Welcome DoubleBassDad,
I am the parent of a Double Bassist. I think us parents of Double bass players share something as what other musician (well maybe harpists) have to actually bring their child and instrument with them when car shopping…LOL. My son graduated undergrad and grad from conservatory and is now out in the world, teaching to pay the bills, carving out time for his own composition projects and gigging when he wants or can. He is teaching at a summer program and then is off to Banff and then back to NYC to work.
Opps! I hit send instead of return!!!
Anyway here are my observations for what they are worth:
1-the best thing I did for my child was listen to his teacher’s advice. Even though we were told from an early age he was talented we never required him to do anything. He practiced when he wanted sometimes putting his instrument down for extended periods while he dabbled with others. His teacher, a Curtis Grad BTW, advised us to just feed his love, or not, of music and let him guide the way. For example every summer he would attend a non-music camp and not touch his instrument for 2 months! He’d return a little rusty but energized and eager to move forward.
2-The summer before his senior year he attended a well know summer festival. The goals were two-fold. Improve his play and decided if living and breathing music 24/7 was for him. It was. He returned from camp and said “I don’t want to play music…I have to play music.” He decided then that a conservatory was for him
3-Practice lessons are key! Because he plays a large instrument we need to drive to practice lessons. Spring break of junior year was 2 weeks of driving all over the country. It was worth it. My child saw and considered places he never would have had he not visited. When audition time rolled around he was remembered by most if not all of the teachers he chose to audition in front of.
4-Merit aid is real! We are fortunate enough not to qualify for any need based aid but all of the schools he applied to offered significant merit aid.
5-Wait lists are different in the conservatory world. Many conservatories admit only the number of students they seek to enroll. They cannot over admit. As a result waiting lists are small and frequently used. Consider, for example, that Rice, Juilliard, Eastman,etc are all competing for the same small pool of kids for any given instrument. Let’ say each of those 3 schools have 3 openings for a particular instrument and the same 9 top kids are applying for to all those schools. The “top” 3 kids (in reality the kids may be ranked differently by each school for a variety of reasons but lets keep this example simple) are offered admission to all 3 schools. Since there’s no room at any school for 4 students the number 4-9 kids will probably get waitlisted. Once one kid accepts Rice, a slot opens at Juilliard and Eastman. number 4, choses Juilliard lets say and now a slot opens stat Eastman. This continues and Viola, by May one alll 9 kids have been offered a set at one of these schools! So if your kid is waitlisted don’t despair. It’ a big deal and your kid has an excellent shot.
6-listen to your kids teacher when deciding where to apply. The should know best. If your child is seriously considering the conservatory route and you don’t trust your child’s teacher…get a new teacher or dress the issue head on
7-your child’s teacher since 4th grade may not be the best teacher as you child get closer to graduation. My child had an amazing teacher at a young age. THEY went to Curtis and did a wonderful job taking my child up to they level where he was a principal in a top youth orchestra. At the beginning of junior year this teacher said a new teacher was needed. After auditioning my child was accepted into a studio of a well known teacher who plays in a top orchestra. This teacher observed my child was “behind” but with hard work could go far. A year later my child had grown by leaps and bounds. And importantly had developed a close relationship with a mentor who understood which teachers would be best for my child for the next four years. This teacher compiled a lis of 20 plus teachers to visit for practice lessons. My son’s wonderful teacher since 4th grade remained in the picture but simply did not have the tools to best help my child navigate the next step.
If any of this is helpful or if anyone disagrees let me know your thought’s. Remember this is art not science. There are no right answers or objective truths. And us parents need to help each other!
@DoubleBassDad “I don’t want to play music…I have to play music.” LOVE that! What a wonderful feeling & discovery!
DoubleBassDad, your son was fortunate to have a teacher who was able to let him go and even helped him to move on. Not all teachers do this 
I agree. It is so disappointing that many music teachers are “proprietary” with their students. I am involved with a youth orchestra and am dismayed to see many high school music teachers unwilling to support their kids playing with ensembles outside of school. I’m not exactly sure why that is. Perhaps there is a valid reason. I would hope that any teacher’s primary motivation is doing what they can to support a students growth. Does anyone have any insight into why that may be?
Hi everyone! My son is a rising HS senior applying to music schools in jazz performance and possibly double majoring in music ed. If your student is applying either class of 2023 undergrad (i.e. a rising HS senior) or 2021 grad (i.e. applying for a master’s), please join us on “the journey” thread to compare notes about schools, auditions, requirements, scholarships and the like: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/2070752-class-of-2023-undergrad-class-of-2021-grad-the-tours-the-auditions-the-journey.html#latest
The “journey threads” are great for creating community, but I do wonder whether, if various issues end up on those very long threads, if it will be harder for new parents to access information. If there is a particular question and the responses might someday be helpful to others, it can be better to post a separate thread with that question. A lot of very useful information is sort of buried in the long “journey” threads."
Up to all of you, just foreseeing the forum turning into very very long journey threads without the shorter threads on specific questions.
For companionship along the “journey” I also think private messaging can be very useful A lot of friendships happen that way.
DoubleBassDad …Great information. My S ('19) has traveled a very similar path. Teacher from top school, plays with top symphony. Funny about him taking time off and exploring other instruments. My son has become quite the ukelele player in between the bass auditions and periods of heavy playing. His teacher also advised against pushing g to hard to practice…
Basically letting the process occur naturally. We had some very candid meetings after sophomore year regarding the life of a performance major. Made the tours of lessons and visits in junior year. Fortunately my father in law is a professional musician, so we have some real world pictures of what life looks like as a musician.
Anyway, thanks for posting. Nice to hear from someone on a similar journey. Your right… No right or wrong way. Thx for the post. Best of luck to your son in his future.
It’s been a long time since I posted in here - fast-forward a few years, and my son is now a first year doctoral student at UNT after completing his Masters at UGA. He made the Wind Symphony which is super competitive, so the dream continues…
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I love your phrase “ the dream continues…”. Every time my D makes another step or now survives a year on her own I think the same thing … the dream continues…
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Hello. I’ve been lurking so I thought I should introduce myself. There is so much information buried in all these threads I am admittedly lost. But I have one S and one D.
D always knew what she wanted, set her course in middle school and never looked back. She is now in a university studying her non-music major. S on the other hand has been difficult. He is a high school senior. He plays flute. He’s good but not conservatory good. He’s academically talented with a good SAT and phenomenal GPA and top 10% of his class. He couldn’t even come up with an idea of what to study or where to look at colleges. He considered music education before junior year but was discouraged by college music teachers who conducted various honor bands he was in that made comments like “you have to hate money” and “if you like something else even 1% then that’s what you have to study because music has to be 100%”. So he switched to physics. Easy for him and he loves it. Easy for us on the college search. We live in the perfect place for it. But literally weeks before senior year started he switched back to music education.
So now I am rushing to figure out schools to apply to (no clue what constitutes a good program or how that transfers to employability), making lists of deadlines for applications, pre-screen videos, scholarships, auditions, etc. He has always loved his instrument and decided to stop listening to other people and pursue what makes him happy. BUT, he’s behind on everything. Will be starting a thread asking for advice from all you wonderful people.
@UniversityMomOf2 I can kind of relate. My daughter was laser focused on studying musical theatre in college since she was about 11 years old. After some amazing experiences with songwriting camps, opportunities to record her own music and learning some programs like Garage Band, she made a big shift and decided she wanted to prepare herself for a career as a pop artist. She wanted to pursue a major which focused on vocal performance (pop/contemporary) songwriting, recorded arts, & Music Industry Studies. Luckily this shift was shared with us right before her junior year so the timing was much better in our case.
I know it’s overwhelming but I think it’s great that he reflected on his goals now rather than 3 years into a different major. With his strong academics, I wonder if Ithaca College might be a good fit for him. I hear they have a great Music Ed. program. SUNY Fredonia is another great option. I went to Buffalo State College for Special Ed/Elementary Ed for my undergrad degree and loved it! I know I’m biased but they remain a very strong teaching college. Here’s their link.
https://music.buffalostate.edu/programs
Just giving you some suggestions from my Western NY corner. Lol.
If he still continues to waffle on what he wants to study, you could always consider a gap year or attending a local college to earn liberal arts credits. Yes, you may be scrambling to find the best programs and colleges for his interests, but take a deep breath and trust that everything will work our fine and your son will be happy when he finds the program that feels right for him.
As a teacher, I’m sad to hear educational professionals voicing such negative warnings and dissuading him. But he ended up following his heart and passions as he should. Good for him and good for you!
@AmyIzzy Thanks for the recommendations. Would LOVE Ithaca. He’s worked with musicians/profs that came out of there but it’s above what we can afford. It was on top of my list until I saw price tag. I will look at the other 2 you recommended.
@UniversityMomOf2 I was told that some schools really step up with financial aid and scholarship so it wouldn’t hurt to have him apply to Ithaca, or at least call them and tell them your situation to get a sense of how realistic it might be. It may even end up cheaper than or on par with Buffalo State College and SUNY Fredonia (or your own state colleges) because state schools are limited in terms of increasing offers. Another school that seems to have a good program for Music Education is The College of St. Rose in Albany. They have a calculator on their website to tell you what they would give for an academic scholarship based on grades & SAT scores. They have a few open houses coming up that might be worth scheduling. My daughter loved the school and it’s definitely in her top 5. Good luck!
Hi I’m the Mom of a Soprano who wants to study voice/singer/songwriting and possibly music education. Voice is her main instrument but she plays guitar, piano, banjo and dulcimer. I’ve lurked on and off on these boards for a few years. It has been very helpful for us. My older daughter is studying music composition and film production at Tulane University so this round of searching will be very different.
So far we have looked at Berklee, Belmont, FSU, NYU and Vanderbilt. I’m feeling a bit on over my head. I really don’t know where she should be looking or what she should be preparing.
She does not have the most rigorous academic schedule this year. It is rigorous but not overly so. I think this will give her plenty of time for her music. She spent a week at Berklee’s songwriting workshop and had a great time but would prefer not to do any summer programs next summer.
Welcome, @tlrgrills ! My son is studying music-vocal performance at FSU, so let me know if you have any questions.
I’m a HS junior looking to major in either oboe or piano, with a double degree in chemistry. I also sing and compose on the side, so maybe a composition minor (or a composition club) and a co-curricular choir would be nice. (I’m also interested in international relations a bit… so maybe a minor in that? but I feel like that’s too many things on my plate…)
@pianow My husband has a degree in chemistry and piano. It is challenging but certainly possible. Good luck.
Hello. Mom of a senior wanting to major in flute performance. This is my last child to go to college but the most difficult to navigate through the college application process since she’s my first music major. She has great grades and decent test scores which qualifies her for a merit scholarship of full tuition at our state school. However, she wants to attend a better ranked music school. Thus the brave new world of prepping for prescreening recordings, filling out applications and trying to narrow down the list.
So far her list includes Frost, Eastman and Mannes (reach schools), Michigan, Indiana, Florida State, SUNY Stony Brook, SUNY Purchase, Belmont, Iowa, Florida State and our in state School, University of Alabama. I’m leaning towards Alabama. She could do more Master Classes, study abroad… with the savings. We shall see where this journey takes her.
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Hi sunnysar and welcome! If your D is looking at SUNY schools, she may want to look at Fredonia and Potsdam/Crane as well. Purchase, Potsdam and Fredonia are the 3 conservatory schools in the NY state system offering a BMus performance degree. Stony Brook has a nice program, but offers a BA in music as opposed to a BM. Best of luck!