Thanks! I will definitely check out that book. I didn’t think about asking if they have a teacher for his instrument at schools with a BA program. Good idea. Sometimes it doesn’t seem very clear on the websites of some of the BA program if they have programs for guitar or not, so that’s a good suggestion.
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You are in good shape because you have time to figure this out. My daughter had already had trial lessons with classical singing professors and we had a whole list of colleges picked out to apply to – then in the summer before applications were due she switched her interest to contemporary music. Turns out there are even fewer schools out there for contemporary singers than contemporary instrumentalists. Your son could also take a look at the jazz programs, too. In the end, she applied to
UC Denver, Columbia College Chicago, Berklee, Arizona State (heavily recruited at her high school) and NYU for contemporary music and Ithaca College, University of Denver, USC, and Miami Frost for jazz. Also on her list but she didn’t have the bandwidth to apply to: UCLA, New School, NEC, Loyola New Orleans. When she was headed for classical, we really liked the CSU college options like Cal State Fullerton, and many of them have good music programs, just not for contemporary or jazz voice, but perhaps they do have guitar. Good luck!
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Does anyone have any experience or info about ASU’s Popular Music BA (or any other thoughts on ASU)?
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Always nice to learn about another program Music (Popular Music) | School of Music, Dance and Theatre (asu.edu) It looks very career-oriented, which will appeal to many. I don’t know if anyone has direct experience but if they do, I hope they post!
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Hi. My son sounds a bit like yours. Passionate about the guitar but not a conservatory-level musician. He is also very interested in music production. Composes on DAW using Ableton Live and would one day like to be a producer, though he also likes to perform. He chose the music technology program at Northeastern and is starting in the fall. You might want to check this one out, but be aware that Northeastern is not big on performance (though there are apparently some opportunities with Berklee and NEC). If you look on the NEU website there are profiles of a couple of musicians that have gone through the program. A few other programs he looked at: USC (cream of the crop; only a handful who apply get in and you have to be a fairly serous musician), NYU (good program, too close to home), Michigan PAT (a little too cerebral for him but great program), American (not quite at the level of the others) Drexel (loved the co-op program but in the end NEU won out), Rochester (too engineering focused), Syracuse (requires you to audition into the conservatory but might be a good fit for your son). Wesleyan has an interesting music program but it wasn’t quite the right fit for my son. You might also want to check out Elon, which was on my son’s list. Anyway, I’ve done a ton of research on this and am happy to answer questions! Edited to say Tufts has an interesting program as well. There’s also Miami Frost and Indiana Jacobs School. I’m personally not a big fan of Belmont but some people are.
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If anyone wants a list of schools for music production (and other terminologies that apply) let me know. I compiled a list last year because it kept coming up. Going to add Drexel thanks to @hillybean . These programs tend to have different names, and some are more studio/tech skills and some are more creatively focused, bordering on composition.
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Thanks, @compmom. Your list is great. Things change a lot in this world, though, is what I’ve discovered! Drexel program looks awsomeand Mad Dragon Records, their student-run record label, is best-in-class.
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I think it would be great to pin an up to date list (that people can add to) on this forum. This is not even the area any of my kids are involved in but it comes up so often and the terminology so confusing (and the field so varied) that I tried to make that list. Maybe you could pin one here!
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This is great, thanks for all the awesome suggestions. I will definitely take a very close look at some of them. Good for your son for getting into Northeastern! We’re in the Boston area and that’s such an awesome school. Can’t beat the co-op option there.
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Great idea!
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ASU is quite high on my D’s list for vocal performance. Academics (esp. Barrett, cost (automatic full tuition for national merit scholars) and diversity are part of it. But much more important is that it seems from info sessions and from someone we know who got an MM from ASU that there is a ton of collaboration and flexibility among different music styles and even different types of art - this may not be your son’s cup of tea, but it is quite important to my daughter. The presenters used the word “collaboration” approximately 100,000 times during ASU’s audition day info sessions and talked about how music students work with other parts of Herberger, from visual arts to film to design to dance. They were also pretty proud of the new building for contemporary music (and some other programs - maybe fashion IIRC?). This collaborative vibe seems quite different from some other schools, where classical vs. jazz vs. popular (and in voice, MT vs. VP) seem to be pretty siloed/specialized, and some types of art may be in a school of communication or arts & sciences and difficult for musicians to access.
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Wow, that actually sounds right up my son’s alley! Thank you for that information. Is your daughter a senior this year? Has she committed to ASU? My son is a junior but we are planning to go visit ASU in April if we can.
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Yes, senior this year - ASU’s artistic decisions may not come until late March, so no commitments - this waiting period is pretty hard! If she is admitted for VP, she’ll dig in a little deeper on these questions, try to talk to current students, etc., and I’ll let you know if the sales pitch rings true!
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Could you please srnd me your list @compmom? Thank you!
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Sure! And let me know if you have additions 
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Yes, please keep me posted on how she makes out!
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New to the group - Would love your list!
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Will PM! Add to it if you like
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With free tuition at Boston College, I encourage you & your family to find a way to make BC’s music program acceptable.
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The popular music program is new at ASU - will be based in downtown Phoenix in fall 2021, enrolling its second class, and first in person. My daughter applied, and liked the audition day (is waiting to hear back). She is a vocalist. They had 50 students last year and in a couple years want to grow to 200 students. Here is a useful couple of articles about it: https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/music/asu-launches-ambitious-an-popular-music-program-in-metro-phoenix-11492479 and about the director: Director of new pop music program is multifaceted performer, academic
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