<p>I'm reeling! I'm told to factor in another 2 grand per year for private piano and voice! How do people do that on top of all of the other college costs? Do most or all MT students take private voice and piano every semester? If not every semester, then how often?
Thank you for your imput.</p>
<p>Where is your kid going again? At my D’s BFA in MT Program, private voice is included in tuition. Nobody that I know of is taking private piano but they are taught piano in Music Theory class I believe (my D placed out of that class and so never took it for the two years the others did as she is a proficient pianist). There were NO extra charges.</p>
<p>Please, tell me that isn’t true! We were told at all the schools we visited that vocal lessons are part of the regular curricula and one or two (depending on the school) piano classes were, too. The point of piano is to enable the student to get new music and be able to play his or her part----just for their own practice and benefit.</p>
<p>For most MT programs voice lessons are included, there are a few that include piano lessons in the curriculum as well, at no additional charge. One school I know of that charges extra is Marymount Manhattan with their MT minor, I believe it is around an extra $2500 per year.</p>
<p>If your child were to take private voice and piano over the course of a school year, it would not be unreasonable to expect to pay ‘2 grand’. However, as others have said, this will not be necessary at most programs. </p>
<p>Having said that, I will just comment that these kids should all already be fairly proficient on, at least, one instrument. Most of the kids we have known through the years who are studying MT in college, and also many who were studying straight theatre, were also fairly accomplished musicians. This is obviously a little late for those who will be heading off to college in September but for younger kids reading this discussion, you are well-advised to start piano NOW! There aren’t too many successful MT actors out there who are not also musicians, and you will be at an advantage in college if going in, you can already read music and play proficiently.</p>
<p>At BoCo, piano is required and is part of the core curriculum (unless you test out). My D is self taught on piano (12 years on the clarinet) and could have tested out, but I wanted her to learn correct fingering so she stayed in. One voice lesson per week is included. The second weekly lesson is extra but everyone signs up and pays for that one, so we did, too.</p>
<p>Brace yourself, there are lots more surprises ahead!</p>
<p>Skwidjymom, what is the cost for the second weekly lesson, if you don’t mind my asking? And what other surprises should we be ready for? Is the total cost going to be more than what the different school websites list—usually there is an “expected” cost that includes housing, board, tuition and “incidentals.” </p>
<p>We’ve found with our other two children that, if you try, you can pretty much stay in that “expected” budget. Of course, neither of them needed extra lessons of any kind… </p>
<p>I appreciate thecheckbook starting this thread, and thank in advance all the experienced parents/students who contribute to it. Our student is a junior and I’m trying to prepare now for the shock, as his education is going to cost significantly more than our others’ did.</p>
<p>Picking up on what alwaysamom wrote…because many people read these threads and there may be rising HS juniors and seniors and their parents reading…planning on MT colleges and a career in the field…I cannot emphasize enough what she wrote and the importance of being a musician if you are going into MT. Many students enter BFA in MT programs without any instrumental music background and some cannot even read music. It really is essential to be proficient in this area and while you can start in college, it would be very advantageous to begin piano ahead of time. I have seen this with my own kid who is graduating college in MT next month. Before she got to college at age 16, she already had had 10 years of piano lessons, 6 years of flute lessons and 3 years of guitar lessons, as well as experience playing in band and jazz band. When she took up these instruments, it was not originally with MT in mind or preparation for that (though she has been involved in MT since age 4). What I mean is that my other kid who is not seeking a career in the field, ALSO took piano lessons for 11 years and clarinet lessons for 9 year prior to college and so my kids would have done this regardless of going into MT or not. But I can’t begin to tell you the HUGE BENEFIT it has been for my MT college kid to be a proficient musician, particularly on piano. I won’t list all the reasons here and I think I have posted about it before anyway. But while we are on the subject, ditto everything alwaysamom wrote…don’t wait until college to start piano if you plan on studying MT and having a career in MT.</p>
<p>skipsmom, I think it is very unusual to have to pay for voice lessons at most MT programs. I had not heard of that at Marymount Manhattan and so take note of it at that school (though maybe the tuition is lower than another school and so you have to look at the total out of pocket to attend). </p>
<p>I can give you an idea about the cost of voice lessons from just my own kid’s experience. Voice lessons are included in tuition for the NYU/Tisch/CAP21 students and are required. My D is spending her final three semesters at Tisch in ETW studio. She could still take private voice included in tuition but with a different voice teacher through NYU, not one from CAP21. She wanted to stick with her CAP21 voice teacher all four years and so we said she had to pay for that herself since voice lessons could be had for “free” (ha ha!) in the tuition if she switched voice teachers. So, she began paying herself last spring. But when she received three unexpected scholarships on our bill this year at college, we let her keep one to pay for the voice lessons this year. She pays $60/lesson each week with her CAP21 voice teacher. That is in NYC. Could be different elsewhere.</p>
<p>I don’t know where my daughter will go quite yet as she is a transfer, but in calculating costs between her pendings and acceptances, I had to compare lesson charges, since some are included and some aren’t. My daughter can test out of piano but she will at some point want to take it again so I have to look to see if that is an included expense at each school. At her present university I pay 500.00 per semester for voice and 300.00 for private piano. They didn’t touch pianos in her four semesters of music theory classes. I have to add that as a vocal performance major she had a very generous talent scholarship that helped offset the added costs. She will get tiddley winks as a MT BFA student. In order to truly consider the comparative costs of schools I need, to consider these added expenses, it seems~</p>
<p>When my D has taken private voice at college not only do we pay the weekly fee for voice lessons but we also pay for an accompanist to come in during the lessons. Luckily it is a great musical school and there are plenty of pianists around that don’t charge horrendous fees.</p>
<p>Thank you for that information, soozievt. Our son has received vocal instruction locally for much less per hour (naturally!) but his occasional teacher in NYC is $80 per hour—and well worth the cost. Of course, we aren’t paying that weekly, either. </p>
<p>I see what you mean about the overall cost; BC is less expensive than some of the others, but there may be additional costs to include. Do the CAP21 students have lessons once or twice weekly?</p>
<p>I believe that next spring will see me pouring over a spreadsheet to compare “final” costs :)</p>
<p>Hoosiermom, your D may be paying for private voice because she is in a BA program. MOST BFA in MT Programs include private voice in the cost of tuition. This is the first time I have heard of a program that does not (Marymount…though their MT program is a BA program as well!..so that may explain that). </p>
<p>Every voice teacher my D has ever trained with, ALSO accompanies. I have not heard of having a voice lesson where you have to pay a second person to accompany the lesson, but maybe that is true for others. I don’t know. I would think a voice teacher can play piano?</p>
<p>skipsmom, the voice lessons for CAP21 are once a week and that is pretty common for private voice at most colleges I think. The students also study vocal technique in small classes in CAP and get help indivdually on their own songs. </p>
<p>My D took voice for five year prior to college. For the first four years, the voice lessons were taught in a small group for 90 minutes (though each student got to work individually on her own songs). It cost us $30/lesson. In her college application year, the voice teacher gave privates for his students who were applying to college programs and doing auditions, and those were $60/lesson for an hour. Her teacher had a PhD and taught voice on the faculty of a MT program in NYC but commuted to his home in our state and I imagine he charged less here for a lesson than at his private studio in NYC.</p>
<p>Thanks for that info, soozie.</p>
<p>FWIW, DS’s vocal teacher pays an accompianist for all her pupils and it is included in our cost. Again, much less expensive here!</p>
<p>What I was talking about Soozie was truly “private” lessons - lessons taken outside the curriculum not for credit. As for voice lessons for a BA through Jacobs there is an additional fee (sort of like adding on a lab fee) of around $500 semester for the classes taken for credit. BFAs take THTR T-305 Voice…if you consult the catalog there is also a fee associated with this course.</p>
<p>Hoosiermom, that is interesting to know that Indiana’s BFA in MT program also has a fee for private voice lessons. Most programs in MT don’t, including the one my D attends.</p>
<p>And when my D took the Jacob’s voice class for credit she also in addition paid for an accompanist.</p>
<p>Elon students take a 2 credit private voice lesson every semester. There is an additional charge over and above the tuition for private lessons (voice, piano unless it is one of the piano classes that are offered, other instrumental lessons if chosen). Then the music students (MT etc.) receive a credit for part of that on their tuition bill. So the net cost per semester is $370 I believe, for the voice lesson. If taking private piano also (which you would need to do if you either already played piano beyond a beginner level which is what the classes offered involve, or you can’t fit the piano class in your schedule which is often the case) then there is an additional charge for those lessons. I was unpleasantly surprised to discover all of this when D started at Elon, but what can you do. Her voice teacher is awesome, she loves her, and feels she has made amazing progress with her, so I guess I’d say it has been money well spent, especially since she was not a “singer” when she arrived at Elon and had only had 1 1/2 years of private lessons before college.</p>