Klarinet Archive - Posting 001106.txt from 1999/05

From: "B. Keplinger" <bcaslin@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Re: Music Ed. vs. Performance
Date: Mon, 24 May 1999 19:07:01 -0400

At 07:24 AM 5/11/99 -0400, Aimee Kratofil <kratofil@-----.com> wrote:
>I have 2 performance degrees, and personally have not be "adversely
>affected." I did not want to teach classroom music. However, I am not
>doing much professional playing, right now.
>
>When my students ask this question, I make sure they realize what they
>are getting into. IMHO, if you do not want to teach classroom music,
>than don't go music ed, just to have something to fall back on. When I
>met my clarinet teacher, just prior to college, he said: "You don't
>want to be a band director?" I replied, "No, I don't think I would be
>good at it." And he said, "Fine, there are enough bad ones out there
>anyway." <snip>

Thanks for your post. Right now I am going through a career change from
architecture to computer programming. Music has been a constant
throughout, but unlike you, I got cold feet early on, no doubt from years
of pressure to pursue a more lucrative interest and my own whimpy character
when confronted by authority figures. Like you, though, I knew I did not
want to go into education; I started college as a performance major, and
was in fact quite good.
Fifteen years down the road of career-avoidance in architecture, I finally
developed the gumption to pursue what has become a minor passion --
computer programming. If I had gone out and done what CW seems to often
say (major in education as a fall-back) I'd be in far worse shape than I am
now, because in my work in architecture I am in constant contact with
computers (a bit by my own design, admittedly...).

To sum-up, study anything as fall-back, but only (or especially) if you're
truly interested in it, and if you don't have many interests outside of
music but are unsure of your ability to pursue a career in music
performance, take a lot of courses in the humanities that involve a lot of
reading and writing. You may end up playing less while in college, but
even superlative players have to think and communicate, and it is those
skills that will get you a paying job when the auditions don't pan out.
And you'll be a better private teacher, to boot.
-Bruce

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