and digital platforms influence how we create and listen to music today (e.g., Spotify, Apple Music). Later, learn to recognise and discuss selected AI applications in music, and reflect on the experience and its considerations for listeners and creators. You'll also get to experiment with an AI music tool to generate a short musical idea.
Wed, 10 Feb 2027, 9.30am–12.30pm
Collaborate in a group music-making and reflect how creativity and teamwork shape the group. Later in the class, learn about how music may support health and wellbeing across the lifespan.
Wed, 3 Mar 2027, 9.30am–12.30pm
In this class, you'll get to present and share personal musical takeaways and reflect on how your understanding of music have developed over the programme. You'll also be guided in curating and presenting a personalised Spotify playlist.
Take a moment to find out more about the instructors who will be leading the classes.
Academic Coordinator, Music, Collaboration & Production
Associate Professor Chan Tze Law is Vice Dean of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore, where he is a founding faculty member. In 2023, he was appointed concurrently as Vice Dean of Students to oversee and reimagine the university’s Centre for the Arts, and he is the architect of NUS 'Arts for All', a framework for arts access for all NUS students.
Described by The Straits Times as “a more excellent soloist than Rachel Ho, familiar to concertgoers as Red Dot Baroque's traverso player, would be hard to find,” Rachel Ho is a versatile performer on both the baroque and modern flute. Her world premiere of Eric Watson's Concerto Arabesque with Resound Collective was lauded for “comfortably surmounting its onerous technical challenges,” while her cross-cultural collaboration with the Vamshika Quintet drew praise for her “pristine tone in perfect conversation with the bansuris, creating true objects of beauty.”
Syafiqah 'Adha Sallehin achieved her Bachelor's degree in Music (with Honours) and her Masters of Music, both in music composition, from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in 2013 and 2016 respectively. She was a recipient of the Goh Chok Tong Youth Promise Award by MENDAKI in 2010 in recognition of her achievements and aptitude in the field of music.
Assoc Prof Zhou Xiaodong is Head of Audio Arts & Sciences (AAS) and founding Recording Studio Manager at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (YST), National University of Singapore. His work has been crucial in the design, establishment and operation of the Conservatory Recording Studio since YST's founding.
To celebrate SCALE's 10th anniversary, we would like to offer learners access to programmes to broaden their perspectives and rekindle the joy of learning. Learners enjoy a special anniversary rate of $200 (before GST) for inaugural runs of courses in the Joy of Learning series, limited to availability of seats.
Music Explorations Inaugural Run
Dates: Wed, 20 Jan 2027–Wed, 3 Mar 2027*
Venue: Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore
Click on the button below to find out more!
* To be confirmed
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