<p>Hi everyone. My son is a junior in high school and a very talented drumset player and classical percussionist. His other gift however is his academic ability. </p>
<p>He has an immense passion for music, however he doesn't think that he will end up as a musician later in life, but he wants to take advantage of his college years to study and play as much as possible. He would rather end up in a stable job that enables him to play as much as he wants without any financial responsibilities post college. From what I'm told, he has the talent to get into a top conservatory, but he wants to follow his academic interests, and doesn't seem to be too keen on the double major concept, given his enjoyment of an active social life an desire for a "typical" college experience.</p>
<p>What I'm (we're) wondering is how different a degree (BA or BM) in Jazz Studies is really different from a degree in say, English or History in the professional world. While he wants to study music, he doesn't want to hurt his career options later, and should this be the case, he would probably be happy going somewhere where he can minor in music, and play as much as possible.</p>
<p>Any other advice you guys have to offer would also be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>You have what I'd rate as a "happy problem." Since your son is set on pursuing academic interests, along with musical ones, and is not intent on a double degree, then you should focus your searches on the better LACs that have strong music departments. There he could do a double major, not double degree, or do the academic major and minor in music, thus feeding both of his passions.</p>
<p>You'll have to keep in mind that many schools, especially the larger ones shut non-music majors out of the better ensembles. Keep your mind open on that fact when checking out schools; always ask if non-music majors have access to all the ensembles and faculty members. This will be an important mantra in your search.</p>
<p>Here are a few names that pop to mind to check out: Lawrence, Oberlin, Bowdoin and I'm sure there are a ton more. My D started out thinking along these lines, but when the "search" began, decided on a conservatory so we never really examined this pathway.</p>
<p>Drummerdad, Lawrence has many talented & passionate musicians who are studying physics, music, a combination, or whatever. It was one of those places that never left my son's radar for that reason.</p>
<p>We visited Davidson this past Tuesday - not sure it's a fit for my D, because the academics might be more intense than she wants. But they bragged about their 100% medical school acceptance and great science dept. Their music dept. is quite small, and I have no idea if there is jazz or not, since we didn't look for that. But we did meet with a music teacher, and sat in (stood, actually) at an orchestra rehearsal, and I was surprised at how good they were for being so small, and mostly non-majors. The music teacher told us they had a number of kids who were conservatory quality who went after the academics instead.</p>
<p>Another school you might want to take a hard look at is Emory - super academics, and a nice music program as well. It is very easy ("too easy" is what they actually told us) to double major there.</p>
<p>There are quite a few schools, I think, that will meet your basic criteria. A liberal arts degree of any sort, music or non, is often only a starting point for a person's education. People major in all sorts of things that don't necessarily lead directly to a career - music, religion, communication, Shakespearian studies.... While at Davidson, we were shown around by two young men, both seniors - a religion major and a music major. Neither has any idea what they want to do career-wise, and definitely see further schooling in the near future to narrow their choices.</p>
<p>I have also heard that fact that Beethoven mentions about medical school. In fact, most doctors I know (and I'm a nurse, so I know a few) are also musicians. However, keep in mind that only a tiny percentage of music majors choose to apply to medical school, whereas there are a lot more science majors or pre-med majors trying, so the comparison might be a little skewed.</p>
<p>Just thought I'd pass along some interesting items from the Music Educators National Conference fact sheet:</p>
<p>1) Physician and biologist Lewis Thomas studied the undergraduate majors of medical school applicants. He found that 66% of music majors who applied to medical school were admitted, the highest percentage of any group. 44% of biochemistry majors were admitted. — As reported in "The Case for Music in the Schools," Phi Delta Kappan, February 1994 </p>
<p>2) In a study conducted by Dr. Timo Krings, pianists and non-musicians of the same age and sex were required to perform complex sequences of finger movements. Their brains were scanned using a technique called “functional magnetic resource imaging” (fMRI) which detects the activity levels of brain cells. The non-musicians were able to make the movements as correctly as the pianists, but less activity was detected in the pianists’ brains. Thus, compared to non-musicians, the brains of pianists are more efficient at making skilled movements. These findings show that musical training can enhance brain function. — Weinberger, Norm. “The Impact of Arts on Learning.” MuSICa Research Notes 7, no. 2 (Spring 2000). Reporting on Krings, Timo et al. “Cortical Activation Patterns during Complex Motor Tasks in Piano Players and Control Subjects. A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study.” Neuroscience Letters 278, no. 3 (2000): 189-93. </p>
<p>3) The very best engineers and technical designers in the Silicon Valley industry are, nearly without exception, practicing musicians. — Grant Venerable, "The Paradox of the Silicon Savior," as reported in "The Case for Sequential Music Education in the Core Curriculum of the Public Schools," The Center for the Arts in the Basic Curriculum, New York, 1989 </p>
<p>Item number 2 could explain why so many surgeons are also amateur pianists :) .</p>
<p>Lots of interesting facts there, supporting arts in general, not just music. Here is another quote about the music/med school thing.</p>
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[quote]
The late physician and biologist Lewis Thomas once surveyed the subjects that undergraduates study before applying to medical school. He found that most would-be doctors majored in biochemistry. Among the biochemists who applied to medical school, 44% were admitted. A much smaller group of medical school applicants studied music as undergraduates, but 66% of the music majors who applied were admitted. This was by far the highest percentage for any under-graduate major. Thomas claimed that the study showed that medical schools want to admit people who are steeped in the liberal arts and capable of relieving stress through playing music, acting, dancing, sculpting, and so on. Thomas recommended spending the undergraduate years studying more literature, philosophy, and arts, so that a student who would be a physician will first grow as a human being.
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<p>I know I once saw the exact percentage of music majors applying to med school, but I can't find it now. It was quite low, as one would imagine. But I think the above quote supports not just music, but liberal arts in general.</p>
<p>I'd second IZ's suggestion of thinking about a double major at an LAC with strong music; it typically doesn't require more courses than a single major (but it does cut down significantly on the number of electives).</p>
<p>In addition to med school, it's also worth remembering that many LAC music majors go on in fields like: recording, publishing, radio and TV, music therapy, entertainment law, music-related manufacturing, arts journalism, arts management, arts related non-profits, computer-music fields, . . . and the list goes on. In addition, exactly the musicianly skills that serve med-school students so well (ability to work long hours independently, self-motivation, aesthetic sense, ability to work with complex abstract systems, experience at uniting the tactile and tangible with the theoretical) appeal to many employers. Many HS students tend to think that music major = career as teacher, performer, or in charge of the fries at McDonalds, and give up on a real passion when there's no reason to.</p>
<p>Yes, he's definitely interested in double majoring somewhere, we just have to find a place that fits. Since his main interest is drumset playing (He loves classical percussion, but is much more interested in jazz), he wants to find a place with strong Jazz studies courses and plenty of ensemble opportunites (i.e Combos, Big Bands, etc...).</p>
<p>Colby might also be worth a look: strong jazz band and improv classes plus a first-class historian of jazz. In addition, there's a master African Drummer who runs an ensemble, and a full symphony orchestra where the students play along side professionals for your son's classical side. Very strong academically both in music and other disciplines. </p>
<p>I don't know much first-had about jazz studies at Bard or Gettysburg, but both have relatively recently founded conservatories linked to highly regarded liberal arts institutions. Bard has attracted some impressive performance faculty.</p>
<p>My son is also a jazz drummer, but interested in a performance degree, so we have looked at programs with BMs of jazz studies in performance, more than colleges that offer jazz performance opportunities.</p>
<p>I don't believe that there is a jazz major at Bard, but there is a jazz band.</p>
<p>We looked in on the Amherst College Jazz Band, and thought they sounded quite good. They took a performance tour in Chile and other places in South America this summer. There is no performance major at Amherst, however. Someone also mentioned that there is a superb jazz band at Princeton (probably varies year to year, depending upon the students), but again, no performance major. Carnegie Mellon has some excellent jazz ensembles too.</p>
<p>I think if your son is looking beyond a performance major in jazz, it opens up many more possibilities. There seem to be good jazz performance opportunities at a number of fine colleges.</p>