<p>I'm searching for the best colleges in the US for a bachelor's degree in music education (emphasis in instrumental). I live in Kentucky, but location doesn't really matter to me. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
ThankYou</p>
<p>The two big names for music education seem to be Ithaca College and Westminster Choir College.</p>
<p>Thanks a million jolene100!</p>
<p>Iza26, welcome. If you could be a bit more specific with the instrument, your academic stats, and a little more musical background detail, it might be easier to pinpoint additional options.</p>
<p>JMU, Shenandoah, Ball State, Kent State, Appalcahian State, Towson all are solid programs within your geographic proximity.</p>
<p>Straight music ed is most cost effective at your state flagship or a dedicated state public college. There are reasons to look beyond your instate publics, but I would definately check your options in Kentucky first.</p>
<p>violadad,
I play clarinet, and am not exactly undecided on what I want to do, more like multi-interested. I either want to be a band director or a spanish teacher. …Or maybe a chemistry teacher… I know that it seems like I’m all over the place, I just enjoy a lot of things. Really, if I could work out teaching music and spanish, it would be my dream career, I just don’t have a clue where to start with such a diverse interest in education.</p>
<p>I agree with looking at your home state for a good music education program. If you are interested out of state, consider Columbus State University in Columbus, GA . The facilities are beautiful and high quality. They have a very fine clarinet teacher with excellent students. I continue to be impressed with the music school. </p>
<p>The school has many scholarships available, and several music students have the out of state tuition waived. </p>
<p>My daughter is a vocal performance major and is very happy there.</p>
<p>Music ed for clarintists is not my usual area of experience, but I do know a young clarinetist who graduated from IU with a degree in Music Ed. Had absolutely no problem garnering job offers from desirable school districts both in and out of the state of Indiana.</p>
<p>Check the board for the many, many tributes to the Jacobs School of Music at the University of Indiana!</p>
<p>It’s also a good idea as you are exploring to take a look at the admission/audition requirements and to check with your current teacher as to your realistic possibilities. IU, for example, even for Music Ed would be a competitive situation for admission. I don’t mean to suggest that you aren’t a terrific player! - just stating the realities of music admissions at top schools!!!</p>
<p>Thanks for the great advice henrob and fiddlestix! =D</p>
<p>Iza26, for a combo ed degree, in spanish and music ed, it could be four year program. In an of itself, the academics/performance/teaching observations and practicums should not be a problem. Combining chemistry with a music ed degree may become a five year program, as there can often be conflicts with labs and performance/ensemble obligations as well as the teaching observation classes.</p>
<p>If music ed is your primary interest, I would suggest looking for strong schools in music ed, as well as good ed programs in general. You will need to thoroughly understand the difference between dual majors and double degrees, and will need a school that is supportive of a dual pursuit.</p>
<p>One path would be to take the BM or BS in music ed, and a second major in a second disipline, be it spanish or chemistry. I do want to reiterate combining a performance type music ed degree with a science is not easy; both are time and credit intensive degrees.</p>
<p>Most state programs (as well as many private institutions) offer music and other ed degrees that are geared to a successful graduate being able to qualify for initial or provisional licensure to teach within a public school based on the in-place requirements of the state the school is located. There are testing requirements that are pretty much standard across all states like PRAXIS I, II and occasionally III, and it is fairly easy to achieve teaching credentials across state once certification in one particular state is achieved.</p>
<p>The rub may be is how a school will assess or require an ed curriculum across 2 different disciplines. Will you be required to do two different paths in observation/student teaching based on different subject matter , or will one suffice. Different skill sets are required to teach instrumental music and a language or science. Granted, there are many similarities in teaching methodologies and the psychology of teaching that overlap disciplines, but music in particular requires discipline specific skills.</p>
<p>You wiii need to be very specific in looking at degree parameters and flexibility within programs when narrowing down selections. You may well need to make preliminary directed iquiries at the department head level rather than through general admissions in getting to how and if a particular program will be supportive for a dual certification approach. Other options could be a five year BM or BS in music ed, and an additional year for an Masters in the secondary discipline.</p>
<p>It’s not unheard of for a teacher to hold dual certifications in disparate subject matter, but it’s not typical to find one of them being music and a science.</p>
<p>Again, without knowing your stats, state of residence, geographic, size, university versus LAC or an overview of your musical training and experience, it’s difficult to point you towards specific schools to consider.</p>
<p>The more info you can provide, the easier it is to suggest potential options.</p>
<p>And please read this if you haven’t already <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/258796-so-you-want-music-major-one-familys-experience.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/258796-so-you-want-music-major-one-familys-experience.html</a></p>
<p>Thank you violadad so much for your detailed response. I acknowledge the hardships that may present if I do decide to pursue a music ed degree along with a science, but I’ve never been much of person to back down to a challenge if it’s achievable. As for more information, where, how big or how small, or the type of college really aren’t criteria that interest me much, I could see myself being comfortable in pretty much any environment. I’m more interested in the programs offered at the school and how they fit into my personal plans. I’m reluctant to say that I’m probably not the most distinguished case in terms of musical training and experience. The only experience outside of my public high school’s music programs that I’ve participated in have been All-District Bands. Because of financial issues within my household, private lessons are virtually out of the question. I am strong academically though and my hopes are that I will fit comfortably into financial aid criteria and receive numerous scholarships to pay for my education. Jumping back to the music ed/spanish vs. music ed/chemistry, I’m leaning more towards spanish right now (I’m currently in an AP Spanish class) and am taking AP Chemistry next year, so we’ll see where that goes.</p>
<p>Most music ed candidates are subject to an academic/audition/interview admittance process, and the criteria can vary widely by institution. Most schools have an academic threshold that must be met, although in some cases, it can be “bent” based on the strength of the audition if the academics are borderline. The interview process is part of the procedure at many schools for music ed admits, and is used to assess a student’s interest, desires, and goals in pursuing a music ed career.</p>
<p>While I’m not intending to disparage your musical experiences or ability, the lack of private instruction, participation in a youth symphony, and a couple of summer immersion programs is pretty much the norm for those intent on pursuing a performance degree, and is often part of the background for those entering music ed paths as well.</p>
<p>Having said that, there are ways to try and make up for some of your lack of experience. Auditioning without a good private instructor can be an exercise in futility for many, simply because most students cannot gauge their level of talent or competitiveness within an audition pool, particularly at highly competitive and fairly competitive programs. Try and arrange some local lessons with a retired performer, a good local instructor, a talented grad or even undergrad college student locally. If finances are an issue, try and barter for lessons (yard work, light housekeeping, pet or babysitting for example). A local regional pro orchestra or even a community orchestra is often a good place to look for knowledgeable and effective instructors.</p>
<p>State programs, within your own state are the first places to look. Depending on geography, you may be able to get decent discounts with reciprocity agreements with neighboring states. Shooting from the hip, try looking at programs like Towson, Ball State, Youngstown State, Kent State, Susquehanna, IU of PA, SUNY’s Crane and Fredonia, Shenandoah, Syracuse to name a few. </p>
<p>A good online searchable directory is here: [Strings:</a> Music School Directory](<a href=“Search Results for “msd/default.aspx]Strings:” – Strings Magazine”>Search Results for “msd/default.aspx” – Strings Magazine) Also google MENC (musical educators national conference) and MTNA (music teachers national association), they have education links off their respective websites. Another excellent source of info is your state’s music educator’s association webpage. Google (your state)Music Educators Association.</p>
<p>I haven’t named a lot of schools, but there are a lot of excellent options. Looking through a few of the resources and the admissions pages, academic admissions stats, audition parameters, degree outlines and types of programs will give you some specific insight to what’s available, and the requirements. It should enable you to formulate more specific questions.</p>
<p>More than happy to help, and I’ll try and answer whatever I can. There are many knowledgeable folks here to help you in your search.</p>
<p>I can tell you for sure that if you double up on music ed/ESL in Spanish you will not need to look hard for work in any of our lifetimes. You will always be able to teach at least one of those. </p>
<p>I don’t recall your instrument but many fine music ed schools require a pretty tough audition. I would have a serious conversation with your school music teacher about chances if I were you. Also, if there is a local college to you that has a music ed department call over there and ask to meet and have a lesson with the prof. Be very candid and talk to that person specifically about whether he or she thinks you will pass through the audition process. I don’t know of many who have made it into college as a music major without extra help, I know it’s doable but you should get a realistic view from some pros. The prof or your HS music teacher might also have some suggestions of some ways to make lessons more affordable if you would like to go that route.</p>
<p>State schools often do a great job of making teachers. Have some safety schools.</p>
<p>Don’t be discouraged but get some solid information. Good luck.</p>
<p>Thank you all very much for the wonderful advice! I intend to start beefing up my musical experience very soon. I spoke with my director today and she gave me a name of a good local instructor and I’m giving her a phone call this week to see if we can set something up together and I am looking into contacting local music ed professors. If it was solely up to me, I would have been participating in lessons, youth orchestras, and it all long ago, but I am alone with my interest in music in my family and, as many of you proabably understand, its not something pursued easily without support. So, thank you again.</p>
<p>I’ve never really seen mention of Frostburg for Music Ed. majors. I know it’s smaller, but for those with a clarinet as a major instrument, it might be worth considering since the clarinet instructor has degrees from both Oberlin and Eastman.</p>