Help me out? :)

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>Hi, I would appreciate a little advice or input.</p>

<p>I am a third year Music Education major in a 5-year program, dual-majoring in anthropology. I used to be a BA-mus with the anth as a double degree, but I was convinced by my private teacher to switch into Music Ed for multiple reasons. </p>

<p>The thing is, when I look at upcoming courses I need to complete for the next semester -- and everything thereafter -- my heart falls at anything marked "EDU". I love my music studies, but this semester the education courses are beginning to become a huge pain. I do well in them, but it is difficult to, say, find the motivation to write multiple 10-page essays on civic engagement or education law when I would rather devote my time to practicing my instrument, honing my performance skills, and pouring my academic energies into music history or anthro stuff. I am not 100% set on teaching music in a public school, even though I dearly love teaching in any capacity. I actually want to continue on in grad school in musicology, and performance as well, if I can swing it.</p>

<p>I was not good enough to be in performance upon starting college, but auditioned and was originally allowed in to the Music Ed program here, figuring at that time that music was music, and I could always take advantage of a great teacher and work on my playing skills while also learning many other aspects of music and pedagogy. Yet, I switched out of the program relatively early on to a BA upon pressure from my family, who seem to believe an education degree a futile enterprise nowadays (though they would support me in performance...yeah, I know!)</p>

<p>Unbeknownst to them, I changed majors once again back to Music Ed last semester upon being taken aside by my teacher and counseled to do the more professional-type degree. Now I am once again considering heading back to the BA, as that seems the most logical...music-related, but without the intense rigour of the BME, for which I seem to have little passion now...but this constant back-and-forth comes off as rather silly to me. If I switch back, I will surely burn any remnants of the bridge I had with the head of the Music Ed. program, who had to be thoroughly convinced to let me back in after switching out the first time. I also do not know if transcripts reflect changes of Major, and if they do, I certainly do not want to risk having a mile-long history of indecision. </p>

<p>Yet, the thought of going through all the remaining practicums, education courses, and time-devouring student teaching fills me with depression. What should I do? Realizing that no degree will have classes I am 100% satisfied with -- just as no career will be 100% awesome all the time -- should I just accept I have run out of options and stick with it? Am I merely inflicting late semester melodrama upon myself?</p>

2

<p>I think it is hard to make oneself study a subject that one does not like.</p>

<p>What is your instrument? Do you have an idea how marketable you are/can be as a performer?</p>

3

<p>tinotter:As a Mom of a music ed/performance major, I think I get where you are coming from. The education courses do interfere with practicing your main instrument, etc. and at times seem frivolous. If you remain a music ed major, will you be graduating as planned or will it take you longer? Son wants to be a teacher even if not a music teacher so the decision is easier for him. His past summer jobs involved teaching school groups or working with children with behavioral issues. When he starts disliking some of the hoops he needs to jump through he just tells himself that the goal is to graduate and this is part of game. If you can manage it, having teaching certification is a great tool to have. The skills you learn will carry over to many other careers and will help even if you just have private students in the future. In our school district, certified substitute teachers make $50/day more than the uncertified. When son was in high school, one of the regular subs was a masters graduate from Juilliard who used substitute teaching to supplement his performance career. If you can complete the music ed degree without extra expense or too much anxiety, it would be a plus for the future.</p>

4

<p>I play the cello. I sit assistant principle of my section in the university orchestra, but I believe it was due to me be the only one who really took the excerpts seriously this time around and is certainly no indicator of skill, as there are many in my studio who are far better than I. At 23 years of age, I am older than most, and have relatively little rep under my belt as the first two years were spent primarily on etudes and fixing disastrous technique. I have never been in a competition or experienced a legit you-must-audition-to-be-admitted-music festival, though I was hoping to change that this summer. I have done some professional freelancing and am active in smaller ensembles.</p>

<p>I’ve been told I have skill, but started much too late to “be” anything. I also have a weird lack of confidence when performing solo that sets me back, but I am pushing through and working on that. If I were to pursue performing in grad school, it would be solely to fulfill a dream, and not because I would ever truly believe I could make a sheer living from it (I will never get into a pro orchestra, for instance, though as far as performing my heart lies in chamber music). Unless something miraculous were to suddenly happen with my playing in the next few years, the performance MM would be alongside the musicology…considering if I was even able to be accepted into such a program for as low a cost as possible. :wink: I would eventually like to teach in a college setting, as well as teaching cello privately.</p>

<p>So that is my convoluted answer to your question. In short, reality says no, but I am stubborn.</p>

5

<p>Momofbassist, this is precisely the sort of argument I have been having with myself, and you bring up points my own teacher told me. He really wanted me to graduate with something useful, as in his own opinion he viewed the BA as a little frivolous (no offense to anyone here!) Probably as he is very successful at what he does, graduated from top schools (including an Ivy), and still had a problem finding a job…so he only wanted to counsel someone far less talented, academically and musically, than himself. :)</p>

<p>I have been telling myself since then, during times of doubt, that student teaching and licensing would only help. The test taking, the endless hoops, the classes…if I could make it through, it would be useful. Grad schools might like to see the prior teaching experience required for the program, if I were to be a TA. I only have experience teaching one-on-one, so learning how to handle a classroom would be extremely beneficial.</p>

<p>If I were to continue, it looks like I would be on track for graduating in two years + one semester, perhaps a bit less. If I went to a BA-mus, it would probably take me about a year to graduate. </p>

<p>And yet…it’s extraordinarily difficult to continue doing this when my heart is not set on k-12. I wish I could find a clear answer, or somehow turn off the anxiety!</p>

6

<p>tinotter: What is your end game? Do you want to teach music history or theory at the college level? If yes, then forget the music ed degree and try to tutor or otherwise show your teaching skills for grad school in hopes of a TA job. Also, I think and I’m sure others can comment, that the TA jobs for theory and music history usually are offered to those with the best grades. If you want to go to grad school for musicology, finish your BA in the shortest amount of time and save the extra $ that would have been spent on the BME for grad school. Or finish your BA and go to grad school for a masters in music ed if you change your mind later. Since you’ve changed so late in your undergrad career and you have a lack of interest in K-12 teaching, it doesn’t seem worth the expense and time. Good luck!</p>

<p>PS. If you stay with music ed, how and when are you going to explain your student teaching semester to your parents?</p>

7

<p>I think the Music Ed person is giving you advice slanted by personal experience.</p>

<p>I firmly believe that at the undergrad level, you should explore genuine interests and not think too vocationally. I would strongly recommend, if one of my own kids were in your shoes, that he or she drop the music ed asap and focus on a BA in music.</p>

<p>In fact, one of my kids IS doing a BA in music. She enjoys academic music, as a composer, and plays her instrument outside of actual classes, takes private lessons and is very happy. She also has had some great internships (PM me if you like). I would say there are many possible jobs out there for her, in music or not in music.</p>

<p>A BA in music is a bachelor’s like anything else. You can apply to any job that wants a bachelor’s. A BA in music can lead to med, law or business school for those who are concerned about that, to a grad degree in music ed, or a grad degree in anthropology or anything else.</p>

<p>You only have one year to go with the BA versus 2 1/2 years for the Music Ed. In that amount of time difference, you could finish the BA and do grad school.</p>

<p>These days, there are all kinds of ways to do music. Many people are entrepreneurial. You don’t have to “make it” big and land a seat in a major orchestra. And, as I said, there will be many other career possibilities so you can do music on the side too.</p>

<p>It’s a bonus that your parents are supportive. Absolutely, drop the Music Ed! My 2 cents.</p>

8

<p>My take would be not to stay with music ed if you aren’t seriously thinking of going into teaching in a public school, whether substitute or as a regular teacher.Among other things if it doesn’t interest you why go through the bother of getting the degree? And if you are thinking you may take a job as a teacher down the line, ask yourself if you really would like doing that. Quite honestly, there are any number of people who wanted to be musicians, who did the music ed to have a ’ bankable job’ and are miserable as teachers and it shows to the kids (ran into a ‘music educator’ like that <em>shudder</em>). It really depends on what you see yourself doing down the road.</p>

<p>As far as performance on cello all I can really say is Cello is up there in the competition sweepstakes and if you were talking about trying to be a soloist or a high level orchestra musician it would be very, very difficult at this point to pursue that. On the other hand, if you were thinking of maybe doing music as a teaching position, whether going to an advanced degree in musicology, or maybe even as a local cello teacher for kids privately, then you would probably be in a good position, plus there would be nothing to stop you from doing local gig work and such as well:)</p>

9

<p>I concur with others about not getting a music education degree if that’s not what you want. I recall that many students at my music school were encouraged to get the music ed degree, but many of them were not happy about it. </p>

<p>I think everyone should have some employable skill, and it’s good to be able to do something in addition to performance. But that skill can be almost anything and doesn’t have to be a degree, certainly not one that’s going to take you an additional two years (?) to get.</p>

<p>Nowadays one can form a chamber group and perform by being innovative, using the internet and so on.</p>

<p>To answer one of your earlier questions, you should check with your university to see whether your change of majors will be relected in your transcript. I know my multiple changes of majors was not.</p>

10

<p>I have to agree with everyone else, it doesn’t make any sense and is a waste of time to get a BM in music ed if you know that you don’t want to teach and aren’t interested in the music ed curriculum. You need to be in a program where the curriculum makes sense for your goals.</p>

<p>But there are some advantages to majoring in music ed that go beyond just teaching. Music programs are more rounded in music than most other music degrees. At my son’s school music ed students take classes in conducting, voice (even if they are not a voice student), multiple instruments, and music pedagogy. </p>

<p>More than a few posters have told me that I am wrong about this, but I would think that music ed is a wonderful background for a lot of different music career opportunities. I’ve seen more than a few job listings for musicians where they wanted someone who could play more than one instrument, and if you ever expect to conduct or manage an ensemble the conducting classes could be very valuable. Since most professional musicians find themselves giving private classes at some point in their career, taking a few music teaching classes may not be a bad thing.</p>

<p>Most people change careers several times during their lifetime, and a fairly high percent of people are employed in a field other than what they majored in. Just because someone majors in music ed doesn’t mean that they have to become a grade school teacher, music ed graduates are just as eligible for jobs outside of teaching as any other music major. </p>

<p>In my son’s situation, his first choice of jobs would be as a performer, second choice would be to be a conductor, and his third and fourth choices are both teaching music (third choice is at the college level, forth choice is at the high school level). Often college level music teachers and even conductors get their starter experience by teaching public school for a few years. </p>

<p>By majoring in music ed he is not limiting himself. If one is good enough to be a performer, he/she doesn’t need to have a performance degree (or any degree at all), but if one wants to teach in public school, then a teacher certification is a must. He feels that he doesn’t have to have a performance career, or a conducting career, or a career in teaching music, but he can’t see a career that doesn’t include music.</p>

<p>As far as the curriculum and faculty goes, I guess that may depend on the school. My son’s school is a large university with a fairly small school of music. He takes the EXACT same applied music private lessons taught by the exact same professor who teaches the performance majors, and he performs in the exact same ensembles as the performance majors do. He will take a lot less music literature classes than performance majors do, taking music ed, teacher education, and student teaching in place of music lit classes, but other than that, he is getting the exact same actual performance education as performance majors do. </p>

<p>He practices his primary instrument three to four hours a day, plus another hour of whatever other instrument that he happens to be studying in a particular semester (voice last semester, clarinet and piano this semester, trombone next semester, etc), plus 10+ hours a week of ensembles.</p>