<p>Just spoke with S2–he said Bob Snieder (sic?) at Eastman–jazz guitar prof–was “SICK!” (in a good way)</p>
<p>Jazz/Shreddermom, I know one thing that deters some jazz guitar students from Eastman: they require a full classical guitar audition along with the jazz audition. Specifically, their classical guitar audition rep requirement states: </p>
<p>“Prepared repertory should include three contrasting major works from different stylistic periods that best represent the applicants technical and artistic strengths.”</p>
<p>That requirement puts off alot of jazz guitarists, many of whom have not studied classical guitar (including my S). That said, Eastman is of course a top conservatory, and I’ve never heard anything but positive about it from the several students I know who attend, including several jazz (non-guitar) students. And of course I know they have jazz guitar students attending for whom the classical requirement is not an issue. It just seems that none of them post on CC.</p>
<p>And Eastman is not the only school with that requirement for jazz guitarists (IU, Lawrence, maybe UMiami?, UIUC I believe also have it).</p>
<p>Thank you for all your replies. The classical audition would put my son off as well, especially since I don’t believe it’s required at the other schools on his list. And he has not studied classical guitar in any depth.</p>
<p>As for the why not Oberlin question - location. He wants to be east or west and has a “stick up his butt” regarding the middle and south. Ohio just doesn’t appeal to him. Has ever been there? No. But as a coastally biased person myself, I can’t say that I don’t understand his thinking (sorry for the double neg). I’m trying to get him to consider the music program at Northwestern, as somehow that seems more geographically appealing. </p>
<p>I’ll have to look into MSM for guitar jazz, but I guess amongst his guitar jazz friends, New School gets far more votes. Anyone have a good comparison?</p>
<p>NEC is now on the list. McGill got a prompt “I’m not leaving the US.”) Please forgive my southern cal beach boy. He’s spoiled with weather and access to a thriving musical scene, but somehow willing to tolerate cold in a “cool city”.</p>
<p>mwparent, I thought Lawrence didn’t even require auditions period, or am I thinking of some other liberal arts school?</p>
<p>I did not realize that about Miami - can someone confirm?</p>
<p>ETA: just checked the Miami website. No classical component for GUITAR jazz. Some of the other instruments, yes.
And I was mistaking Lawrence for somewhere else!</p>
<p>We were scared off by the classical audition at Eastman, but one of my son’s music teachers assured us that he could handle a classical audition and offered to help him prepare. I think he was just overwhelmed by the whole process of so many auditions to add this. NEC is just a wonderful environment with so many amazing peers so many wonderful experiences. I am very impressed with the incredibly open and nurturing but very professional atmosphere there. There are so few guitar players–they all study with Joe Morris , a pretty solid guy and with other instrumentalists there like George Garzone or John McNeill to take my son as an example. </p>
<p>New School is appealing, but large. It depends on the student, but I really see the advantage of the smallness of NEC.</p>
<p>My understanding was that Eastman also requires two years of classical coursework (other schools might require ‘some’ classical coursework, but not to the same extent). Eastman’s approach to jazz is very consistent, from their audition requirements to coursework to types of music played by ensembles. It is a great school for the right kid. But this is why it is important for people to really do their homework, because it wouldn’t make sense that Eastman and New School would appeal to the same kid, and sometimes we will hear of lists comprised of equally disparate schools.</p>
<p>I forgot to add the University of the Arts in Philadelphia for Shredder–if you are casting a wide net, this school is unique in that it is an arts college. My son found it appealing to go to school with other “artists” though he ended up never auditioning there. They have an unusually large number of ensemble opportunities for jazz musicians and a great faculty list. Jazz scene in Philly is good too. It’s worth just looking at the website to see if it peaks your son’s interest.</p>
<p>thank you, jazzzmomm. BTW, my son is mortified at my username and has informed me that shredder is not a positive term nor is it how he wants to be thought of. Who knew? So there, I’ve said it.</p>
<p>Well, my son is narrowing down his way-too-long list (you never know with auditions!), and I have a few questions about his “backups”. I know this board has a very east coast bias, but here goes anyway:</p>
<p>Does anyone know about the University of Oregon - Eugene? Or any other places out west (we have USC, UCLA and UDenver)?</p>
<p>And can anyone tell us if NEC offers any courses at all in technology and/or modern music, or is it strictly jazz? (Again, my son is a jazz guitarist with many other interests).</p>
<p>For jazz, check out as a back-up (at least academically - I don’t know how difficult admissions is to the jazz program) - University of the Pacific in Stockton. I also recommend looking into the University of Redlands. Another back-up safety (especially financially) for a California kid would be CSU Northridge. I know a jazz trombonist there who is really enjoying it.</p>
<p>Jazz/shreddermom - I grew up in Eugene (went to a Ducks football game yesterday!) and now live in Portland. U of O does have a large, diverse music department, and they do have a jazz program as well. I think its a good program, but without some big “name” teachers (which doesn’t mean it’s not a good program) For UO, even jazz musicians have to complete both a jazz and classical audition. Another school in Oregon that has a very nice jazz department is Portland State University. PSU is actually the largest university in Oregon and is a very urban campus. Because of my son’s interest in jazz, we know a number of PSU jazz faculty and they are fantastic. Portland has a very diverse jazz and Indie music scene, which might appeal to your son. The Decemberists are a recent band from Portland that has kind of made it “big.” By contrast, U of O is in Eugene, which isn’t as hopping as far as a music scene goes. However, U of O is a great campus with a very “big U” feel–excellent athletics, frats, the whole nine yards, if that is an environment he would like. PSU would be great for a student for whom an enclosed campus community isn’t the ideal; U of O is more of a “typical” campus–beautiful and more cohesive.</p>
<p>Thanks, guys. Living in beautiful southern California, I have to tell you that location-wise, Stockton is not well, not the best California has to offer. I’ve heard heard it’s a great music program, but the fact is… oh, never mind. CSU Northridge is very much a commuter school, but again, we may be biased by living right nearby. Same for Redlands.</p>
<p>Will check out Portland, though.</p>
<p>The more we look into this, the more I think Berklee and Cal Arts will be his “backups”. My son is a very good student, and this may sound strange, but I think he’d rather focus on music than go to a less selective liberal arts school.</p>
<p>jazz/shreddermom - I know what you mean about Stockton, but it still might be worth checking out the school. As for Redlands, I don’t believe that is a commuter school - it’s pretty far from anywhere for commuting and it’s actually quite a nice campus up against the mountains. My own son, for a safety, chose somewhere exotic for him - Montana. His reasoning was that if he had to go to a safety school he wanted it to be an adventure. As for CSU Northridge, for freshman year at least, the girl we know lived in the musicians’ dorm. It was a tight community and they jammed all the time.</p>
<p>No, you’re right about Redlands not being a commuter school. I was referring to the location bias with that one. We know the area - it’s an hour away. Very smoggy and hot out there in the San Bernadino mountains.</p>
<p>I guess what I’m realizing is the adventure thing probably holds for my son as well. The idea of going to Northridge (or Redlands) is so anticlimactic for him (maybe not for someone back east), he just won’t consider it. And I understand.</p>
<p>jazz/shreddermom - yes, I grew up in LA, and I know Stockton. And no, I would not want to live there myself as an adult. My oldest son went to Claremont McKenna so we got to know the Inland Empire, as well. The smog was not as much of an issue as it was when I was growing up. But, yes, it did get hot sometimes, which, coming from the Bay Area, my son liked.
My feeling is that a good program should trump locale. If there are exciting teachers, exciting musicians to gig with - as well as opportunities and connections with the wider world of music - then a kid should be encouraged to look past the surface of the architecture of the school or the location. I realize it’s a hard sell to a 17 year old, but I still feel places should be given a chance regardless of where they’re located. Your question had to do with a safety school, and not the dream school, which is different. We found there were also different varieties of safeties - the academic safety, the financial safety, and the musical safety. If you can find one school that suits all three purposes, all the better! My composer son, who had the stats to be competitive anywhere, thought he could enjoy a university like Montana with a 95% acceptance rate. He thought it would be interesting to meet quite a different group of people. He knew he would be an exotic fish in a remote pond - but I believe kids who are passionate motivated high achievers like our kids can also make the most out of any opportunity - and maybe even more if they have to create the opportunities themselves.</p>
<p>I understand your points, spirit. I actually felt bad and had deleted my comment about Stockton. But we simply can’t ignore location, even if the music is outstanding. As I said at the beginning of my posts (months ago!), location is important to us, and my son has very definite ideas about the kinds of places he wants to live, music or no music. </p>
<p>May I ask what school your son ended up choosing?</p>
<p>Location is very important to most jazz students, because they want to have the opportunity to gig around, and most would like play shows/clubs off campus. That said, it’s important to also look at the individual school, and how many opportunities there are on campus. Some students might find more playing opportunities at Oberlin than they would in a city school. And lesser known gem schools, like PSU with the busy Portland jazz scene (that SJTH mentions), are great to know about. Some kids might prefer that setting to a better known, less urban school.</p>
<p>Couple of other good possibilities, UNLV where Joe Lano teaches jazz guitar and David Loeb runs the jazz program. The facilities at UNLV are great and there is the possibility of interning on “the strip.” Was very impressed with the program overall. Duquesne also has a very solid program and lots of the faculty play professionally in Pittsburgh. Good luck narrowing the choices as there are more every year it seems for jazz.</p>
<p>Jazz/shreddermom- My son ended up at Bard Conservatory - but he’s a classical composer (although he did play jazz guitar in his very good school jazz band!) Btw. I don’t know how he did it in the end, with all of his great choices, but he seems to have picked the absolutely most perfect place for him. At least so far - about 7 weeks now…</p>
<p>An aside on UNLV - they also host a new music composition festival every spring. That may well be a school worth taking a second look at.</p>