Course summary

Our Jazz department, led by Professor Tommy Smith OBE, one of the world’s leading saxophonists and artistic director and founder of the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, is vibrant and energetic, and continues to produce successful musicians and new voices within the UK jazz scene. The BMus programme explores jazz in the broadest possible terms, and provides the opportunity to play, perform, compose and record in many different jazz styles and settings. It is the first and the only full-time degree-level jazz course in Scotland and offers many creative and artistic opportunities to you as a performer across a wide-ranging curriculum. You’ll receive tuition from some of the finest jazz musicians and educators in the UK and benefit from the highest amount of contact time offered anywhere in the UK, with 90 minutes of individual lessons per week on your principal study instrument. The opportunity to study a second instrument is also made available across all four years of study. The programme is delivered to a small, focused cohort of students in each year group that form a unique ensemble and grow together throughout the BMus jazz pathway. As a student, you are also encouraged to interact with other year groups and students from other disciplines across the RCS in the spirit of our cross-disciplinary curriculum. Through class teaching in our dedicated jazz studios, you’ll study the essentials of chord-scale harmony, improvisation, classic repertoire, composition, history, music business and arranging. Our vision of jazz is comprehensive and inclusive, and you’ll be introduced to the full range of contexts from solo and ensemble work through to big band settings. Studying Jazz at the Conservatoire provides numerous opportunities to perform both in and out of the institution. On campus are our RCS Jazz Orchestra, Jazz at the Chimp, and Blue Monday concerts, featuring students and tutors, often performing alongside special guest performers. There are also opportunities to perform and tour with the Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra, and to sit in on rehearsals with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra and their international guests, plus audition for a side-by-side experience with the SNJO. Please note, the international deadline for this programme is the 1st December 2025, but we would encourage applicants to apply by the 2nd October 2025 to be guaranteed consideration for the first round of scholarship