Queen’s university course offerings

Music and Video Games [MUSC 245]

This special topics course will examine the music of video games, focusing not only on the music itself but also on the history of game music design, music-stylistic features of game consoles and systems, sociological perspectives on gameplay, and how music helps to create gameworlds.  

Students from any program are welcome to enrol in this course. While students do not require advanced music skills, they must be able to read music to take this course, which may be satisfied by MUSC 104 (Introduction to Music Fundamentals), previous music study (please contact the Dan School for more information), or registration in a MUSC or MUTH plan.

Course recommendation from Research Group member and Queen’s student, Andrew Bennett:

“[T]his course is absolutely amazing…anyone who wants to combine their love of music with their love of video games should definitely consider taking it. Music in video games is an area of academia that has little to no research done on it, so the opportunity to take a course on it is an eye opener. After taking this course, one can expect to see a drastic change in how they perceive the music in video games: what instrumentation is used, what genre of music is being played, when is the music played, is there contrast between the music being used at different points in the game etc. Playing any game after taking this course augments the player’s experience… and allows for an even more immersive experience.”