The music history courses cover musical practices from the ^eighteenth century to the present day, covering both the scholarly and popular repertoires.

The openness of the class is reflected in meetings with musicologists as well as performers, composers, teachers and programmers, in extra-curricular sessions and in visits abroad.

The class teaches students how to write history, giving priority to contact with original documents (old scores, sound recordings, archives, etc.) and their critical analysis, as well as meetings with witnesses (creators, performers, teachers, institutional players, etc.).

Research dissertations are an important part of the course. Their subjects are chosen according to the students' areas of interest.

A different theme is chosen each year. For example: Musical life in London since the eighteenth century; The Paris Conservatoire (1795-1914); Opera in France, from score to stage (1870-1914); Piano technique (^{nineteenth-twentieth} centuries): an investigation into the instrumental gesture; 'Popular' music: Paris - London - New York (1864-1939); The sound experience (^{eighteenth-twenty-first} centuries).

A number of work placements give students the opportunity to acquire in-depth, practical knowledge of the jobs and realities of the professional world. In addition, working alongside professionals from the Conservatoire during a compulsory 2-month work placement in the audiovisual department, engineering musicians perfect their artistic and technical skills and learn to work as part of a team in real-life conditions.

How authors' societies work, rights associated with recording, arranging, adapting or distributing musical works, structures linked to record production and audiovisual music production, types of contract: this series of lectures and meetings led by professionals will help students acquire the legal and financial fundamentals of their future profession.