A folk music student plays on an indian instrument, similar to an accordion.

Performance – Folk Music

In the Bachelor's Programme in Folk Music you will meet a dynamic and developing study environment with room for both tradition and experimentation. Whether you're a singer or instrumentalist, you get to develop your own folk music with the help of the top teachers in the field.

  • Teaching form:

    Bachelor programme

  • Department:

    Folk music

  • Pace of study:

    Full time

  • Credits:

    180

  • Admissions:

    2 December 2024 – 15 January 2025

  • Application Code:

    KMH-10000

This programme is intended for instrumental folk musicians (fiddlers) and folksong vocalists as well as for performers on other instruments.

Please note that a strong proficiency of the Swedish language is required for this Bachelor's programme. For more information, please refer to the syllabus and test description in Swedish, on the Swedish page.

Read more about general entry requirements

A Unique Education

KMH was the first to teach folk music at university level and we have the first professor of folk music in Sweden. For more than forty years, folk music has been featured at KMH. A very stable foundation for studies that develop your artistic and technical ability, provide a good repertoire knowledge and deepen your artistic insight has evolved over the years. Many of the courses are only available at KMH.

You will encounter a rich and stimulating folk music environment with Swedish and foreign folk music/art music traditions side by side. This programme will deepen your command of your own tradition and equip you for working with musicians in other idioms. All in order for you to manage a folk heritage but also develop your own musical style.

Recent years have seen a distinct growth in the number of professionally active folk musicians in Sweden. Musicians having Swedish folk music as their principal genre are now active as concert performers, theatre musicians, dance musicians, composers and arrangers.

Programme Content

As much as folk music is constantly evolving in expressions and textual content based on people's needs and prevailing community image, your music style is allowed to develop with the help of courses in your main instrument and in ensemble and arrangement. All students in folk music and folk music from other cultures are part of a large ensemble called KMH FOLK.

The courses in this programme have been evolved over a long succession of years for the express purpose of suiting folk musicians, and many of them are only available at KMH.

Courses in music theory, folk songs and folk dance, piano, concert practice and freelance knowledge along with a wide range of elective courses enable further in-depth and/or broadening of your skills. In addition, your ability to produce music using digital tools and to reflect on popular music and its role in society based on analyzes of folk music history develops.

The programme includes a 15 ECTS independent assignment which means a concert or a corresponding artistic performance together with written reflections on music in an artistic perspective.

Workshops and seminars led by visiting teachers, both national and international, are organised regularly.

Contact