I don’t think marching band is required. Your music education kid will be playing in band and/or orchestra. At many colleges, the marching band is NOT comprised of the music majors.
But this is a question to ask. If your kid isn’t a marching band fan…ask if this is a requirement for music ed majors.
I would not suggest a degree in early childhood. Unless she works in a public school preschool, her pay in early childhood will be poor.
If she loves elementary music…look for programs where that can be her focus…although she will likely need to do a student teaching stint in a secondary school for part of her student teaching time.
Around here, there is a surplus of music teachers in our schools…but so much of that landscape is changing.
Thanks I’ll be sure to see if it’s a requirement. It’s not that she’s not a fan of mb, she loves doing it. It’s more that finding a school with a good mb program that would suit her needs eliminates lots of colleges. I believe her band director is more interested in preparing music students for competition level band. We’re very fortunate in NJ that most of the state has public PK3-4 fully funded along with the rest of the public schools. The teachers are on the same pay scale as all the other teachers in the district. Early Ed programs are pk3-2nd grade and many get the elementary certs up to 5th I believe. You’ve given me lots to think about!
All the ones I know about are far. Gettysburg has a good program but would be a reach and would likely be out of budget.
Fredonia?
Look at UNCG- the Music School has excellent faculty and the students are almost all Music Ed. They are a cheaper member of the UNC system, so while you probably wouldn’t get aid the merit money they have should put you within budget.
Lawrence.
Some of the UWs have good Music Ed- the ones not in Madison probably would end up within budget.
Same here. Somehow, my kid ended up applying to several schools in the south.
@MistySteel27, if she decides to go farther afield, Belmont University’s music ed program is designed specifically for students who want to be come K-12 music teachers, so it’s not all focused on high school/mb. It depends on 1) how far she wants to go when the time comes, and 2) how she feels about the Christian environment there. My kid did not decide to apply, but Belmont was recommended to us by no fewer than 10 people from all kinds of backgrounds and places in our lives, not just CC. (Literally, a woman at a bus stop recommended it to my mom )
Thanks for your suggestions, I’ll look into them! As of now she’s more inclined to stay in the NE but has visited the south and did like it. It would certainly give more options for the budget!
@BeverlyWest I’ll check out Belmont. I think the heavy religion is more of a deal breaker than going to TN. If it’s religious light that would be ok. She’s been a staunch atheist since my mother in law took her to church at 5 years old. I do love the idea of a school where the education part is important and not just an afterthought to get the students a certificate to work but weak training on how to actually teach.
What I’ve heard is that the religious overtones are not a big deal for many students, but of course each kid is different, and we did not visit. Everyone who told us about Belmont said some form of, “It’s Christian, but it’s not a big deal.” or “It’s Christian, but don’t worry.” She would need to look into that by talking to students, I think. My kid heard about it by searching for popular and commercial music programs, and at the same time I heard about it from a parent here on CC. It has a well known pop/com program, but he went into jazz and decided not to apply there.
My son–also a lifelong athiest–just committed to a Jesuit school, Loyola NOLA. They have a music ed program, too. The school is known for its warm, welcoming atmosphere and personal attention to students, and he really felt that when he visited. The music/media school has about 1k students, and music ed is one of the majors within that school.
I’d like to add that some do cut Belmont from their list for religious reasons right away. Many do not apply, and it may be that your daughter feels that way. I believe the teachers have to be Christians. (@2plustrio is that right?) I’m not advocating for Belmont, just passing along the idea that was given to me.
@MistySteel27 really…we know a bunch of kids who were never in a marching band in high school who were in these marching bands in college. For example, we know a science major who went to UMD-CP and is a flute player. Just auditioned for the marching band and was in it all four years…went to a bunch of national championship games. Was also in the pep band.
Another was a CS major at Villanova. Our HS didn’t even have a marching band. Well…they marched in parades but that was it. He was a sax player who was in the pep band at Villanova. Loved it.
Neither of them was a music major. This was all for fun.
Fact is…most music majors aren’t all that interested in marching band…it’s not exactly good for your music technique (I’m sure someone will disagree…but it’s true).
We DO know a tuba player…was a music Ed major in grad school. He actually loved marching band, and even more, loved writing the movement routines, which isn’t easy! He did work at a high school doing this for a while…and also wrote routines for other high schools to use.
Marching band will not make or break you as a music education major. In our experience, you can do it…or not. Not a big deal either way.
WVU is another option that might meet your budget (and is roughly the same distance from NJ as Syracuse). They have strong music programs and are accessible to B students. They do have a marching band, but I don’t see any mention of it in the Music Ed info.
Absolutely agree. It may be different regionally, but in our area marching band is absolutely not the focus, either for the music education majors or for our high schools. One of my good friends (a fabulous violist and inspiring teacher) is newly credentialed. No real band experience as a player. She inherited marching band and loves it. But it seems that marching band goes to the teacher newest on staff…probably because in general, many teachers would prefer not to have early morning marching band class (before school in our district) and have Friday night booked for all of football season.
In my opinion, the characteristics that make a successful music teacher are passion for teaching, creativity and lots of patience. I have one daughter currently finishing her elementary credential program. The way her face lights up when she shares what “her kids” did today with her lesson makes me know she is on the right path.
I know several HS students who went on for music education; some of their professors DISCOURAGED them from participating in marching band (b/c it took a lot of time, and promoted bad instrumental habits, they said). It is absolutely not needed nor expected for a music ed major, though if they want to teach high school marching band, it is helpful to have done it in college.
So whether a school has a marching band or not - for your daughter - is more about whether she wants to be in a college marching band. Not her major or future job.
If you go slightly further afield, Shenandoah University has a great music ed program as well, offers generous aid, and (I don’t know where you are in NJ, but you mentioned Rowan being nearby) Google says it is 3 hrs and 23 minutes from Rowan.
There are a lot of NJ kids at Temple/Boyer which has an excellent music ed program (and seems to get a lot of $$ in scholarships as well). All the ed majors do play in the school’s MB as part of their curriculum but I think it’s only one or two years they need to do that and it’s mostly made up of non-music majors.
My kid is music ed/ performance at Ithaca College and has been receiving an excellent education in both disciplines. He gets highly individualized lessons and has improved on the performance side tremendously. That said, my son is retrospectively very concerned about having selected a school without marching band. I hope he comes to terms with it because I am very happy with how things are going there for him and hope he stays.
Is he learning about marching band theoretically? I saw on one of the schools curriculum there was a marching band class but no band except a pep band. I wonder if that’s enough for some kids.
No joke, he spent a couple hours every day his first semester practicing and studying marching band on his own. Hopefully he will be in DCI next year and this itch will be scratched!
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She would need to look into that by talking to students, I think. My kid heard about it by searching for popular and commercial music programs, and at the same time I heard about it from a parent here on CC. It has a well known pop/com program, but he went into jazz and decided not to apply there.