Should I Major in Music in College?

For many teens who study music the question eventually comes up: should I major in music in college? The answer to this question is not easy. Ultimately, it will require some personal soul-searching along with plenty of counsel from the students teachers and parents. It requires an analysis of whether the student is well suitedin musical skill, work ethic and determinationfor studying music in college and, most importantly, what realistic life and career goals that course of study will serve. If these big questions are answered satisfactorily, majoring in music can not only be a very rewarding collegiate experience, but the opening to a world of both future satisfaction and financial stability. This is the first in a set of three articles designed to help potential music majors decide if it is right for them and where they can go with it. To read the rest, use the navigation bar at the end of this article.

Can I Do It?
A common mistake that high school music students make in considering whether to major in music in college is expecting that college will be like their high school music experience. This, unfortunately, is very much not the case. Most high schools that have music programs have almost exclusively performance classes (band, choir, orchestra), and often ones that are not particularly competitive. You may also find a Music Appreciation class, but they are designed for non-music students and so, not indicative of college music major classes. Of all music classes typically held in high schools across the country, only Music Theory AP classes approach the workload and expectations of a college music major class. There are three general kinds of courses that music majors must take in college. The first are classroom courses, somewhat similar to humanities courses in other subject areas. The usual areas are: music history, music theory, aural skills and harmony/composition. There may also be more specialized classes for certain emphasizes such as music education (K12), jazz, opera and pedagogy (private instructor). These classes are usually taught at desks with textbooks, tests and term papers. Sometimes they require demonstration of skill at the keyboard such as harmony. Perhaps the most notoriously difficult course is Aural Skills in which a student will be required to be able to recognize and notate intervals, scales, chords and 4-part harmony just from hearing it. The classroom courses of the music major are designed to make the student a well-informed and well-rounded musician and will require much more study and practice than music students ever had to do for high school music classes. The second area of study is private lessons and solo performance. Students (with some exceptions) are required to major in one instrument (including the voice) for which they will receive weekly private lessons and be required to perform in front of a panel of teachers for their semester grade. They are typically also required to give a junior and/or senior year recital. For more performance-oriented music majors, this area is usually the most fun and rewarding. Students will get to work with high quality private teachers in honing their personal instrumental skills and exploring repertoire. Your private teacher often becomes a cherished advisor and friend for years to come. The third area is performance ensembles. Unlike high school, however, college performance ensembles are almost always of a much higher quality and much more demanding of students. Students will often be required to read music well, to sing in foreign languages and to learn their part largely on their own, with less rehearsal in class. The selection of college performance ensembles are also much broader than high school often including several levels of choirs, bands and orchestras; small elite performance groups and ensembles that dedicate entire semesters to a single project. Many of the ensembles

are by audition only and competition can be high. Still, for those who enjoy it, college ensembles can be some of the most rewarding experiences of a lifetime for the level of skill and artistry they can obtain. Are you up to the task? Being a music major (contrary to uninformed, common belief) is certainly not all fun and games, but if it is your passion, you will love (almost) every minute of it. It requires an intellectual mind, great study and practice ethics, self-motivation and often thick skin to succeed. It usually requires more hours in the day than other majors, and music majors are increasingly taking five years to complete their Bachelors rather than the usual four. But music programs are well designed because they not only teach their graduates all of the musical skills they will need to succeed, but also the dedication and strength to make a career in an area that is not always easy or clear-cut. And for those who choose to not make a career out of music, music major graduates are widely noted for their intelligence, work ethic and leadership skills.

Why Major in Music?

This is the second in a set of three articles designed to help potential music majors decide if it is right for them and where they can go with it. To read the other articles, use the navigation bar at the end of this article.

Why Major in Music?

This is a question to which every music major must developed a strong, satisfactory answer. What are your goals in pursuing a degree in music? Are they reasonable? Will they lead to a career in which you can support yourself and your family? Do you love music enough to make it this big of a part of your life? There are many different answers to these questions; some are reasonable, some are not. This is where the trusted advice of teachers and parents will prove invaluable. A music degree can take you in a lot of directions, often ones that you never anticipated as you began. It is your responsibility to make sure you end up where you want to go. Performance: A number of music majors begin studying with the dream of making a living off performing music professionally. The majority of them, however, will not end up doing so and only a very, very small percentage of them will make a living solely through performance. The professional music scene, whether popular, orchestral, operatic, jazz, etc. operates much like the professional sports world: a very small amount of people make very high salaries, while the majority make a small amount as a part-time job or hobby. The wise music performance major (even one that is very confident in their ability) continues to nurture a parallel career plan that can support them in the almost certain event that they will not make a living being a Michael Jackson or Pavarotti. Education: Most music majors make preparing to be a music educator one of the central parts of their education. I believe that this is crucial, not only because music teaching jobs are much easier to come by than lucrative performing jobs, but also because I believe that the best performers are those who know enough about their instrument from teaching it. The areas in which a music student can later teach music are very broad and flexible everything from a self-employed private teacher to a public high school teacher, to a college professor and can be combined with a semi-professional performing career to make it more feasible. As students are pursuing their degree, they should be sure to take the required steps to qualify for these positions: Private Music Teacher: No degree needed but strongly encouraged, one-on-one teaching and small business experience needed to be successful.

K-12 Music Teacher: Music education degree encouraged (but performance majors can take remedial classes to qualify). Teaching credential required in many states (an additional year of study). College Professor: Doctoral degree or Masters plus extensive performance experience usually required. High school teaching experience often also important to winning position. Musicology and Composition: A third major area that music majors sometimes pursue is in the area of musicology (including music theory, history and perhaps socio-ethnic studies) and composition. With the rare exception of a handful of movie composers such as John Williams, these areas are designed to lead towards a career of being a college professor who perhaps publishes music or books on the side. For more academic music majors, this area can be not only extremely satisfying but also fairly lucrative. An important thing to remember about musical careers is that they are almost never simple and easy. They almost always, a least for a beginning period when careers are still developing, require either a secondary part-time job or free-lance work as a private music teacher. (A possible, common exception to this is becoming a public school teacher right out of college.) Many young, budding opera singers hold a day job as a bank teller or web designer while working their way up in the industry. Composers almost always sit on university faculties and teach their share of theory and history classes. Making a career in music work requires great faith in oneself, ingenuity and persistence. This, however, is not very different from the chances or demands of a business entrepreneur, financial consultant, or many other professionals. Though the financial rewards may be typically a little lower than these other areas, the job satisfaction is usually much greater. Pre-professional Degree: A final possible career path for a college music major is often overlooked, but is extremely viable and I would encourage it: complete a Bachelors in Music and then move on a professional degree in another area such as business, medicine, law, etc. The first obvious questions would be Why in the world would you waste four years studying music theory and an instrument when you wont use any of it in your career? Answering this question exposes some of the common ignorance of the college music major curriculum. Music majors graduating with a Bachelor of Arts and/or Science degree (like any other degree) are required to take a dozen or so general courses designed to give them a well-rounded education. This includes classes in the hard sciences (chemistry, physics, biology), soft sciences (philosophy, psychology, sociology, humanities), math, history, literature, foreign languages, performing arts, etc. That means that a music major will have to take many of the same classes they would have to take as any other major, and they can usually easily take the prerequisite courses to apply for a graduate program in other subjects. Making this work, however, will require some research into what prerequisites the desired professional program has and how they can be met at your undergraduate school. Would being a music major put them at a disadvantage? On the contrary, studies have shown that medical schools take a higher percentage of applying music majors than even bio-chemistry majors. (66% to 44%, see The Case for Music in the Schools, Phi Delta Kappan, Feb. 1994). Graduate schools, as well as employers, are usually excited to accept music majors for the strong work ethic skills they learn from their training, as well as the artistic outlook and creativity they developed. It is not at all uncommon for trained musicians to work in a lucrative Silicon Valley software position while performing in a community or company symphony on the side (see Grant Venerable, The Paradox of the Silicon Savior).

What Can I Do Now to Prepare for Majoring in Music in College?

This is the third in a set of three articles designed to help potential music majors decide if it is right for them and where they can go with it. To read the other articles, use the navigation bar at the end of this article. You have been preparing your whole life in school to enter into a major such as math, science or literature in college. Music is no easy exception. A music major entering into college is expected to have a set of skills and knowledge that also take years to develop. Here is a quick overview of what those expectation are: Basic Musicianship: It is expected that an entering music major be familiar with basics of musical notation such as note values and pitches, clefs, meters, dynamics, articulations and expression markings. They should also be familiar reading, writing and hearing with scales (major and minor), basic chords (triads and sevenths), and chord progressions (I IV V I, etc.). While they do not take too long to learn, a student not fluent in these fundamental symbols and concepts will be unable to learn the higher music theory concepts being taught. Basic Instrument Proficiency: Every music student (almost without exception) will be required to focus on one instrument for which they will take private lessons and be tested. In almost all cases, this should be an instrument that they have been studying with a private teacher for years. Every semester each student will be graded according to a set standard for their instrument and poor performance can lead to having to retake levels and remain in college longer. Solo and Ensemble Performance Experience: While not required, experience in performance groups is highly encouraged and valued for music majors. An important part of every music majors curriculum (with the possible exception of piano majors) is performing with small and large choirs, orchestras and bands. Students considering majoring in music should take the opportunity to perform in community and school choirs, orchestras and bands to gain this experience. Participation in solo recitals and competitions also gives valuable experience to any musician and should be encouraged when possible. Practice and Study Skills: Any student who thinks they can avoid a challenging time in college by being a music major is grossly uninformed. The variety of music courses and experiences required will call for all of the skills they have learned both with their private teacher as well as in all their classes in school. Music majors must be able to write term papers, study for tests on history and theory concepts and facts, as well as met long-range performance goals practicing daily alone in a practice room. Music majors must be exceptional, self-directed students to succeed and typically graduate with high honors from their high schools. To best prepare for majoring in music in college, a student should study hard and get good grades in school. They should take lessons from a good private music teacher on the instrument of their choice. They should join musical ensembles in their school and community and be leaders in the group. Additional experience that will prove helpful are: studying foreign languages, taking Music Theory AP in high school (if available), listening to and familiarizing oneself with different kinds of music and composers especially Classical, and taking all available opportunities to perform publically both solo and with others.

What Can You Do With a Music Degree?

It is not unusual for parents to encourage their children to take up a musical instrumentto become a member of the church choir, the school band, or a youth orchestra. The benefits are manyindividual growth and discipline, learning to work with others, general familiarity with musical arts and cultures. Often, when a youngster starts showing talent, the family responds by investing a significant amount of time, energy, and money in lessons, transportation, music, and instruments. There can be strong family pride in the results. Then, somewhere along the line, the young musician begins to realize that music performance has become the primary focus of his or her life. The subject of going to a music school comes up, and one of two things happens: Either the family is immediately supportive, or there is a period of adjustment while the parents figure out what such a choice might mean for their children's future (and for their own). After all, what is going to happen if their young musician graduates, and can't make a living as a performer? Parents (and students too) worry about these things. So, in this essay, we are going to dig into the issue of the practicality of a Bachelor of Music degree. There are two perspectives to consider. The first is an explanation of the nature of the degree, and how it compares with other types of undergraduate degrees in the job market. The second is a deeper look at the issue, highlighting the elements which give students pursuing a music degree a head start along life's journey.

Part 1: Jobs, and The Degree

Peabody students receive a bachelor's degree. Each year, thousands of young people graduate from colleges with bachelor's degrees. The assumption is that those holding such a degree are now educated enough to qualify for a better job, or to enter further academic training at the master's level. This is true, even if they majored in art history, philosophy, or (heaven help us) 18th century British Literature. The same parents who might be concerned about their kids getting a job with a music degree seem less worried about the number of available jobs for art historians. And, as we all know, the newspapers hardly ever list a job opening for a philosopher. (One assumes 18th cent. Brit. lit. majors will seek jobs as college professors, whichof courserequires another four or five years of schooling for a doctorate.) Still, these are worthy areas of studyif not for the daily practicality of the body of knowledge one gains, but for the maturity, dedication and focus required in the process of doing so. A Bachelor of Music degree is no different. Those who have earned the degree are able to apply for any job (music or otherwise) requiring a bachelor's degree. They are also qualified to apply for entrance to a master's program (in music or in another field). The difference is this: Those holding music degrees have the best background to work in the fieldbe it

performance, teaching, or anything related to the industry. And this particular Bachelor's degree carries with it the double value of the Peabody Conservatory, and The Johns Hopkins University. In other words, for a young musician looking to the future, a bachelor of music degree does not close doors. It opens them.

Part 2: The Quest for Perfection, The Joy of Expression

Engineers and accountants do not have to worry about developing exceptionally fine muscle control in order to succeed. Musicians do. It takes years. Parents of budding young musicians recognize the hazards of appearing in public before these skills are adequately honed (even if "the public" is only a few relatives). Squeaky clarinets, screechy violins, and pianos that somehow produce sounds from between the keys are the result. Combined with learning to read music, there are a lot of things to think about, and everyone is watching you. No wonder one of the first lessons learned by young musicians preparing to walk out on stage is: Don't screw up! The quest for perfection is a natural outgrowth of simply trying to get the music as mistake free as possible. The standards of "perfection" have increased dramatically since audio engineers first learned to cut and splice magnetic recording tape. For the record, I asked a friend in the industry how many edits there are in a typical classical recording. He said: "Oh, about a hundred." So much for perfection. The quest for perfection is much easier to define than the elements of expression so dear to music performers and listeners alike. The problem is time and maturity. Time, because it takes so long to develop the fine control necessary to be profoundly expressive with music; maturity because while young musicians can always follow their teachers' instructions, there comes a point when they need to get their inspiration from withintempered by what they have been taught. This should not be a surprise for most adults. We all mature by first doing what our parents tell us. Then one day we discover that there are elements of finesse and style associated with every choice we make. And sometimes how we do something is equally as important as what we do. Same with music. The ability to fully explore the expressive elements that make the music all it can be is something best gained from intensive work with a master teacherand in an atmosphere

where progress is recognized, appreciated, and rewarded. While this may seem like some kind of magical thing, only perceivable by those with trained ears and minds, it is not so. If you have an opportunity to attend a masterclass (public lesson) sometime, you will immediately understand what can result when the teacher says something like: "I think I know what you are trying to do. Pause a little longer at the end of the phrase, and hold this "G" a little longer to stress the tension in the music." Small changes like that can result in a profound difference in the listener's experience. Musical development takes place over a predictable span of time, beginning with the years it takes to develop the muscles (and the "ears") required to get the notes right; continuing as ability increases to perform musically; and (for most) culminating with the development of enough technical facility to attempt the most difficult and rewarding compositions. Music is a wonderful "enrichment" for those who take it to that point. And there are a lot of educational options available at that levelwhen the goal is simply "perfection." For the relatively small percentage with the drive and dedication to "get beyond the notes," the number of educational options shrinks dramatically. For these exceptional performers, the technical "perfection" once regarded as THE musical goal now becomes simply a tool with which to express not only the musical ideas of the composer, but also the contribution of the performer. This puts us squarely in "Conservatory Country," where students of this type, and at this level, gather to become part of a dedicated community. Students travel half way around the world to study in such an advanced environment. With this as background, it is time to return to the initial question: In the larger sense, is a conservatory-based education a wise choice for...well...for life? As we said earlier, the value of a college education is more than simply the sum of the information learned. This is especially true for conservatory students. Those with the drive, sensitivity, and dedication to succeed in a world-class music conservatory develop associated skills and attributes along the way which serve them well in the work world. Musicians tend to be creative people, in tune with their minds, bodies, and emotions. Producing performances based on planned growth (time to learn the music) makes musicians good project managers, able to plan ahead toward individual or group goals. Private study (and the practice required to master the material each week) makes those with musical training comfortable with taking responsibility for accomplishing tasks. Musicians come to understand that it is only through working effectively with others (accompanists, conductors, and/or other performers) that a performance will be successful. Anyone able to participate in life while at the same time doing the daily work required to excel in music is bound to be a good "time manager." Much of musical training has to do with identifying and mastering patterns in everything from compositional structure to technical passages. Musicians have been known to apply that ability in other working environmentseverything from code breaking to computer progamming. I was discussing this with a computer guru at a major U.S. government agency. He recalled a study done in the early days of

mainframe programmingtrying to identify personality and skill characteristics associated with successful programmers. The study identified those with musical aptitude as the closest match. Translated into the language of business, an employer might describe someone with the above attributes as being: Creative, and comfortable with themselves Having good planning and project management skills Having the ability to take the lead on a project, and to take responsibility for the outcome. Able to manage time wisely; able to handle several projects at once. Able to identify patterns in behaviors and processes which may or may not work to the benefit of the company. Able to work closely with others to meet group goals.

By this time the truth should be obvious: Most music school graduates do just fine in the world, thank you. When music schools track their recent graduates, the following paths are typical. 1. Many actually do make a living in musicsometimes entirely as performers. More often, we see a combination of performance and other musical endeavors. Some do quite well with their own private teaching studios, and/or teaching in more formal settings. 2. Some continue their musical studies in advanced degree programs. Others seek jobs in music-related businesses, and industries. 3. Some use their Bachelor's degree to get the same kind of job any other college graduate would seek. 4. Some use their Bachelor's degree to gain admission into a non-musical graduate program. That's right. There are doctors, lawyers, and psychologists out there who did their undergraduate work in music.

In Summary
In years past, it was typical for college graduates to take a job in a good company, and stay there for their entire working careers. However, the rapid development of technology and the resulting changes in the skill sets needed for success has made that scenario less and less likely. In a world where an ever increasing percentage of the population experiences several career changes in a lifetime, no college education can supply enough specific knowledge to cover all the possibilities. Thus, an earned bachelor's degreemusic or otherwiseis only a first step in the world. Those with a high-level, "musically flavored" college degree, not only have what it takes to make a good first step, they also have the creativity and drive to ensure that each succeeding step brings them closer to the happiness and fulfillment we all seek in life. The "highest truth" here is actually very simple. Music conservatories have been around for hundreds of years. They would not still be thriving if any significant portion of their graduates later concluded that they were not prepared to face lifethat somehow, they would have

been happier had they majored in art history, philosophy, or (heaven help us) 18th century British literature.