OT: Music Degree Programs

[Ricardo.]

As I'm finishing up my Senior high school year, I'm looking at what I'm going to do with my life (college-wise). I plan on going to UCSC and at least taking some music courses.

 

Does anyone know of the quality of music programs there, what to take, and what to do with the education afterwards?

[Dr. Ellwood]

I'm not sure about UCSC, but in most universities you have to take education credits with the music major to be able to certify as a music teacher if that is your choice of profession. So a Bachleor of Fine Arts is combined with a B.A. in education. Do you want to teach music in the public schools eventually?

[Virtual Jim]

Some random thoughts of a guy three years after graduating college... this may seem like I'm trying to push you away from music. I'm not.

 

As an aside, you don't have to go to college if music what's you really want to do. Nothing wrong with working at Home Depot during the day, gigging at night, touring whenever possible, and maybe hanging around a local studio on weekends or something. You're only 18. It's not impossible to be an undergrad freshman at 21.

 

Assuming you do go...

 

In college, take all your general education courses your freshman year. They're easy, you're exposed to a lot of stuff, and if you transfer, so do those credits.

 

Speaking as someone that majored in a similiar field, audio, I HIGHLY suggest majoring in something OTHER than music, and only taking music as a minor. It's great to study what you love, but there's just a financial reality out there. I got lucky finding the steady job I did. I live a decent middle class life now, but it was pretty hairy those first two years, and I worked my ass off. Also, there's a damn good chance if my employer had seen, say, a business degree and only a minor in audio, I still would've been hired.

 

Once you graduate and you're out in the field, loving what you do can only take you so far in terms of happiness. Lots of people love their occupation but hate their job due to the employer's culture and the co-workers.

 

Speaking of studying what you love... there's a damn good chance you won't have the same zeal for music after you've spent the last four years dissecting it. Your brain automatically snaps to that mode. I know I can never listen to early punk rock records now because of how lo-fi they are. My music teachers (appreciation, harmony), all lamented this about music majors.

 

If you want to kill yourself, go for the double major, but you may not have as much fun. I know I did my best in school when I partied the hardest (work hard/play hard philosophy). If I'd been studying hard every night, I'm not so sure how I'd've done.

 

With any program, but especially at tier 2 schools, how good it is is directly proportional to how much effort you put in. That goes for any major, as well.

 

Oh, and on the off chance you know exactly what kind of job you want to have after college, you've already talked frankly with someone in that field face-to-face, right? If not, DO IT.

[Billster]

This is not OT, this is right on.

 

Like Virtual Jim says, you don't need a degree to play music. That's true. you can be very successful without a degree. You can also be very musically learned without a degree.

 

I would also say that having a degree gives you a leg up on versatility. Jim says he lost the zeal for early punk, but I think that's personal. You may stay with what you like now, you may add to it, you may move on. It's personal.

 

Studying music at a collegiate level gives you insight into areas you may never tap. The 24/7 aspect of it lets you find stuff you may never find once you join the real world of making bill payments on time and keeping food on the table.

 

I also believe an education in music has served me well in the way of allowing me a different perspective on the workaday problems I encounter in my "straight" job. You do have to perform a leap of faith to convince employers of the value of that particular skill.

[Ricardo.]

Thanks! These are exactly the kind of answers I was looking for. The thing is, I don't know what job I would seek with a music degree. I know that jobs for them (other than bands and such) are extremely difficult to find and competition is fierce. If I do pursue a degree, I probably will not go past a minor.

[Hardtail]

Has anyone here gotten a degree in something completely different than music then decided to pursue a music degree part time?

 

I have my degree, I have my job, the house, the family, vacations to Florida.... etc. etc.

 

I wouldn't mind doing something in music at a college part time though.

[Billster]

Originally posted by HardTail:

Has anyone here gotten a degree in something completely different than music then decided to pursue a music degree part time?

 

I have my degree, I have my job, the house, the family, vacations to Florida.... etc. etc.

 

I wouldn't mind doing something in music at a college part time though.

I went reverse (which is probably more typical). I spent 4 years at Berklee, then later went to night school for a a Paralegal program. I also spent some time in IT work. As I said above, the music training shapes my perspective on the legal work and computer stuff.

[rw2003]

UCSC = Santa Cruz, right?

 

Here are a few links to the UCSC Division of Arts - Music Major program. Maybe you've already read this stuff?

http://admissions.ucsc.edu/discover/majors/music.cfm

 

http://admissions.ucsc.edu/pdf/Music_2005.pdf

 

http://music.ucsc.edu/

 

http://reg.ucsc.edu/catalog/html/programs_courses/muscPS.htm

 

Assuming you are interested in "minoring" in Music, there are 3 programs to choose from:

Western Art Music; Electronic Music; Jazz

 

Even if you don't want to minor in music, you can still register for music classes. You'd want to take the level 1 theory class for sure, may lessons too!

[Ricardo.]

Yeah, I've looked at most of it excepting the final "degree" portion that you brought up (rw). I may end up only taking theory classes, though I think I'm done with level 1 theory (happy to state).

[Billster]

Originally posted by Billster:

As I said above, the music training shapes my perspective on the legal work and computer stuff.

I got a PM about that statement, and I think it's important enough to share a little more info. BTW you-know-who-you-are, your mailbox is full.

 

Why musicians make the best tech workers

 

Music encourages a dichotomy of both detail orientation (the note in front of you) and big picture thinking (the artistic point of the piece you are playing, being part of the ensemble) You have to play the correct notes, but you also need to make phrases that work together.

 

For my concern, legal work entails the same - you need to to be bulletproof on the facts, but also have a sense of how individual facts fit together to make a complete understanding of how something works (like the intent of a contract requirement, or the compiling of witnesses to a crime or accident)

 

Same with computer work - each line of code needs to be accurate, but you also need to realize the way each line serves to make something useful actually happen.

 

A lot of the MBA types I've encountered in life are really "in-the-box" (to use a cliche) with their thinking. They tend to be very regimented and need things laid out into a set formula. They can't take a blank sheet of paper and express an idea - they can fill in targeted preconceptions.

 

Not to brag too much , but I can take a blank piece of paper and create something that gets the job done.

 

I'll give you another example. I had a friend who got one of those U-assemble entertainment centers second hand (free) with all the planks, but no hardware. I said "let's lay it out and figure out what kind of angle brackets we need to get it together" I took out a piece of paper, sketched an exploded view, decided where the brackets belonged, made a little shopping list and headed to the hardware store. She was like "how did you do that?" I was like "That was the simplest thing in the world. How else was it going to work?"

 

For those of you who are teachers, this link: Facts about music education might give you some ideas for how you can promote your services to concerned parents who think junior might fail at school if he spends too much time with his gee-tar. If you teach in a music store, convince the sales people to plunk a pamphlet with those facts (and your name and phone number) in the package for new instrument buyers. There's a lot of ways that learning music enhances your life.

[Ricardo.]

Bump.

[Tedster]

Hey, Ricardo...

 

I was listening to Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion" the other day. He was doing a little joke skit about "English Majors"...talking in flowery phrases to his wife...and then said, "Excuse me, dear, but I'll be late for my job at Burger King".

 

The same could probably be said of music majors. A music major is great, if:

 

A) You want to get a bachelor's degree and teach public school.

B) You want to get a master's degree and teach public school...or...

C) You want to get a PhD and teach public school or college.

 

Others here may disagree, but, don't pigeonhole yourself. Get your degree in something widely marketable.

 

My son, Andrew (pictured in my avatar) wanted to go to culinary school and be a chef. I said "Great...now, complete this sentence...'I want to get into the restaurant _________'".

 

He said "The restaurant business". I said, "AHA!...a business degree is something you can take anywhere!"

 

The picture in my avatar was taken in May, as he graduated from UMKC's Bloch School of Business with his BBA.

 

Oh, and BTW...he's a pretty decent drummer, too.