Today's music students encounter a greater diversity of musical traditions and critical approaches to their study as well as a wider set of skills than their forebears. These developments come at a price. More material cannot be added to the curriculum without either sacrificing depth for breadth or making much of it optional. The dangers of both are evident: the former provides students with a superficial and deceptive familiarity with a wide range of subject matter, and the latter easily results in a fragmentation of knowledge and skills. Here, the contributors examine what students should learn about music and what skills music graduates should possess.

Bjorn Heile is Professor of Music (post-1900) at the University of Glasgow.

Eva Moreda Rodri­guez is Lecturer in Music at the University of Glasgow, having completed her PhD at Royal Holloway College in 2010.

Jane Stanley is an Australian-born composer and Senior Lecturer in Music at the University of Glasgow.

Introduction Björn Heile, with Eva Moreda Rodriguez 1. Should There Be a 21st century 'Complete Kapellmeister'? The Skills, Content and Purposes of a University Music Degree John Butt 2. The Learning Community, a Quodlibet Martin Parker-Dixon 3. Integrative Music History: Rethinking Music since 1900 Björn Heile 4. The Many Voices of 'Art Song' David Code 5. The Music Industries: Theory, Practice and Vocations - a Polemical Intervention Martin Cloonan and John Williamson 6. Writing about Music in the 21st Century Eva Moreda Rodriguez 7. Assessing Making and Doing Nick Fells 8. The Teaching of Creative Practice within Higher Music Education: Guerrilla Learning Objectives (GLOs) and the Importance of Negotiation Louise Harris and David McGuinness 9. On Teaching Composition: Why it Can Be Taught and Why that Matters Bill Sweeney 10. A Reflective Dialogue on Teaching Composition Drew Hammond and Jane Stanley