The Master's programme Educational Science in Music aims to build expertise for professional music education in various educational and social fields outside of schools and to promote the next generation of scholars in the field. It trains students to conduct subject-related and transdisciplinary research.
In addition to musicology and pedagogy, psychology (for musical learning and development), sociology and ethnology (for the social significance of music and multiculturalism) are central reference disciplines.
Many courses and projects of the Master of Educational Science in Music take place together with other courses of study at the HfMDK (among others with the teacher training courses in music, instrumental pedagogy, dance, theater and orchestra management, church music).
Admission to the master's degree programme takes place in a two-stage procedure. The following students are addressed: Students with a first professional degree in the social sciences or humanities or in an artistic field of study, a state examination for a teaching profession (preferably in music) or a first professional degree in another field of study who wish to engage in music practice and train in music education as a scientific discipline.
Written applications are accepted from October 1 through December 1 for the following summer semester and from February 1 through June 1 for the following winter semester.
The first degree certificate does not have to be available by the application deadline, but proof that at least 150 credit points have already been earned and that the degree will be available at the beginning of the winter semester.
- current passport photo (the following formats are accepted: GIF, JPEG, JPG or PNG)
- Complete and up-to-date curriculum vitae in tabular form (up to the year of application)
- School leaving certificate (if not yet available, the last school certificate is sufficient for the time being), in case of foreign certificates a certified translation in German or English is required*
- If applying for a Master's degree: Bachelor's certificate or equivalent, "Transcript of Records", if applying for a concert exam: Master's certificate or equivalent, "Transcript of Records "*
- For applicants from the People's Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, certificate of the Academic Evaluation Service (APS) (PR China // Vietnam)
- Proof of language skills according to the requirements of the degree programmes (see below, Language certificates)
- Please note that you have to submit additional documents in the different study programmes. Please inform yourself about this on the website of the respective study program for which you are applying under "aptitude test". Among other things, letter of motivation, assignments, phoniatric report (voice)...
*If you do not have all final certificates at the time of application, please submit the most recent certificates and supporting documents in advance. Submit the final documents without being asked and in good time before the start of your studies. If you have any questions, please contact us immediately.
Please fill out the online application completely and upload all requested documents. After you have submitted your online application with a final mouse click, you will receive an email from us confirming the receipt of your application.
After the application deadline, you will receive an invoice from us for an administrative fee of 50 Euro. Please transfer the fee to the account of the HfMDK stating your invoice number and name within the mentioned payment deadline. Only when the administrative fee has been credited to the university's account is your application complete and can be processed.
The application fee is charged per applicant. If you apply for two courses or subjects, no further fee is due. The fee will be due again if you reapply at a later date (new round of applications).
A refund of the application fee is excluded - this also applies if the application is withdrawn.
Here you will find a list of required German language skills for all degree programs. Please check which of these requirements apply to your degree program.
Application documents
In addition to the documents mentioned in the document with the notes on the application procedure, the following documents must also be submitted for applications to the Master's program in Music Education:
- Essay of 3-5 pages on one's musical biography, showing subject interest, music practice education and experiences, experiences in pedagogical reference, and skills of reflection and self-distancing.
- Portfolio with evidence of the type and duration of musical education (instrumental, vocal, dance lessons), music pedagogical practice (choir membership, band and ensemble playing/leading, songwriting, etc.), pedagogical qualifications, project work, and more.
Suitability assessment
The aptitude test takes place in an interview based on the essay about the applicant's musical biography. It takes place between the applicant, the head of the study program and another expert as assessor. The exact date will be communicated to the invitees by mail after the application deadline for the summer semester by the end of December and for the winter semester by the end of June. The interviews take place at the end of January or in mid-July.
[Nicht-amtliche Lesefassung. Stand: 18.12.2023]
The Study and Examination Regulations (SPO) set out the framework conditions and regulations for your studies. They apply together with the General Regulations (for Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes) or the SPoL (for teacher training degree programmes). All versions of the SPO for your degree programme (including earlier versions for students of previous academic years) can be found at Examinations.
Stand: 27.05.2019
[114/2022, 01.06.2022]