<p>You are certainly not cluttering up the forum!</p>
<p>When my daughter, who is a composer, was looking at colleges, many professors in music departments told her that a BA degree would be a much better route than a BM. This did not dissuade her from applying to several conservatories as well as a couple of colleges. However, when it came time to decide between conservatory and college, once she had been admitted, she ultimately chose the latter- at the very last minute in April of senior year! It is not an easy choice and you too can keep your options open.</p>
<p>Composition students can perhaps benefit more than a pianist or music teacher from a curriculum that is less (or not) performance-based and includes theory, music history, technology/electronic work, ethnomusicology, and composition. And broader studies at the undergrad level in areas such as history, literature and art can enhance the understanding of the composition field and one’s own development of style and focus.</p>
<p>Some BA programs do have a composition strand (for example, Brown’s), some have composition seminars or tutorials built into the program, and some simply have composition courses. Some BA programs may have lessons for composers, some don’t. Depending on how you like to work with a teacher, check out each program carefully to get what you want. Some colleges will provide musicians and a concert or two each year for your pieces to be performed, some will have performances in class, and at some, you might have to make your own performance opportunities by getting funding and organizing composers for concerts.</p>
<p>So, a BA will generally be 1/4-1/3 music classes, though some will be 50% (Harvard). A BM will be about 2/3-3/4 music classes. You can do a double major in some cases, or a double degree, either a BA/BM or a BA/MM. BA “general music” majors will usually have distribution requirements involving classes in the sciences, math, arts, social science, literature and other humanities. (When my daughter could, she ended up sort of focusing her studies on modernism, including art, literature and music of that era as well as European and US history.) A BM program will have liberal arts as well, but fewer required courses.</p>
<p>Generally, a student who wants to study piano intensively would be better off at a conservatory, unless he or she can study privately, practice for hours and still do a BA program: but a BM program allows for the lessons and the time spent practicing and rehearsing. A music teacher candidate would do a music education degree, either at the undergrad or grad level. These two types of students, which you cited, would probably do better at specialized programs for the BM. </p>
<p>For composers it gets murkier, it really does. If you also want to study an instrument, by all means, a performance degree would be a good fit, if only because of time issues. At a college or university, versus conservatory, you will spend less time on applied work and may continue your composing on the side as well as in class. A college program is foundational, more than professional. In composition a BA certainly can lead to a master’s program, and most do go on.</p>
<p>In Europe, I think there is more emphasis on career, and in the US the trend is more toward grad school with an eye toward working in academia. If you are concerned with a career in music, some can make a living as a composer but it can take many years to get there. You can intern during college with music organizations, or other non-profits. (My daughter did this and is quite employable I think.) A BA or BM will not really limit you to the music field, however: it is a degree that can give access to jobs in other fields as well as grad and professional schools such as law, medicine or business, once prerequ’s have been met.</p>
<p>In short, in many ways, a BA general music major is the perfect program for a composer, but there may be fewer opportunities for lessons and performances of work during those 4 years. It varies. You can make any program work. The breadth and depth of the education at a college can be good preparation for a lifetime in composing or for other fields, but may have less of a focus on applied craft and performance in the short term. If a thesis for a BA can be a composition, that is a great benefit so check that out too. </p>
<p>Overall, after a year (several years ago) of looking and applying and researching, my daughter chose a BA in a college and she and most of her peers are focusing on composing at the grad level now without the distractions of distribution requirements, but she doesn’t regret her decision to do a BA as an undergrad.</p>
<p>Keep coming on here with questions!</p>