<p>My son wants to major in music performance. I have already talked to him about selecting a major that he would enjoy, but remembering that whatever major he chooses, he has to be satisfied with the compensation. I am worried that he will not be able to support himself after four hard years. Does anyone know the market for music performance majors (piano)? </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>If your son can be a collaborative pianist (one who can accompany others) he will be in demand.</p>
<p>Also look at threads over in CC’s subforum for Music Majors. To find it: click “Discussion Home” (top left menu on this page), scroll down below all the named universities and colleges until you reach “College Majors.” One of those is Music. Feel free to post there also.</p>
<p>Accompanying is a great possibility, or he could get a graduate degree in Arts Administration.</p>
<p>If he thinks he’s going to be a solo performer, he needs to be realistic. Top schools crank out dozens of excellent pianists, only a couple of which will make a living as soloists. After more study & probably a doctorate, some of them will become university professors.</p>
<p>Does your son have what it takes to do any of the above? (Get accepted to a top school, have the talent, temperament and drive to be a soloist and/or get an advanced degree so he can go into academia?)</p>
<p>Worst-case scenario, he only gets accepted to East Podunk College where he spends 4years thinking he’s pretty good, when he in fact isn’t. Not to put too fine a point on it…</p>
<p>If he has talent at teaching, he may consider a Mus. Ed. degree so he can teach in the public schools (choir or band). Many elementary schools no longer have general music teachers, alas…</p>
<p>Does he like teaching? Many performance majors spend a good amount of time, and derive income from teaching, at a variety of levels. So yes, it can be self supporting, with private students. But no benefits, no vacation, unless teaching for a college. </p>
<p>Is he good enough now to be in demand for performing, accompanying, the like?</p>
<p>He can double in Music Ed… that is probably the best way to ensure himself a job.</p>
<p>the world of professional musicians is very, very small. There is probably only 1 piano player per orchestra, for example.</p>
<p>One of my friends from HS just got a job with the Boston Symphony and it took him a year to find that after graduating from Juilliard. So even for the very top people, it can be hard to find something.</p>
<p>It’s a bachelor’s degree like any other bachelor’s degree. He can go to grad school, law or business school, apply to jobs requiring a bachelor’s degree etc. And there are jobs in the music field that are not related to performance, but where he would have an in.</p>
<p>We know several talented musicians who have gone the Music Ed route. That will allow them to have a steady day job (and benefits), with option of music gigs at night and on weekends.</p>
<p>My D who is a junior was doing a double major Music Ed / Performance and just dropped the ED Major and is putting in a Music Business Major in its place. Luckily she always had a full time table of at least 23 credit hours per semestre so she has the time slots to put it in the new major with only a year and a half to go. We were a bit disappointed because all she had left to do for ED was the practice teaching, she has all of the rest of the required courses. Business will give her the opportunity to work in a variety of positions until the right performance o0pportunity presents itself. She has already been offered a job when she graduates as a manager / percussion teacher at a music school in town.</p>
<p>It’s not a “bachelor’s degree like any other bachelor’s degree.” It’s very specialized. Your S will spend HOURS a day practicing his instrument and playing in ensembles. He may find at the end of 4 years that his math skills have deteriorated considerably and his English skills have not grown the way they would have in another liberal arts major. </p>
<p>Just pointing that out…it may make a difference in his GRE scores.</p>
<p>(And I realize I’m being pessimistic about something way in the future!)</p>
<p>Just a few thoughts. My D is now a music teacher in a K-8 school. She looked for 15 long months before she landed that job. Hundreds of resumes. She had a 3.989 GPA, honors galore, full tuition scholarship at a university with a music school attached. These days, an education degree is not a “fall-back” plan. That aside, in the audition process, we found quite a bit of difference between applying as a performance major and an education major. She did both in different places. Some schools treated the eds as second-class citizens. Eds could not audition for certain professors. They were not eligible for certain scholarships. They could not study with certain teachers. At her school, her professor taught both performance and ed students, and he did not discriminate among them for orchestra and band appointments. I think he was a rarity. So it’s not that simple. My other D, an Ivy Latin/Greek major (Yeah!) always worked at our regional theater, and decided that she wanted to make it a career. She got her masters in Arts Administration, ($65K) and was lucky enough to get a great job at an institution that is not a theater, but is an internationally known non-profit. I think it was the undergrad that impressed them. Most of her friends from grad school are working in theaters, but the pay scale is just awful. Why pay someone when an intern will work for a subway card, or less? If your child is clearly a prodigy, and CANNOT LIVE without performing, then he HAS to do this. It’s a hard life, and requires total dedication and belief in himrself. Best of luck.</p>
<p>If the performer does not want to be a school teacher, please don’t suggest that as a back up plan. The requirements for a music education degree are quite rigorous these days. </p>
<p>My kid has two degrees in music performance and his writing skills did not deteriorate. In fact he had to do quite a bit of writing as part of his degrees…program notes about composers and pieces, plus bio info.</p>
<p>Because he is a self employed musician he also has an excellent grasp of the business math things…and actually had courses for that.</p>
<p>Peabody conservatory used to have some wonderful articles on their website that talked about the music performance degree vs other options. The articles we read were the 2002 ones and I believe they have (unfortunately) changed. Maybe someone here has a link to these.</p>
<p>S1 took 3 semesters of music history - all three required several research papers. So don’t worry about losing your writing skills!</p>
<p>If the OP’s son does not want to be a teacher - don’t go the music ed route - a math, computer science or business minor could be had in the time it takes to complete all those education courses.</p>
<p>pianodad52–has your son won any local competitions or gotten awards for musicianship/performing? What does his piano teacher think about his skills relative to other pianists she has taught? (Assuming he/she has taught other decent pianists!)</p>
<p>It’s difficult to advise you without more information and of course, we can’t actually HEAR your son play!</p>
<p>At one time my son was seriously considering majoring in music. He talked extensively to his high school band director, his previous director who had retired, his middle school band director (who was a professional musician for a number of years, still gets royalty checks), and both of his private instructors, one of whom played professionally for twenty years with one of the military bands. The other has an advanced degree in performance from Peabody and is a professor at a local university. These are people whose opinions we all respect.</p>
<p>My son is an accomplished musician. A major in performance was not a pipe dream, but a realistic possibility.</p>
<p>The responses of every person he spoke to were unanimous. They all advised him to NOT major in music. They felt the best route is to continue to play, to find a private instructor at college, to find a band to play with, in other words to continue to grow as a musician, and to continue to play. However, they all felt that the drawbacks of majoring in music are huge. It is hard to make a living in performance alone. It’s hard to maintain a reasonable family life because most musicians work mostly evening/late evening/weekend hours. All of them, and indeed nearly every musician they know, eventually has to supplement their income by teaching. Teaching private lessons means, again, the bulk of your work hours are late afternoon, evening and weekend hours. Music programs in schools are always among the first to be cut, and there isn’t a lot of turnover. Music teachers, particularly at the high school level also work a lot of evening and weekend hours.</p>
<p>I now have a non music major who brought three instruments with him to college. He plays with a university jazz combo and and is very happy.</p>
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<p>That was going to be my question. Our neighbor’s D was very very good at the piano. But the judges at the audition at her school of choice chatted to each other during her audition. Her competition to get into the program was kids who had been on the major competition circuit.</p>
<p>As a parent with a working musician D, I just want to echo what pretty much everyone has said.</p>
<p>Don’t go into K-12 music ed unless you have a real passion for education.</p>
<p>Choose your market and school carefully. We know PLENTY of talented collaborative pianists here in Los Angeles who are doing quite well. But even the best collaborative pianist is going to struggle in a market where the work is disappearing. And go to a school that has a strong collaborative piano faculty (such as U Mich). It’s a very specialized field.</p>
<p>Let me also suggest that you check out the music major forum here [Music</a> Major - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/]Music”>Music Major - College Confidential Forums). There’s a particularly good thread titled So You Want to be a Music Major that is great reading for parents who are dipping their toe in the water for the first time. (And lucky you, to have a pianist in the house!)</p>
<p>I agree that there are transferable skills from a music performance major. I remember giving my first business presentation and I was not nervous at all - I actually felt like I should be playing music for the group instead of talking. Anyway - a music major/minor is good for the musician who really wants to know about music - the theory , history etc. This is part of growth as a musician. If they have other interests, they should take courses in them and those may lead to another major or minor or even a graduate degree in another area.</p>