My son is in process of applying to music schools and music programs of LAC or universities. I read on this site about seeking a trial lesson with the would-be professor. That made a lot of sense, so he reached out and now has a few of those scheduled in the next couple of weeks. I started thinking about whether this trial lesson in October could impact his audition in Jan/Feb. Specifically, won’t the teacher be forming an opinion on my son during the trial lesson? He is certainly preparing for the trial lesson, but is thinking its purpose is to see how he and the teacher relate to one another. Preparing for the audition will be on a different level.
So is it a good idea to have these trial lessons before auditions? Or should we have waited until after the audition, and then schedule a trial lesson?
Related question: are the auditions “blind”?
Last, earlier in the process, I believed that there was no point in applying to schools that were so expensive, he wouldn’t likely attend even if admitted. I am averse to student debt, and regarding scholarships, my son is talented, but so are all kids who apply to these selective programs. Since he’ll have many years of grad school ahead of him, it seems prudent to save on undergrad studies.
Then I read on CC that music scholarships often materialize so you can’t predict how much the final cost will be until the acceptance letter arrives. What is your experience with music scholarships - are they meaningful relative to the cost of tuition? I have seen some outside music scholarships for ~ $500 or $1000, which doesn’t put a dent in the tuition of some of these schools.
So I am interested in parents’ views on whether you just apply to see if you can get in and see how the scholarship plays out. Or do you get realistic and cut bait to save the investment of time and money spent in the application and audition processes.
You might get better answers on the music majors section of this forum.
My kid is a professional musician with both a bachelors and masters in music performance. He did trial lessons with both undergrad potential private teachers, and grad school ones.
The SINGLE most important thing for music majors is the private teacher. There were Schools my kiddo did not apply to after the trial lesson…because he didn’t “click” with that private instructor.
ETA…back in 2003 and 2007, my kid’s auditions were not blind for colleges. They WERE blind for professional positions.
Just want to second the suggestion to go on the music forum.
There are threads on there right now with parents writing about their search for merit scholarships, many of them in jazz/popular music/voice. Apparently some of them are successful but I think it is better to apply to schools that have better financial aid, from the start.
In our experience, top conservatories that are freestanding and don’t come close to meeting need, are often out of range for families with limited means.
Music at LAC’s and universities, including your state university, are often the best route, and you are doing that. I know many musicians who went on to top conservatories/schools of music from their state university.
Thank you to you both. I looked for a Music forum before I posted, but obviously didn’t know how to search correctly. I am a newbie to CC. Do I just cut/paste to that forum, and is there a way to delete the question here? Thank you again.
I just wanted to 3rd the suggestion to head on over to the music sub forum! That is such a friendly crowd and many of us are going through this process this year.
I spent hours here digging around to get hints of which schools may be generous with aid for undergrads. I think it also depends if you’re full pay vs. have need as to where you should apply for best results. We have a list that includes 2 public “safeties” (they are still auditioned so hoping to get into at least 1 of them) we assume we will be full pay at and then a slew of other schools my kid is applying to in order of fit and likeliness to be generous with aid. We do have a little give, but we’re looking for offers within range of the full pay publics. And he has a couple very long shots he might throw out there too. Many of these schools are more generous with grad school students when they aren’t looking at parents finances so we’re looking toward that as well and just being educated about what different options look like. My kid is applying primarily to schools set in universities/colleges and he may get merit aid too.
We have done sample lessons at schools before but my kid is applying to other schools potentially he has not had a lesson at and/or even visited. Setting up a sample lesson hasn’t always worked out for us timing wise.
We had no idea that you could do trial lessons when my son applied to schools. I do think that a trial lesson has an equal chance of working for you as it has working against you.
My son wound up at Belmont University and graduated in May. I recommend checking out Belmont as the cost was lower than the other schools he applied to (Miami, NYU) even before any scholarships. He did wind up with an academic scholarship that wasn’t large, but we weren’t expecting. As a full pay family we did not apply for FA and we were happy about the surprise scholarship even thought it wasn’t huge. I mention this because someone above mentioned that sometimes scholarships do come out of nowhere.
With regard to music performance scholarships…these are typically awarded to the students based on the strength of their audition. And this strength is as compared to others who are doing auditions on the same instrument.
Honestly, it’s very difficult to know the strength of the applicant pool from year to year.
thanks for these additional thoughts…
One of you suggested Belmont - we visited there with my DD a couple of years ago and were impressed and know another girl who is having a great experience thee. They don’t offer a major in my son’s instrument though, so not an option for us.
My daughter has a BM and MM in music. She did trial lessons whenever she could. The teachers are interested in how you are to work with–in your potential as much as in your preparation and so-called talent. A trial lesson, or “playing for a teacher” (in the case where you get a brief audience but maybe not a full lesson are important, if you can get them, because it allows the student to have a glimpse of the teacher’s style and approach. It’s all about fit. Some trial lessons my daughter took were after acceptance (some teachers can’t or won’t schedule until after they know who has been accepted.) They were absolutely essential in picking where she studied.
@uptick, welcome! Merit aid is such an opaque topic, is instrument and school specific, and may or may not be need-informed! Yikes! It can be hard to wade through, for sure! I would start by searching the Music Major forum for your son’s instrument and/or “scholarship” or “merit”. You could also start a new thread there asking more specifically about your S’s instrument or the programs he is looking at specifically.
As to trial lessons, as @glassharmonica and @MusakParent and others said above, I agree that they can be SO helpful. When @Proudpatriot says they can have " an equal chance of working for you as it has working against you," I agree only insofar as relates to being offered admission! And even then, I suggest that it is always best to study where you are wanted and valued, so in that way, perhaps trial lessons help even when they lead to a “no, thank you”. I vehemently believe that it is never a good idea to have a trial lesson with the idea of somehow getting a leg up when it comes to auditions. Trial lessons are an EXCELLENT way of getting to know a potential teacher and sussing out FIT for that most important, teacher-student relationship. Both student and teacher will, of course, form opinions about one another (that’s why they are so valuable). Some teachers prefer trial lessons occur after offers of admission, (to reduce the sheer numbers of the lessons), but many will give them before. I don’t think it much matters when you do them.
Vocal Performance auditions are never blind, and I think most colleges want to view their instrumental candidates, as well (for all the things that personality and visible technique can tell them).
Oh, and as for financial awards, very unpredictable and all over the place. My advice is to cast a wide net. My daughter’s awards were quite varied, with some of the more elite programs offering the most merit aid. It’s very difficult to predict–and on top of that, it is sometimes possible to appeal awards (for undergrad and grad my daughter did this successfully.)
Instrumental music auditions for professional orchestras ARE blind, but for undergrad and grad school they are not. Your student will perform in front of a panel of faculty members, and they will probably have an informal interview at that time as well. My son took trial lessons so that he could see if he liked the teacher, and it also got his face and playing on their radar. He could also ask what they look for in a student and what to prepare. Very helpful.
For my D, who is now a professional musician, trial lessons were a great way to see if she clicked with the teacher. She also chose not to apply to a couple of places because she didn’t feel it was a good match, and her final decision was a combination of teacher plus scholarship.
None of her auditions were blind.
At the tippy top conservatories, there will likely be lots of competition for aid. If you’re willing to look at less prestigious schools, there may be more opportunities.
For S18 last year, trial lessons were essential in picking a school and teacher. His own personal experience was the lessons always seemed to help in admissions, and did not hurt even when S18 did not have his best stuff at the lesson. He had lessons where the teacher talked openly of wanting him at their school, before the audition had even occurred. At the most competitive music admit to which he applied, he did not think he performed well at the practice lesson and the teacher was hurried/distracted, but after the audition he was admitted with a large music talent scholarship. So did not seem to hurt. It’s expensive and time consuming, but do as many as you can.
@uptick I’m not sure of your S’s instrument. In my S’s experience (jazz/composition), there’s not such a strict studio system and he was more influenced by the school’s philosophy, breadth of faculty, students, curriculum. We also were pressed for time and didn’t do a single trial lesson or visit before auditions, figuring prescreen results (required for every school he applied to) would guide us. It worked out for him, and he ended up at a conservatory where he has several mentors who are very different from one another. That being said, visits and lessons are a great idea and will only help - both in figuring out the right fit but also adding some familiarity. Audition days are pretty hectic!
My D is a freshman at a conservatory and she was able to ask for her trial lessons during audition weekend. Granted she only auditioned at 3 schools and only requested lessons at 2 of the schools (at the third she had met the teacher at a summer institute and knew his style and was convinced she would like him). She wrote to each teacher at the other 2 schools and introduced herself.
For one school she asked for a trial lesson during audition weekend and was granted one at the end of audition day, after her audition was already done. It was a good lesson and she enjoyed the teaching style very much. The teacher gave no indication about his inclination to have her as a student. He said the school required him to take payment but he didn’t cash the check until after she had been admitted to the school, and in to his studio. We don’t know if that was intentional or coincidental.
At the other school, she wrote and asked for a trial lesson OR to sit in on a lesson or studio class since we were going to be in town a little longer and she had heard that this teacher did not give trial lessons during audition weekends. The teacher responded that she would like to talk to her after her audition. Immediately after the audition, as my D was leaving the room, this teacher told her to come back at the lunch break. So we did and there were several students there waiting to talk to her. She invited my D to come for a lesson in 2 days. (we were able to change plane flights for my D since we were staying with friends in the area so she could stay the extra day). At the lesson the teacher asked her how much she wanted to go to the school (top choice) and told my daughter that she was “on her list” though no promises could be made and to please let her know if she decided on another school. She refused payment.
So, in one instance it was more of an information gathering session for both teacher and my D and in the other, a more direct connection with encouragement about acceptance.
Also, there is a difference at these schools between acceptance to the school and acceptance in to the studio. She found out she was accepted to the schools weeks before she found out her teacher assignment and she refused to make the decision until she knew this information.
Financially we were able to demonstrate our need with follow-up documentation and the school was very receptive and responsive to it. We sent the additional income documentation BEFORE the audition even happened so they had all the info needed before she was even accepted. She wound up with most of tuition paid in scholarships and grants and we’re just having to swing basically R&B (which isn’t cheap but we’ll take it!).
But the best thing to do is realize that the teacher is the most important piece of the puzzle for classical musicians (my D is violin performance) and also that in lesson goes 2 ways - your student needs to feel comfortable and that it is a good match as much as the teacher needs to feel your student is a good potential fit. And also, that they are just human beings, and not to be afraid to ask. Remember that they asked for the same things when they were young and just starting out.