I am going to ask a dumb question, but I am wondering if admissions (audition/faculty) would be biased against Bachelor of Musical Arts kids over BM kids assuming that the first group might not be as serious as the second group. My kid is also interested in Blair. I would hate the studio to reject him just because he is opting for the double degree option with a lighter music degree.
Sorry for my ignorance here but we are so new to this.
I think he would love Oberlin and the double degree 5 year program would be a great fit. But he is being a 17 year old boy and just refusing. It is making me nuts. He spent a week there and loved the teacher but there were some other aspects he refuses to look past. He would get great merit aid and it would be amazing but only so much you can do.
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I believe my Blair kid is (or at least was last year) the ONLY one doing a single degree, performance BM in his studio, so double majoring is extremely common and, my impression is, not at all frowned upon. My understanding is that thatâs not true at all schools, though.
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I know that St. Olaf has a set up that sounds fairly similar to Blair in that there are lots of BM and BA students in the music department, and you can do a performance based track in either (my current senior who definitely wants a double major or a dual degree likes St. Olaf a lot). They do offer a 5 year dual degree, but it seems like itâs probably more common to do the BA and then a second major and that the 5 year program is fairly hard to get into. But it was a little unclear when we toured.
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5 years is the plan for most Northwestern dual degree kids. For those coming in with many AP credits and can take some summer classes, it is doable to finish in 4 years, more practical than JHU/Peabody.
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Exactly right. We canât convince them of much, if anything! But if there are those deal breaker things for him, itâs better to avoid rather than end up there and those things become magnified for him. He should listen to his gut. Itâs not for everyone!
My S did a lot of soul searching when deciding on Oberlin vs. Carnegie Mellon. Ultimately he knows he gave up living in a vibrant city for a rural (though adorable) town, but he went with what he felt was the better music school and definitely a teacher with whom he connected more so than at CMU.
They have to make their own decisions among their options and for their own reasons.
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Thank you!!
Iâm not sure what a pre-read is but if you can meet with your childâs instrument prof, so much the better info for you both!
My D attended an LAC but they certainly had auditions and also music scholarships. If youâre talking about top 20 academic LACs, that may be different.
I have found that when your kid has opinions, it can be a good sign. My D definitely rejected some schools I thought she might like, but there were plenty to choose from and she still came up with a wonderful list.
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Lawrence has Jazx
I cant remember if I asked this already but donât think I did. For some schools they ask for all of the pieces that you have played on your instrument. S24 started at 5 years old and started precollege at 11. They donât really want every single piece (yes, he played twinkle variations and hot cross buns but also a lot of pieces as a young school age kid that were very above his level and not played well). What about the orchestra and chamber pieces? For a summer program that asked for this he sent a resume of selected pieces and recent ones. Is this appropriate for the music programs?
He would apply to Blair regardless of whether he wanted to do musical arts or performing degree. If my memory is accurate (the Blair parents will correct me if I am wrong) each category takes the same courseload in the first two years; the difference comes Junior and Senior year. And, you can absolutely switch from a performance degree to a musical arts degree. Note that students at Blair can also do a performance degree with an unrelated double major. (What is odd is that the kid would get a BM with a second major in XX. So, you could have a BM with a major in cello performance and a major in physics.)
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Are we reading it right that if you double major at Blair, the degree only shows the music degree and doesnât mention the other one?
Yes - does seem weird, but is a double major, not a double degree.
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Yes that is what DD is doing - a Suzuki kid from age 5, the list is endless and not exciting at all for many years!
The list should be solo rep only (concertos, sonatas, pieces with pianos, unaccompanied works, etudes). Unless they specifically ask for a chamber music list, which in my experience never happened for a conservatory, donât include that. Definitely donât list orchestra rep.
As for when to start, we included repertoire that was ârealâ music written for the instrument (ie not student pieces), which was roughly Suzuki Book 7 and beyond. Iâm not sure how this would translate for a wind playerâŠprobably everything beyond method books.
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suzuki flute starts with real pieces at about book 2 (bach minuets and other short pieces are in book 1). S only did suzuki for one year and played real sonatas by age 8 and concertos and such as a 10 year old. He had a teacher who loved to push him. I canât imagine the schools really want lists of pieces that he played as an 8 and 9 year old, but I guess we will do our best to remember and include. It is also standard for wind players to do books and books of etudes so I guess he could include that too. What is a method book?
That is so weird. Both my kids started Suzuki style lessons as preschoolers. I canât imagine making an all inclusive list. Would be mind numbing and SO long. I had one kid taking 4 music lessons a week. No one has time for all that!
I donât remember specifically what my kids schools asked for. It is entirely possible they didnât follow directions. But each had a 2 page resume with one side being representitive solo repertoire (and labelled it that way). And then a 2 page more detailed resume and a 2 page representative rep list for schools that wanted more info/had space for all that. Rep within the past 2-3 years is what we used and short representation of secondary instrument rep. Both my kids were applying vocal and their teachers recommended that though for showing deep musical background. May not be meaningful depending on intended path.
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Thatâs still 10-12 or so years of playing (for those starting on early strings prgrammes)
That makes more sense to me, precollege students play 7-8 pieces a year and to include the fact that he played Telemann sonatas as an 8 year old seems silly.
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