<p>Right now I'm doing a BM in flute performance and a BA in spanish. I've been thinking a lot about switching to a BA in music just because it costs a lot of money to do BM/BA because the classes are so different, but I'm not sure how it will affect me if I change it. I'm not sure if I want to continue to do my masters in music performance, but I still want to keep that option open. I'm thinking of grad programs like Cincinatti Conservatory,Peabody, FSU, Indiana Bloomington, Roosevelt University, SUNY Stony brook, SUNY purchase, UNT. I still have to narrow down my list, but I just wanted to know if a BA degree would affect me when I go to audition at those places.</p>
<p>What you need to explore is what the BA will mean at your current school… In many schools it would mean a change in teachers and fewer performance requirements and opportunities. In DD’s school, you are no longer in a major studio and not in the same performance groups if you drop to a BA. That could impact your skills development. Grad school admission will be on your audition, not what degree you have. You will be competing with people who have devoted their undergraduate time to their skills development. If you can do likewise with your BA you may have a chance.</p>
<p>Agreed. It very much depends on your school and your own aspirations. I do know of pro musicians who got their MM with a BA, or some other degree. Those schools only want your audition.</p>
<p>I’m currently a BA…my school does not distinguish between the two, to tell you the truth, except for the junior and senior recital requirements. However I am thinking about switching to the BM in the Fall simply because I’d like to do said recitals.</p>
<p>If your school distinguishes more between them, but you really can not see any other possible route, I’d also say it is possible to continue to develop your skills. Performance opportunities are everywhere and can also be forged if you want them enough and talk to the right people, and a high level grad student or TA can often be great and inspirational teachers.</p>
<p>Just another option, would it be possible to change your BA in Spanish to having a minor in Spanish? Most of the time minors ony take about 18 credit hours and undoubtably some of those credit hours would fit into your BM degree so that maybe you can graduate in 4 years just by taking an extra class per year or one summer school.</p>
<p>I guess it depends on how important that BA in Spanish is to you, and exactly what you expect to do with it. You can’t teach Spanish in public schools without a teaching certificate, unless you plan on performing music in a spanish speaking country, I don’t know that the BA in Spanish would ever be more important to you than a minor in Spanish.</p>
<p>You may also want to consider that many graduate music programs programs require a knowledge of German, Italian or French - not Spanish. Of course Spanish is very similar to Italian so there may be some cross over skills.</p>
<p>Or, another option could be that some colleges offer a performance “certificate” which is available to high level musicians who arn’t performance majors. The certificate isn’t a degree or even a minor, but it is an official document which states that the college feels that the student is a good enough performer to be a professional musician.</p>
<p>That’s what my son is doing, and that’s part of the reason he selected the college he will be attending. At his college to recieve a performance certificate he had to qualify for the program (through his audition) and will have to take 28 hours of applied performance classes instead of the 14 hours required in his major, or the 32 hours required for a performance degree. </p>
<p>Basically you could do exactly what you are suggesting, only also enroll in the performance certificate track. You would just have to compare curriculums between what you origionally intended on doing and what you are considering doing with the performance certificate added on and figure out which option would work best for you. I would think that a BA in music, plus a performance certificate, plus a BA in a foreign language would have just as much weight for getting into a good grad school as a BM in performance and a BA in a language.</p>
<p>Or, maybe you could find an associate degree program in Spanish and possibly very creatively do some type of dual enrollment (official or unofficial) thing. Like start in the Spanish associate degree program this summer at a jr college, then enroll in the BM program in the fall, then complete the associate degree at the jr. college over the next couple of summers, transfering credits between both colleges to maximize credit usage.</p>
<p>In otherwords, think creatively with your curriculum, you have a heck of a lot of options.</p>
<p>Thank you for all your opinions! I’m doing the BA in spanish because I might want to teach in schools or maybe do some translating so I think I need it.</p>
<p>Hmm, you may want to drop the performance degree, change your major to music ed so that you can be certified to teach, and just minor is spanish. Many public schools will allow you to teach something that you minored in, as long as you are certified to teach.</p>