<p>I agree totally with what others have said, the music ed degree is a totally different beast then what you think it is. Music ed programs are designed around teaching in a school setting, usually public school, where the teacher is licensed by the state, and for music is expected to do a lot of different things other then teach the instrument they are proficient on. In k-5, music can be a choral only program where they also teach a smattering of music theory or maybe a basic instrument like the recorder, or the program might offer the start of instrumental training on strings and/or wind instruments, percussion, etc. In my district the music teachers in the grade schools handled the basics, while instrumental was done by middle school instrumental teachers coming to the school from the middle school. Many schools don’t even offer instrumental at all in the grade schools or middle schools. </p>
<p>Middle school is somewhat similar levels, though it varies. In high school, there is a definite divergence, high school choral and instrumental music are two different things from what I have seen. </p>
<p>In any event, that is very different then wanting to teach privately or learning how to be a pedagogue, a lot of those courses are straight teaching courses (psychology of kids, etc), and then in things like to teaching instruments not your own, conducting, and so forth. At this stage I have met a number of teachers, including ones in very high level programs like Juilliard, MSM and at the college level, and I don’t know of any violin pedagogues at that level who have ED degrees, most violin pedagogues I know of were performance majors who pick up how to teach from the people who taught them, that is the standard. </p>
<p>If you are looking at the performance angle with private student teaching or even music school/music program on the violin, it seems to me you would be better at sticking to performance. Given the courseload that people have mentioned for the ED degree, it seems countra indicated to someone That said, you may be able to wangle taking some classes in teaching technique, that might be valuable, but majoring in BM sounds like it doesn’t fit your goals and also could interfere with it I think. You also might be able to find coursework like that outside the school program (not familiar with any particular ones), I know there are books written by some of famous pedagogues like Galamian and Auer on the topic, but there are probably programs.</p>
<p>I do want to add one thing. Both of my kids have had private instrument teachers who DID have music education degrees. BUT in all cases, these folks were also very proficient and active performers as well.</p>
<p>i’ve also been looking at Northwestern, Peabody, and IU as well. It seems that they both have music education programs as well. I’m still investigating whether their music ed students have applied lessons with the faculty. To be honest, I’ve been weighing the option of majoring in music education at a major school where a student studies with the faculty vs. going to a music performance program at a lesser school and then going on to a second bachelor’sor graduate degree at a better school.</p>
<p>Northwestern music ed students study with faculty - not grad students. Sometimes NU faculty violin instructors use grad students as teaching assistants to hear scales and such for both performance and ed students, but this would not be the only studio assignment - you’d be assigned to a faculty studio full time.</p>
<p>Last time I knew, IU also assigned full time faculty - not grad students - to ed majors. Others can correct me if I’m not current, there are several violin IU parents who read this board. I don’t know anything about Peabody for music ed. </p>
<p>Any of the 3 programs you mention are very competitive for violin. As a junior transfer, the level of repertoire mentioned earlier - unless you play it stunningly - is likely below their expectations. I don’t think the 3 schools you’ve mentioned here are going to cut you much, if any, slack for wanting a Music Ed rather than performance track. These schools can afford to have very high standards.</p>
<p>Don’t mean to be discouraging - and I wish you much luck. I have known students in similar situations - solid players who became very serious a little late in the game after beginning study as non-music majors - who took a year off for intensive practice and repertoire building before auditioning for performance programs. I’m sure you’ve considered this. I know stopping out for a year can be a hard decision to make, but I’ve seen it be a quite successful strategy. Good luck - whatever you decide!</p>