Klarinet Archive - Posting 000572.txt from 1998/04

From: "Jason Hsien" <jasonavhs@-----.com>
Subj: Re: Bass Clarinet Majors
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1998 05:01:44 -0400

-----Original Message-----
From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>

|On Wed, 8 Apr 1998, Daniel A. Paprocki wrote:
|> My first answer is "WHY"? With the job market for performance being like
|> it is I wouldn't recommend anyone to major in performance. Get a music
ed
|> degree and then go on for a masters in performance. Do you REALLY know
|> what the competition is like at orchestra auditions? You better have
|> something to make a living at besides playing the clarinet. Now I'll
|> assume that the student knows the odds and still wants to major in
|> performance.
|
|Dan's recommendation is fairly standard, and many people have done very
|well following such a recommendation. I would only add that, if the
|person is not interested in teaching but gets the degree anyway while the
|work towards a performance career, I would not recommend the ed. degree.
|In fact, I am on a committee that denies (or accepts) people into upper
|division study based on their reasons for teaching, skills, and knowledge
|of repertoire etc. If a student ONLY wanted to play but got the degree so
|they could feed themselves while they were working toward a job in an
|orchestra, we would probably deny admittance to upper division study in
|Music. Ed.

These types of messages are really bittersweet. Yes, for the aspiring
musician, it is always good to have a second major or prepare if your music
career doesn't hit it off, but why does it have to be Music Ed that is
recommended?

I know of too many local area middle and high schools stuck with these music
teachers who obviously don't want to teach, hate their students, don't get
along with parents but are still doing it because of the pay and because
their work is semi-decent for the administration to keep them on staff. I
have been lucky in that both my middle and high school teachers are
committed to music ed, but I have also had my share of awful teachers.

Is Music Ed really what we should recommend. Yes, I can understand that
people who love music would like to do something involving music for their
lives, but the cold reality is that the music industry is extremely
competitive, the chances of success are on the scale of aspiring actors
(virtually nil), and the last tghing schools today need are teachers who
don't want to be help kids learn.

Just my two cents.

-Jason