 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: grace
Date: 2007-07-19 03:40
Music educators say that it doesn't really matter what college you go to for undergrad, your masters college decision is the one that people will look at. So many people prefer to save money and attend a college close to home for the first four years after high school and then go off to a big name college later. Is this really the way to go about it for success later on, or will a poor undergrad choice come back to haunt you when you go in for an audition? I'm scared of settling for a school with the comforting thought of "it doesn't matter" when i should be taking it more seriously.
Also, what is a music major that has a pretty decent job guarantee post-college other than music education? I know teaching isn't for me.
thank you for any advice; it's greatly appreciated!
Post Edited (2007-07-20 03:07)
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2007-07-19 05:32
I think it helps to go to a school and study with people you would be proud of telling others you studied with.
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Author: MichaelR
Date: 2007-07-19 09:40
grace wrote:
> Music educators say that it doesn't really matter what college
> you go to for undergrad,
They do? The choice of which environment, influences and challenges to steep yourself in for four important formative years doesn't matter? How will you get into the master's program you desire without solid preparation?
> I'm scared of settling for a school
> with the comforting thought of "it doesn't matter" when i
> should be taking it more seriously.
Feed that fear, it's healthy.
> Also, what is a music major that has a pretty decent job
> guarantee post-college other than music education? I know
> teaching isn't for me.
As the holder of a Bachelor of Fine Arts (photography) who carved out a career in (computer) network design and management ... I'd say knowing which alternate income producing paths suit you is important. The professional musicians here will have more direct insight into music as a vocation.
--
Michael of Portland, OR
Be Appropriate and Follow Your Curiosity
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Author: 2E
Date: 2007-07-19 11:24
Im doing a four year music degree at a conservatorium close to where i live and its brilliant. As for career advice, I'm planning to combine my performance skills with interests in technology and multimedia. Get into some recording and studio work, if education or performance isnt for you there are other music related options out there ...
2E
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2007-07-19 13:00
Hi Grace,
I remember, some years ago, coming across a rather thick paperback on careers in the music office in our University Placement Center. This was so many years ago that I don't remember the title of the book so I did a quick search on Amazon and was surprised to see how many "music career advice" books there are. (I'm tempted to say that one of the biggest career fields in the music industry is writing books on careers in the music industry.  ) I would recommend that you first go to Amazon.com and search on "music career" without the quotes. Then limit the search to books. You can browse the tables of contents of many of the books you will find listed. Write down the titles and authors of the ones that seem most useful. Then go to the best library you can get to and see what you can find.
FWIW, right now, I think that one of the best career opportunities out there is singing accountant. Lots of positions available starting around $45,000 on average, very well-paid internships while you're in school, and... singing ability is optional. ![[rotate]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smiley25.gif)
BTW, while I agree that where you get your masters may be more important than where you do your undergraduate work, I also think doing your undergraduate work at the best school you can find improves your chances of getting into the masters program you want. Also remember that your masters builds on your undergraduate work. You will do 4 years of coursework in your undergrad program but usually only one or two years in your masters -- and the courses outside music are important.
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2007-07-19 16:18
I was surprised to note in the biographies of the professor/performers at ClarinetFest that several pointed to their success in getting their students into major symphony orchestras. That caused me to think that one should consider places like:
Univ of North Texas --James Gillespie
Yale Univeristy --David Shifrin
Others, who don't fall to mind and a search through the ClarinetFest program.
Personally, my tension and eyeblink rate drop dramatically whenever I enter a college music building and hear the wonderful stuff singing through the practice room doors. Practically, I think you should inquire about the placement of any candidate school's graduates in both graduate school and in professional jobs.
Bob Phillips
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2007-07-19 18:52
It *totally* matters where you go.
However, it is *not* the end-all to go to a big-name school, especially for undergrad. You can find some truly excellent lesser-name schools that will do fine for undergraduate study. You can also find lesser-name schools with mediocre programs.
Much of the importance of going to graduate school is meeting people, studying with a big name, having a degree that people will say "ooh, fancy!" about, and being able to specialize in some manner that the school encourages. In that manner, the bigger names will probably do you better.
So, it matters where you go for undergrad. You should go somewhere with a good music program.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: claritoot26
Date: 2007-07-20 15:13
Grace,
I agree with jnk's last paragraph above. As long as the clarinet teacher, the ensembles, and other students are very good, you should be able to learn enough in time for a graduate audition.
There are other music-related careers besides teaching and performance. You could investigate arts management and library science. Both of those would work well as a masters degree after an undergrad performance degree. There is also musicology, which is a research-heavy field with lots of writing involved. Many of those people want to be college professors. There's also theory and composition, which is as scholarly as musicology.
Public school teaching wasn't for me, either. But, I do enjoy private teaching.
Good luck in your decision-making process.
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2007-07-20 19:27
Undergrad doesn't matter at all for name. The quality of the teacher does matter a lot.
Masters does matter for name though. That's what Gigliotti told me, and I agree.
Remember that the person looking at your resume to decide if you make the initial cut for getting invited to an Orchestral Audition probably will not be a Clarinetist.
btw-
Music Therapy is where the jobs/$ are at.
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
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Author: grifffinity
Date: 2007-07-20 20:49
Quote:
Undergrad doesn't matter at all for name. The quality of the teacher does matter a lot.
Masters does matter for name though. That's what Gigliotti told me, and I agree.
I agree.
I will also go a bit further and add - if you cannot get into a good program for undergrad, get your Bachelors in another field. During those 4 years take private lessons with the best teacher you can find. Study your theory, piano, music history. Join any ensemble you can - at your school or in the community. At the end of those 4 years you will have a degree that in the worst case scenario, will allow you to find decent employment. In my experience (I have a BM and an MBA) many employers and recruiters don't take a BM as seriously as some other degrees.
I know several musicians who have gone onto NEC, MSM and Juilliard for their Masters, yet didn't have their Bachelors in Music. I also know several freelance artists in NYC who never even went to music school, but studied privately with top teachers in the area and participated in their schools orchestra. The current Controller of Juilliard is also fine freelance clarinetist in the NYC area. She went to Columbia - and not for music!
Just don't settle - listen to that inner voice. First and foremost, find the right teacher. And work hard!
Post Edited (2007-07-20 20:50)
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Author: bufclar
Date: 2007-07-20 21:09
All you need is the best teacher you can find and a great work ethic. If I had it to do all over again, I would not have got a BM. Lessons and practice are the most important. Make a list of teachers that you are interested in and then look at colleges in those citys and major in something else. Take lessons with the top teacher from your list in that city and you should be all set and you will have a "Real World" degree. I can't tell you how akward it is to go to a job interview after undergrad in music and have someone ask what is a BM? or you can get a degree in music? I even had one person say "is that like year long band camp?"
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Author: sherman
Date: 2007-07-21 18:41
At the age of most students entering music school or colleges what really matters is knowing what you want.
If you have no real clue, not even about music, take a straight Liberal Arts
course of study. There are more than enough electives within the courses to satisfy dormant desires or whims. Usually after four years you will have a much stronger idea of what it is you may want, and even an idea of a way to pursue your desire.
If you are talking or thinking about playing the clarinet, the first thing you must do is to have assured yourself that you are deeply gifted, more than others around you. You must know where you stand among the others who play your instrument.
Then, you must and will know the route, whether it be the search for a mentor and/or teacher or a good institution with a strong curriculum and a strong record of outstanding ensembles within the University. A teacher or an institution who has to boast of placements are usually not worth your effort. They have egos (and quotas too), as you well know. There are many who force you through a process wherein you actually suffer until you are deemed worthy, a truly unfortunate circumstance occurring too frequently.
As a young person, I experienced much of the above to a an exhaustive degree, learning much, and suffering not a little.
So all in all, and I do not say this lightly or in any jest, the best route is to go to New York, or a similar city. There you will learn to hear, to choose , to learn and to compete.
Music is truly a wondrous art and life. Unfortunately the business of music has not much to do with the art.
Sherman Friedland
Post Edited (2007-07-21 18:45)
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