Questions About Careers In Music

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>Hello, everyone. This is my first post on here, and it's the only reason I signed up honestly. </p>

<p>I have been looking and looking but can't find any information.
I am 16, a junior in high school, I'll be graduating at the age of 17 and looking into attending Berklee College Of Music.</p>

<p>I fully intend to have a career in music when I leave college, but I don't know what I want to major in. </p>

<p>I play piano, bass clarinet, clarinet, a little trumpet, guitar, and harmonica. I also sing , although I want to make my singing voice better because I'm fairly average. I'm also capable of singing in both Korean and English , though I prefer English because my Korean pronunciation still needs a little work.</p>

<p>Of the possible career options I've looked through for myself, I want to either get a career in songwriting (which is an incredibly unstable job, I know), or composition. I specifically want to compose/write lyrics for singers. I don't have any interest in film scoring, and video game scoring may be fun but I would prefer working with singers. I am pretty decent at composing/arranging pieces, and if anyone so desires I Could post an example of my work in songwriting to. </p>

<p>What I'm asking here is how would I get into these fields, what should I major in, where should I go, and what are the statistics? I can't find these answers anywhere.</p>

<p>Also here is a piece that I worked on if anyone is curious, it is an arrangement of a Korean song entitled "The Grasshopper Song". This version was learned entirely by ear so there may be some discrepancies from the real thing, but I wanted to give it its' own flavor. Unfortunately I am poor and cannot afford regular music software. this creation was made entirely with a sheet-music notation program. </p>

<p>Gifts</a> For Brittany - Track One - The Grasshopper Song - YouTube</p>

2

<p>Its really too bad you are asking this question so late, because it would be great if you could attend the Berklee 5 Week this summer. They may still have openings, but you wouldn’t be eligible for scholarship consideration at this late date. If you live in the Boston area, it might still be worth a shot.</p>

<p>In answer to your other questions-first, you’re not going to find any statistics about how many people who are music majors, music business majors, or composition majors are employed. </p>

<p>In addition to Berklee, I would look at Belmont and University of Maimi. I think that other posters here have mentioned other schools that have commericial music programs that have a song-writing element to them.</p>

3

<p>I concur with electricmassmom, but your timing is what it is.</p>

<p>If you are interested in Berklee, then you will need to focus on one instrument to use for your audition. They don’t want to hear you sing and also play clarinet, but if your singing voice is outstanding and your piano is outstanding, it can help to accompany yourself while you sing, but only if it is outstanding. Pick the instrument that you are the strongest, and plan to use that for your audition, but if you have compositions or songs you have written, then bring a portfolio of those with you to share all of your talents. </p>

<p>I can’t judge what you posted, but it is interesting and more than beginner. You should have a link to this in your audition material that you hand over or submit to Berklee, but this alone won’t get you in without a good instrument or voice audition.</p>

<p>Investigate the cost of Berklee before you get your hopes too high also. Unless you are the top instrumentalist in your state our country, you may not get the scholarships you need to close the gap on affordability. Get some honest feedback of your talent from professionals, not just your friends, high school director or family. If a professional or college music professor says you are great and could get a scholarship, that carries more weight than someone that loves you.</p>

<p>So, back to your major. Berklee is a great school for songwriting, contemporary writing and composition (songwriting with the technical recording skills also), and composition. The base for all of these is a strong drive to learn, and a strong background in music theory and harmony. At Berklee, jazz as a genre is often used as the base (where Julliard uses classical music as its base) so having strong familiarity with jazz standards and artist is very helpful for auditions as well as projects once you get there.</p>

4

<p>I agree with electricbassmom that it might be very helpful for you to attend the five week. Plus while you attend the five week you can audition for scholarship for the regular college. You are young so I would not rule out attending the five week next summer and then taking a gap year. Many undergraduates at Berklee will be older than you and it can not hurt to have another year to mature before attending. Rushing to get to college and then crashing is harder in the long run than taking a gap year. Plus you might attend the 5 week and realize that the “idea” of attending a music conservatory versus the reality of attending one are two different things. I have an older son who attended the Berklee five week at age 16, who initially thought that Berklee would be his dream school. But after attending the five week he realized that attending a conservatory was not for him. My youngest attended the program and going only made his desire to go to conservatory stronger. </p>

<p>I also want to talk about work ethic. Many kids think going into music or art is easy or rather easier than studying more mainstream subjects. But it isn’t. There are plenty of kids at a school like Berklee that do not put in the time. They pay their tuition and they go through the motions. Chances that they will make it are slim. Professionals in all the arts can tell you that they can tell which artists are putting in the time and which are not. It takes a certain amount of discipline and passion to make music a career. It is rare that anyone gets something for nothing. What sort of hours am I talking about? Well my own son who attends a conservatory practices a minimum of 2 hours every day even when he is not in school and is home on vacation. Many times he does more than the 2 hours. The only time he has missed practicing is when he was traveling with the family a few years ago. For him the real work begins when he is not in school and can take the time to shut himself in his room and practice. In addition to mastery on a single instrument you are going to want to train your hears to hear better. There are apps available (that are not very expensive) for ear training and you will, as somebody who wants to compose, start working on your ear training. Some people are born with perfect pitch but for those who do not have it, ear training requires work, hard work.</p>