I Need Help With My Major Decision

I am finishing my first year of community college and I need to make a decision on my major. I plan to transfer to a school that’s in near my home in Southern California or at most 5 hours away from there (Arizona schools/Nevada). It took me a while because I was deciding between engineering and music. Now I am going to major in music, but I do not know what to major in. I played alto sax for my school’s concert band in elementary school in 5th grade to my senior year in high school. In my second semester of community college, I took a class to start learning piano and I plan on continuing next semester while also taking vocal lessons. I am interested in creating/writing music, but I’m also interested in performing too. Recently, I have developed an interest in musical theater, but I have not participated in any musicals. Basically, I am thinking about majoring in either musical composition or musical theater. Is there a way I can pursue both? Minor in one? I also heard that pursuing in one major doesn’t limit your ability in also doing the other like taking classes that helps you learn about the other major, but I’m not sure.

Hello College Kid. There are many ways to study music. Are you going to finish community college and then transfer to a 4 year school? Are you thinking of BA or BM?

You can major in music as a liberal arts subject (AA, BA) without having to make decisions about a specific focus. A BA in music will include theory, music history, composition, work with technology (also useful in creating music), ethnomusicology and so on. In a BA program you can often take lessons for credit, and also get credit for extracurricular performance. Extracurricular performance for you could include some participation in musical theater if you are still interested.

You might want to read the Double Degree Dilemma essay posted closer to the top of this music forum. It has a lot of info about ways to study music. A BA would be 14/-1/3 classes in music; a BM would be 2/3-3/4 classes in music and so is more immersive. For a BA (or AA) you would take gen eds and electives outside of music as well.

BM programs usually have competitive auditions for admission. BA programs often have auditions in the fall semester for extracurriculars, but not for admission. There are exceptions to every general statement I make but you get the idea.

I hope you can continue with music, since you seem to love it, and I hope you can continue to be multi-faceted. If you pursue a BA in music there is no reason, in most cases, why you cannot pursue sax, writing music, more piano, and even musical theater- as extracurriculars- while you major in music as an academic subject (and some classes will have performance aspects too).

Continue lessons and try out some theory or music history classes and see how you feel. Good luck!

Editing to add that you can also major in something else and pursue music as an extracurricular, including lessons and performance. You could take lessons in composition as well. Or double major, or major/minor.

1 Like

Talk to your main teacher in Performance in your instrument of choice.

You have very diverse interests! I would caution against making a decision to focus on MT as a performer without ever having participated in a production. It is like saying you want to be a chemist without ever stepping foot in a lab! You might like it from an academic perspective, but find the actual day to day activity not to your liking. I agree with @compmom that there are many ways to approach the equation, not the least of which is to participate in some of these musical activities as collegiate extracurriculars to help you decide where to focus. You could even consider music technology, which might take advantage of your engineering background! Best wishes.

I do not have an engineering background really. So what you guys are saying is that I can major in composition and still find a way to do musical theater as an extracurricular activity. Does that mean I minor in that?

No actually I am saying you can major in music, for a BA, which is usually a general music degree though some programs do have a focus on composition.

The students in composition programs usually have a lot of experience or sometimes a lot of raw talent (which you might have), and often go to a conservatory or school of music. For a BM t program admission, hey submit a portfolio of 3 or so works, a couple or a few of which have been performed live. Often students go to summer programs, which is an option for you too, to clarify interests (check out Walden School in Dublin NH) and get those performances recorded.

But a better alternative for a person like you with multifaceted interests (but not a lot of experience) is to attend college rather than music school, and do a BA either in music or another subject, and follow your interests in music and MT as extracurriculars. If you do lessons and extracurriculars you can still progress as a musician and consider continuing in a career or grad school.

Remember too that you can major in music and work in lots of fields after graduation. You can also not major in music but still continue if your lessons and extracurriculars have progressed.

For music study, the options are BM, BA orBS, double degree BA/BM, double major , major and minor, and just extracurricular. Read that essay for more info.

For a BA program you very often don’t audition, though you can send in samples of your work if they are high level enough.

What kind of music do you write? If you use the computer or samples or Protools or Max or whatever, the suggestion to look at music technology, or music production, or studio production is also a possibility. Or do you do jazz or classical acoustic music? Songwriting?

Have you taken any theory classes?

Lots of paths for you and it is exciting that you might want to continue with music.

1 Like

Many colleges and universities have groups that do musicals as extracurricular clubs (same kind of thing as having an a cappella club). You could participate in that fashion without having to minor.

1 Like

@CollegeKid354, it’s great that you have so many interests within music. My daughter is a music major in a BA program. There is a range of intensity; in other words, it can be as intense as each student wants it to be. Many music departments in colleges and universities offer lots of different kinds of courses, so students can try different things and find the areas that suit them the best. Some schools, for example, have significant strengths in music theory and composition within their BA programs - so even if you haven’t yet had formal training in composition, you will be able to access that. Some schools offer courses and other opportunities in learning about the diversity in world musics and in music technology. Have fun looking at the course offerings at various schools, and see what inspires you!

1 Like