<p>I play bassoon, and I know it's an opportunity for some really GREAT scholarships, but, and don't get me wrong, I love music, it's a huge part of my identity, I don't want to be a music major. Can I still get scholarships for playing bassoon if music is only my minor?</p>
<p>That depends on the school, how much they need bassoon players, how well your scholarship audition goes and how well the auditions, if any, of other bassoon players go. If you are looking at schools with well-known music departments that routinely accept fewer than half of those who apply as bassoon majors, then your chances may not be very good. However, there are schools with decent or better orchestras and/or wind ensembles that are chronically short on certain instruments like bassoon and do indeed have scholarships available for a talented music minor who will help fill out the section. The trick will be finding one of those that also has a good bassoon teacher.</p>
<p>I’ve been playing for a while, all I really need are the tools to fix minor repairs, and somewhere decent (all the places in the town I live have absolutely horrible reputations for shoddy work at best) place to take it for the major stuff. All throughout high school, I was better at fixing the poor, horribly abused (before I got my hands on them) bassoons I played than my teachers were, for everything but soldering. I probably could have picked that one up, too, but since soldering guns are both a potential weapon and a fire hazard, the teachers were not allowed to have them at either of the schools I attended.
Before all of that, however, I need to actually find a school that will allow a music minor to get a scholarship for it, so I can convince my parents to HELP me get my own bassoon (I only just recently turned 18, and wasn’t even allowed to have a job until I graduated, and I’m discovering just how hard getting into the job market really can be, so I’m not a horrible mooch, just a girl behind in the bank account).
A curiosity point with your user name: electric or upright?</p>
<p>Sanguine, I see you are from California. Are you interested in west coast or east coast schools? Many colleges that don’t have a conservatory attached are actively seeking decent musicians for their orchestras and will give some scholarship money though I’m not aware of any that provide any free rides to music minors. On the east coast, Skidmore, Gettysburg and Northeastern have partial scholarships available for students to play in their ensembles. Some of the SUNY schools will also provide music scholarships to non-majors. Also, if you are in an area with many colleges, often the schools without large conservatories will pay per performance if they need an instrument for their ensemble. Son was paid to play in a local college orchestra in high school and approached by 2 other local colleges to play for them. So, if you let us know in which area of the country you are interested, I’m sure the other members of college confidential will have some suggestions for you. I agree with BassDad that the next problem will be finding a decent bassoon teacher to work with you.</p>
<p>Neither, actually, I sing bass. My daughter is the bass player of the family and she mostly plays upright, but also has a fretless electric that she sometimes pulls out when the music calls for that sound.</p>
<p>I’m not really sure yet. I want to be a veterinarian, and my first step is vet tech. I have a school planned for that, but nothing after that yet. I may be joining the army to pay for vet school if I can’t work something a little less life-altering, possibly life-ending out. I just know that if I can use bassoon for scholarships, since I really doubt my Fender Squier is gonna take me anywhere any time soon, I will definitely do so.
BassDad: I am INSANELY jealous of your daughter. Both an upright and a fretless. Bassist heaven right there. I think I would just outright die of happiness if I came home one day to an upright.
I play multiple instruments, in case that wasn’t obvious, but I know I’m not of a high enough caliber to use any of the others for scholarships. The only one I come close to is piano, and I actually can’t read piano music; I just play everything by ear.</p>
<p>Oh, and I’m not looking for a full ride. Just a way to help ends meet, since I have no college fund, and no job I can currently qualify for will be anywhere close to enough to cover college without being in debt beyond the grave.</p>