<p>For a bit of background information before presenting my situation and asking for possibilities, I'm going to be a junior in high school this year. Most people know me as the "guy that sings," not for the typically liked pop sound, but rather for a classical tenor one. My actual experience in learning about choral music is very limited, but I know for sure that my skill in voice exceeds anything I could do with trumpet in the next five years. Simply said, I have an incredible amount of natural talent in the area of singing. Trumpet, not so much.</p>
<p>The problem begins with this in the fact that I enjoy not so much playing trumpet more than singing, but without a doubt teaching instrumental music. I'm now drum major of my band, and high school band director is an occupation that's been at the very top of my list since the end of freshman year. I have a passion for teaching students in the typical high school marching or concert band setting. I would have no trouble making it through into a decent school on trumpet and just going with an instrumental music ed degree, but I don't want to give up my voice at the same time. A good summary would be that my true love lies in teaching instrumental music, but the talent is much moreso there for vocal performance.</p>
<p>My best option would be to receive a degree in both instrumental ed and vocal performance, but I don't know how possible that is and what programs offer it. </p>
<p>So, what kind of advice can you guys come up with for me?</p>
<p>Combo performance/ed degrees tend to be looked at as an “ideal” scenario for a student with one foot in both camps. Having had a son that’s been there, done that, but pulled out of the ed very late to concentrate solely on his first love (performance), it’s not necessarily the right path for all.</p>
<p>Students in performance/ed dual programs tend to concentrate studies within the same discipline; the vast majority of voice majors tend to gravitate to choral or vocal education, sometimes “general” music ed, whereas instrumentalists have their sub specialties in strings, brass, or woodwinds. The voice performance major with an instrumental ed concentration music ed degree is not typical. Not saying, it’s not possible, just normally not within the structured options.</p>
<p>Both are time and credit intensive degrees, the combo perf/ed typically a five year program. The drawback could well be performance obligation conflicts between vocal and instrumental areas.</p>
<p>Depends on what you want to do. If you’re looking to develop your vocal skills to the professional performance level, there are more knowledgeable folks here to better guide you. If you are looking for a straight instrumental music ed degree, your state system tends to be the most cost effective but there are excellent private institutions like Hartt, Ithaca and others that offer the combos. There are also five year BM/MM programs as well. You may be able to structure an instrumental music ed degree with a choral secondary ed specialty, or even vocal performance. </p>
<p>For reference only, here’s an overview of the Hartt offerings [THE</a> HARTT SCHOOL: MUSIC-DANCE-THEATRE](<a href=“The Hartt School - University of Hartford”>The Hartt School - University of Hartford) Various combinations are available, and I link it just to illustrate what can be found. The key is research, and structuring the right questions, and may require a series of emails, phone calls or a sitdown with a knowledgeable music adcom or department head(s) in structuring (or adapting) a program. Sometimes you won’t find the info in the admissions pages, but will find it buried in the undergrad handbook, which details all degree requirements, course distribution, policies, and general rules and regulations.</p>
<p>There is a young lady on these boards who will be attending Rice this year majoring in Viola and Vocal Performance, so two performance majors can be done, although it is rare indeed! The difficulty, although I hate to call it that, is that the OP here is interested in teaching instrumental music and also has strong talent in voice- the education major and the fact that he is dealing with the vocal AND instrumental ends of the spectrum is what makes this well, “difficult”. Even allowing for the additional year, I’m not sure that most schools are set up to handle this. If you major in Vocal Performance, you have to take voice lessons as well as secondary piano and then you learn choral conducting, and there is no room in that schedule to spend the required time on each type of band/orchestral instrument.
Majoring in instrumental music education takes a different tack, where you have a major instrument, in this case, trumpet, and your conducting section will be orchestral based. The only school I can think of offhand that might be worth talking to would be SUNY Geneseo (and there is no guarantee there either, I just know that they have come up with some very “different accomodations” for students! Some conservatories who have affiliation with LAC’s or universities might be able to bend things with the addition of the 5th year…or it may end up that he needs to find a school which will let him take voice lessons whil going the Music Ed (instrumental) route. This is a tough one!</p>
<p>Breath issues and application to sound production are very different between brass (any wind instrument) and voice…it would be difficult if not impossible to master both and utilized them appropriately. Good luck to you.</p>
<p>Sounds like you want to be a Music Ed - Band major (vs. chorus or orchestra). A lot of music schools will let you take lessons in a 2nd instrument (in your case, Voice). Think of your voice lessons as an “elective”.</p>
<p>Be aware that as a Band Music Ed major, you will also need to show the ability to play other band instruments and probably piano (will need to take some lessons in those other instruments).</p>
<p>In the state of NH the music education certification is for k-12 BOTH instrumental and choral music. I used to teach in the theatre area at Plymouth State University in NH. They offer a BS in Music Education. I know students who studied both voice as their primary instrument and another instrument as their secondary.</p>
<p>I am not sure where you are from, but you may want to look at the Schools n the NH University System. UNH offers a BM… I am not sure about Keene State College. There may be other states that require music education majors to be certified in both choral and instrumental. These might be states where you could study both voice and trumpet more easily as part of your music education training.</p>