<p>I'm still a junior in high school but I've been looking around. What do you guys think for jazz guitar schools? I thought Bloomington seemed good but then it turns out they do not offer jazz guitar. The schools I have been considering so far include:</p>
<p>Berklee
NEC
UNT Jazz
Eastman
Frost
West Chester</p>
<p>Any ideas, suggestions, or experiences?</p>
<p>my son is a jazz guitarist--waiting on schools as we speak. </p>
<p>Look at The New School for Jazz (teachers include Peter Bernstein, Jack Wilkins-- this year a New School guitarist won first prize for guitar at the Montreaux festival, famous alumni are too numerous to list, New School students have a standing gig at Sweet Rhythm in Greenwich Village; Reggie Workman is the director, and leads the Coltrane Ensemble.</p>
<p>also USC Thornton has a studio guitar department, SUNY Purchase teachers are John Abercrombie, Randy Johnston and Doug Munro. </p>
<p>University of the Arts in Philadelphia lists Jimmy Bruno on the guitar faculty, but we haven't had close experience with this school.</p>
<p>Good luck in your search!</p>
<p>USC is too far for I am in Pennsylvania. I haven't looked at SUNY or The New School much but I will look into them too. Another thing is I don't really know who to look for for instructors/alumni. Thanks for your help.</p>
<p>I am not sure whether Eastman has a jazz guitar major, they didn't when I was there but that may have changed. I don't why you wouldn't consider USC. Rutgers has Vic Juris, I have had two guitar students go there over the years and both were very happy. You want to find a school that has a reputable pro as a teacher whose grads have been able to gig.</p>
<p>We are going through the final few days of knowing what the choices will be, but when the final decision has been made, hopefully it will come from doing a detailed visit to each school under consideration. I will be glad to give you our decision-making process after it is all said and done. </p>
<p>Vic Juris is at The New School too! He gets around.</p>
<p>One way you get to know instructors is to listen to as much jazz guitar as you can--find out who you like, and see if they teach anywhere! Then there are the many degrees of separation--you might notice that a CD by saxophonist Chris Potter has a guitar player who is on the faculty at the New School, or you might read in the liner notes that he attended NEC. That's kind of how my son figured some things out, through an acquaintance with the contemporary jazz scene. Plus, speaking to his own music teachers. </p>
<p>Some really fine music schools are not jazz guitar-friendly, unfortunately. Jacobs, at Indiana University--such a great school, but no guitar major. I didn't think Eastman was great for guitar, either, but we stopped looking into it when we saw that the audition was classical as well as jazz, so they might have jazz guitar but we didn't get that far. Michigan did not have a regular guitar faculty member as of this year.</p>
<p>Does anyone know much about the University of Cincinnati jazz program or the Frost School of Music?</p>
<p>If staying near Pennsylvania is important:
you might want to look at The University of the Arts, in Philadelphia</p>
<p>and</p>
<p>William Paterson U in New Jersey -- I think that one is jazz-dedicated. It's sort of a commuter-school, but apparently a lot of the faculty are professionals in the NYC jazz scene.</p>
<p>I don't know about guitar but both Frost and Temple have decent Jazz programs.</p>
<p>I have found just recently that the jazz world differs in many ways from the classical one, so that some of the really good advice coming from CC'ers is not exactly applicable to jazz students. For example, I don't think schools really have "studios" in the sense that a flute player looks for a certain teacher's studio to get into. I know that for a guitarist, there is an applied teacher but there are also equally important other teachers helping to develop your improvisatory skills and rhythm. So, in a way, to shop for a jazz program you have to look at the whole philosophy of the school to see if it fits your playing style. </p>
<p>At the last we were comparing The New School with NEC--two fairly different but equally exciting places to be a jazz guitar student. The New School has a teacher-mentor philosophy, where a student can literally go out and hear a guitarist in a club and ask him if he takes on students, and The New School will put him on the payroll as your instructor. There is an audition period in the Fall for teacher assignment, which was not the most enticing scenario. The program is fairly large, and we were told that usually ensembles have two guitar players, which kind of turned my son off, as he felt the playing opportunities could be limited. The school also attracts some older and international students with experience, so for a young student it might possibly be hard to get to the level where you are getting the good opportunities, something that we were also leery of. But, no doubt, the faculty there is astounding. In all fairness, it is absolutely worth a look to see for yourself if it's what your child wants.</p>
<p>NEC had guitar faculty that had great appeal for my son. He is guaranteed to have one of them as his teacher, and, if I understand this correctly, he will work with both during Orientation to decide which is a better fit. In addition, he can choose another faculty member for further instruction, and it can be a teacher of any instrument. The program is very small, about 4-5 guitars per year, so individual attention is pretty much guaranteed I would guess. The academic side of things, both music academics and liberal arts offerings sounds very stimulating, a wide range of classes with the esoteric kind of flavor that my son likes. Their Contemporary Improvisation major sounds quite unique. They have a very creative philosophy, not the "straight ahead" approach to jazz, and this suits my son.</p>
<p>So, these are two programs we have looked closely at; maybe someone else has experience to add about these or other programs.</p>
<p>I suggest taking a look at William Patterson University in NJ. A very close friends DS is a junior there taking Jazz Guitar. This young man is absolutely amazing and picked WPU over a lot of other programs. I understand that they have an incredible jazz program, great faculty and many performance opportunities. The college is about twenty miles outside of NYC. If I am not mistaken he is on a full scholarship. Good Luck.</p>
<p>WPU has many of the same faculty as at the NYC conservatories.</p>
<p>For the music schools within universities, it also behooves students/parents to carefully examine the overall caliber of the students who are not musicians.</p>
<p>Does anyone else have any experience/anecdotes about William Paterson U?</p>
<p>I just looked that school up. I like it and I think it is going on my list. Now my top schools are:</p>
<p>Oberlin
University of Miami
Berklee
William Paterson
University of Pittsburgh
Temple
West Chester University</p>
<p>and possibly UNT</p>
<p>We are local to William Paterson U.
Son attended a summer jazz program there while in high school about 5-6 years ago. He enjoyed the experience but didn't care for the campus much. The buildings seemed old and tired, the green areas not very green.
The dorms were adequate. Parking in summer was not an issue but we understood that it was very much an issue during regular term.
Things may have improved since then. The urban flavor of WPU and its proximity to NYC may appeal to many. The faculty does consist of some high profile names from NYC.
Our son pursued a classical music program and did not apply to WPU.</p>
<p>We know a young women who obtained her special education teaching degree from WPU and has been very successful with it.</p>
<p>Howlingwaters, have you visited WPU?</p>
<p>No, actually I haven't had the chance to visit any colleges. I'm just making my list from what I like about the colleges until this summer when I will visit the colleges. Thanks for your information though.</p>
<p>Was doing a serch for my son and came across your question...he is also a junior in HS- ...here is what we have learned/know so far...He currently studies with Bob Sneider at Eastman- Bob is an amazing player and fantastic person! Bill Dobbins teaches the music theory at Eastman and can be hard on students, but is a genius and you will learn a lot...so I would think the program at Eastman is one to consider....that being said, my son visited Paterson and had a lesson with Paul Meyers...he was impressed by Paul and the other faculty...we heard it was a commuter campus, but since the jazz program was so strong-many of the students come from all over the country and therefore tend to stay on campus on the weekends. We also visited Purchase- the facilities there were pretty bad as far as classrooms, dorms etc. Very run down. There was a broken door to every building. Although my son did see the new dorms and they were quite nice. Access to NYC was pretty easy and a definite plus. My son has heard great things about the most of the teachers....and was told that you would definitely get your lessons each week- this is one thing we have heard about other schools- i.e.- NYU and Manhattan- that if your teacher is out of town touring- frequently they don't make up the lesson- at Purchase they make sure you have a sub. if they are unavailable...Berklee has a ton of guitar students- if you are in their top three you might get the attention you deserve, but otherwise we have heard that you can fall through the cracks and get little support...they take a lot of people from mediocre players to great ones and offer little in financial aid to most....Miami the teacher is supposed to be great, but we have heard bad things about the environment- i.e. drugs, partying etc. Visited UNT- great big band school- the One O'clock group is fantastic- the program is large however- so again you get quite a variety of skill level overall-</p>
<p>Recently heard that U. of Maryland has outstanding facilities and a great guitar instructor- so may try to look into that one more.</p>
<p>Saw Manhattan School of Music- had a lsson with Jack Wilkins- very nice- great player... but, heard that the program here is not really supportive of guitarists....</p>
<p>Did not see New School- have heard mixed things about the program- great and weak....so may put it on the list to see.</p>
<p>Good Luck to You</p>
<p>Was doing a serch for my son and came across your question...he is also a junior in HS- ...here is what we have learned/know so far...He currently studies with Bob Sneider at Eastman- Bob is an amazing player and fantastic person! Bill Dobbins teaches the music theory at Eastman and can be hard on students, but is a genius and you will learn a lot...so I would think the program at Eastman is one to consider....that being said, my son visited Paterson and had a lesson with Paul Meyers...he was impressed by Paul and the other faculty...we heard it was a commuter campus, but since the jazz program was so strong-many of the students come from all over the country and therefore tend to stay on campus on the weekends. We also visited Purchase- the facilities there were pretty bad as far as classrooms, dorms etc. Very run down. There was a broken door to every building. Although my son did see the new dorms and they were quite nice. Access to NYC was pretty easy and a definite plus. My son has heard great things about the most of the teachers....and was told that you would definitely get your lessons each week- this is one thing we have heard about other schools- i.e.- NYU and Manhattan- that if your teacher is out of town touring- frequently they don't make up the lesson- at Purchase they make sure you have a sub. if they are unavailable...Berklee has a ton of guitar students- if you are in their top three you might get the attention you deserve, but otherwise we have heard that you can fall through the cracks and get little support...they take a lot of people from mediocre players to great ones and offer little in financial aid to most....Miami the teacher is supposed to be great, but we have heard bad things about the environment- i.e. drugs, partying etc. Visited UNT- great big band school- the One O'clock group is fantastic- the program is large however- so again you get quite a variety of skill level overall-</p>
<p>Recently heard that U. of Maryland has outstanding facilities and a great guitar instructor- so may try to look into that one more.</p>
<p>Saw Manhattan School of Music- had a lsson with Jack Wilkins- very nice- great player... but, heard that the program here is not really supportive of guitarists....</p>
<p>Did not see New School- have heard mixed things about the program- great and weak....so may put it on the list to see.</p>
<p>Good Luck to You</p>
<p>Guitarmama has done much of the same research we did when looking for a guitar program. My son felt the larger guitar programs at Berklee, New School and Miami were too much of a risk that playing time might be sparse--New School told him they double up on guitar players in the combos, and that nixed it for him. Manhattan and New England were his two top choices. He did not get into MSM even after spending two years in the precollege there. The deal with the jazz program there: it is a very traditional program; the top ensemble in the precollege, for example, never had a guitar in it. I don't know if they don't emphasize guitar or they just have a very narrow view of jazz guitar playing. If you are a little out of the box and are looking for an eclectic sort of jazz, New England seems great for that--we shall see. Teachers Brad Shepik, Joe Morris on guitar--a little world music mixed in. It is very small. They took eight guitar players this year.</p>
<p>I think guitars have to find a smallish program unless they are superstars when they enter, and know they will rise to the top in a big group. It is a popular instrument and you want to get individual attention and feel supported by a strong curriculum. Some of the larger jazz programs felt like your eighteen-year-old might be thrown to the wolves a little, and a great deal of self-motivation would be neccessary to get an education out of it!</p>
<p>Thanks jazzzmomm and guitarmama! This information was very helpful.</p>