<p>My D is a sophomore and is very interested in Music History. She also is very strong in foreign languages and loves history and philosophy. I'd like to see her meld all of these passions with the intent of pursuing graduate studies in Music History. This usually seems like this course is pursued in graduate school rather than undergraduate. Can anybody recommend schools and programs that may be a match ? She is only a sophomore so we have some time.</p>
<p>If she is interested in getting a Phd I would highly recommend the University of Illinois Urbana. Their Musicology program is top notch and there would be many opportunities for her to be a TA and not have to pay tuition if she can get a spot. Also, the performing opportunities are amazing! My son is an undergrad student in history and also played cello in hs. He loves the TAs and hangs out with them because they are so friendly. He says the Phd scene in music is amazing and very vibrant. Publications, research, performance, you name it, u of i has it! If I could go to school there I would, but I am too busy teaching and putting my boys through college! I am an instructor in music at Northeastern Illinois University with a lowly masters degree!</p>
<p>Thanks Vocemom.</p>
<p>She is a sophomore in HS right now. I’m trying to determine what she should pursue as an undergrad. DH has recommended a degree in music ed and then pursue music history as a graduate student. My concern is that music ed programs are so full, that there may not be the opportunities to pursue her foreign language study and history/philosophy which she loves. I do think combining these academics will enrich her studies to be a more effective music historian/professor.</p>
<p>FYI, she is a good cellist, but not advanced enough to pursue a BM in performance IMO.</p>
<p>She should look at the University of Chicago and Oberlin. The UChicago program is strong is musicology and history with an outstanding graduate program.She would also have many performance opportunities. Oberlin is a contrast in both size and environment. She could major in musicial studies, which would include a strong dose of music history, in the college as well as her other interests. Top academics and test scores will be required for both schools.</p>
<p>the usual course for someone interested in musicology is to get a BA in Music from the best college possible and get top grades, write good papers and a senior thesis, and cultivate strong recommendations from tenured faculty; as far as languages go, every grad program requires German (and other languages, but always German). Music Ed. would be a weak degree for this purpose. It is only worth pursuing graduate work in musicology if you go to a tippy top program because the job market is abysmal. That means schools like Yale, Harvard, UC Berkeley, Princeton, Cornell, UCLA, University of Chicago, U Penn, and some others at that level.</p>
<p>D is a good student, but I don’t think the schools listed are going to be viable options for her. She has about 4.0 weighted GPA (taking honors and AP classes) and I expect she’ll get around 2000 SAT. </p>
<p>What do you think ?</p>
<p>She needn’t go to those schools as an undergrad - she just needs to do well enough to go there for grad school. Grad schools do take students from lots of colleges, not all of them in the stratosphere of undergraduate institutions. But top grades and recommendations would be essential regardless of where she goes for the BA. For academic grad programs, the level of performance will be of less concern - in any music BA there will be opportunities for performance. A degree in Music Ed. might not be of interest to the grad committees - which will consist of a bunch of scholars, many of whom have long ago given up regular performing if they ever did any - though if that is something she wants to pursue to teach pre-college, that’s a different question.</p>
<p>Many schools would be a good option for a BA in music. She could fill out her curriculum in languages, take lots of music history, get the core music theory courses under her belt, study cello, play in the orchestra, have access to the graduate faculty in music history. Look for a school with a strong graduate program in music history, or conversely an LAC with excellent music department. What about Smith…would that interest her? What part of the country? Music education curriculum is too dense with education and practicum courses for her to pursue her interests. With a BA, she can change gears if her interests veer in a different direction.</p>
<p>If she is a sophomore in high school, I think you might be getting a little ahead of yourself. Your daughter can determine what she wants to major in, herself, during the first year or even two of college.</p>
<p>My daughter is finishing her junior year of college and is an academic music major (theory, history, musicology, composition) and has taken lots of history and art history classes that complement her musical studies (she is especially interested in modern and contemporary culture). So it can certainly work out.</p>
<p>When she was a sophomore in high school, she wasn’t even thinking about studying music yet. </p>
<p>There are many job options for a BA music major. Many don’t go directly to grad school and becoming an academic is not the only way to go (thankfully, since not many make it to a tenured post).</p>
<p>A lot can happen in the next few years. Encourage her to develop in whatever interests her (including the cello, hopefully!) while she is still young and can explore. Just my two cents.</p>
<p>BTW: most if not all BA in music curricula require piano skills. If your daughter has not studied piano, she needs to start now. It is an important skill for academic music majors.</p>
<p>Good point. Not a bad idea to study some theory/solfege during high school either. Music majors do not have to be superior pianists, but they do need to be able to use the piano for theory with some skill. Sometimes it is possible to find a piano teacher who will focus on piano in the context of theory, or theory and composition.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the good information. D is currently studying piano, voice and some music theory. We are in Pittsburgh, but I am in favor of her going away to college. While I’d like to focus on the Midwest and Northeast, (we have so many awesome schools in this region) I noticed that Rice has undergraduate Music History. It sounds like they match each student with a faculty member and have almost 1:1 student teacher ratio in this program. Does anyone know anything about it ?</p>
<p>the top departments for musicology include: </p>
<p>harvard
chicago
uc berkeley
yale
princeton
penn
rochester
michigan
illinois
cornell
columbia
brandeis
stanford
ucla
nyu
indiana </p>
<p>rice is not known for musicology.</p>
<p>I really don’t know much about different colleges, but I am under the assumption that you can go to most any grad program from most any undergrad program as long as the grades are good enough (obviously I am not neccesarally refering to performance programs).</p>
<p>Last year the lowly state university that my son goes to had quite a few music students to be accepted by some very high ranking grad schools, including Ivy League schools and top notch conservatories.</p>
<p>I think that lorelei2702 has it right in suggesting that your daughter may want to consider a BA in music instead of a BM. The BA will allow her much more flexability with her studies and possibly a double major or duel degree. </p>
<p>She might also want to consider the possibility of a history or art history minor. My son’s college music curriculum requires 3 music history classes plus one non-music history class for his general education curriculum and he also has to take one more “humanities” (which includes history) elective. The history major at his college only requires 18 credit hours of history, if they would allow him to double dip classes and for the 3 music history classes to count in the minor, he could get a history minor by taking his one remaining elective in history plus one extra history class.</p>
<p>Basically what I am suggesting is that there are lots of routes to the same destination.</p>
<p>Compmom is probably also correct that you may be a little premature in making assumptions on what program may be best for her. You sound like you may be assuming that she may be lacking in tallent or interest as a performer, but in two more years it may be a very different situation. </p>
<p>As far as her interest in foreign languages, many colleges require a certain competancy level in foreign languages or alternatively more college classes in a foreign language - at my son’s college they did placement testing for languages. And many grad programs, particularly PhD programs require students to speak either German or Italian. So it is possible that she may be able to fullfill her interest in foreign language within a music program. </p>
<p>Same for philosophy. My son is taking a philosophy class now, in his freshman year of music school (BM program), and will have to take another philosopy class before he graduates, and if he wanted to, he could “use up” his one or two electives taking more philosopy or history or foriegn language.</p>
<p>Just thought I’d mention that of these publications listed by Alex Ross as being “Notable musicological tomes now in stores: Susan McClary’s Desire and Pleasure in Seventeenth-Century Music, Christopher Gibbs’s one-volume “college edition” of Richard Taruskin’s Oxford History of Western Music… Worth a close read: John Halle’s extended essay on new music and Occupy Wall Street.” Christopher Gibbs and John Halle are professors at Bard. Another professor Kyle Gann is an eminent writer about 20th century music. (Richard Taruskin, as I’m sure you know, is a professor at UC Berkeley.)</p>