Rock Vocals

College Majors Music Major
41

<p>Hi, jazz/shreddermom. However you put it is valuable. But let me note something: It’s other people, in straw-man argumentation, that have been saying “only”. Once again, this is a list for programs that offer a <em>primary</em> focus on contemporary vocals, and provide all the general music grounding any music program would. Primary, primary, primary, not only, only, only. Just as in a jazz program the primary focus would be jazz, in opera the primary focus would be opera, usw.</p>

<p>It seems when it comes to pop and rock there’s a certain Lawrence Welkiness in attendance, a past generation’s thinking. No one says to someone interested in studying jazz, Oh, you need to study opera instead. No one says to an opera student, Oh, you need to study this other style instead. I know: You weren’t among the folks saying “instead.” You said “also.” But I’ve always said “also.” My point is, just because the style is modern, there’s no “instead” or even extra “also” for pop and rock that there wouldn’t be for, say, jazz or opera.</p>

<p>If one wants to study popular music, one should study popular music. Beyond that, to widen their understanding and abilities, along with the general music studies it would be good to study the blues, from which rock in one arc and jazz in another arc arose, and to study African music, from which arose them blues. And then any other kind of music. It all would help. But only in the same way “it would all help” would help if the focus were any style of music.</p>

<p>Your thoughts on the parchment and the place are intriguing. If I get it right, you’re saying the parchment in rock/pop isn’t a precursor to success, even on the corporate side (well, there goes that hope), but is good to have in pocket for the old day job; it’s more the industry connections one will make during the school years that are important, along with the learning. Re: the parchment, I wonder as more schools offer these degrees if that will change, the way it did with creative writing–but that’s just musing. On the <em>place</em> then, you feel that it is especially important in music to study where the music scene is. L.A., New York, London, Nashville, Boston I guess. Not so much, say, Pierre, South Dakota. I pick that because there seem to be no pop programs in that fine town, lest I offend. But what that argues for is that this list is actually shorter than it looks; given the extra challenges of breaking into any of the arts, here music, should one spend four years in a place that isn’t a music center? That makes sense, though I guess I hoped that wasn’t true. :-)</p>

42

<p>I think the place is very important if you want to break into the business. Your network is crucial to your success. Obviously, you will have a better network upon graduating if you are studying on a place where there is a vibrant music scene. That’s not to say that one can’t graduate an move to a city, and then build a network. It just takes longer.</p>

43

<p>brendansdad, that is (everything above) exactly what I’m saying!</p>

<p>And I’ve posted this elsewhere: one of my son’s favorite pastimes with us is naming all the rock successes (performers, writers, producers) who didn’t graduate from or never went to college. </p>

<p>As for the “corporate side,” living in LA and knowing, both through our son and ourselves, some managers, agents, music lawyers, etc, there as likely to have a non-music degree (law, business, etc) as a music one. As for the “record label” types… well, we all know that’s a dying or at least vastly changing biz… but the “appropriate degree” (and how many of us in the real world don’t have the “appropriate degree,” anyway? I know I don’t!) there would be music industry rather than rock performance, which is what this thread was about, right? I realize plenty of performance majors end up pursuing that route, and again, I think it’s the internships and connections (and being in the right city) that get them in the door as much as the parchment.</p>

<p>In part my perspective comes from the fact that I am lucky to have enjoyed a long and solid career in the arts (the non-“corporate” side). And neither of my degrees (BA and MA) are in my “field,” although my masters is very loosely connected. My “big break” came when I produced a sample of work that turned out to be in demand. My son knows this. On many levels, it’s been hard to argue with him about the value of staying in college. (Three times, he’s ALMOST had a good enough reason to at least take time off - reasons even his Dean would’ve agreed with.) Yet, with one year to go, he’s almost done. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t relieved, albeit much poorer.</p>

44

<p>^My company’s lead designer by day is a talented rock/alt guy by night, sidelined by family obligations but still producing indie works here and there. I told him about this thread the other day, and asked him, as a rock vocalist, shredder and technologist, what he’d have liked to have done as the talented (yet unsupported) young teen he was back in his band days in terms of education/vocal training if he had a do-over. I will note that he is especially technically talented, as you might guess by his career in UIX (interface development).</p>

<p>His response was that on one hand, he was insanely jealous of McSon’s opportunity to study electronic music composition and production with the people he has, but at the same time, given the choice, HE’D take the $240,000 that a program like McSon’s might cost an OOS student, buy all the equipment he needed to tour and produce his own music, build a great website to market himself, and hit the road ;)</p>

<p>I thought it was an interesting perspective :)</p>

45

<p>Thanks, electricbassmom. So it seems the likes of USC, Berklee, Tisch (if not for vocals), Belmont and the like would be the A targets, because of the strong industry presence in their locales.</p>

<p>…And, however ill timed my note, I received a very helpful PM that says that Plymouth State University in Plymouth, N.H., has a contemporary voice program that could be worth a look.</p>

46

<p>And in further support of your comments, kmcmom13: I just found a study that said that the average successful jazz musician–how cool is that, to be able in life to say “I’m a jazz musician”?–made in the range of $25K-$40K annually from his art. I would suspect it’s not much different for the average pop/rock person. If you look at, say, the Berklee costs, to service that four-year figure primarily as debt one would need to make–coming out of college–several times that annual figure. Perhaps I should add a column to the list, noting how much costs are at each, to make clear how much dreams cost.</p>

47

<p>jazz/shreddermom: You say “…with one year to go, he’s almost done. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t relieved, albeit much poorer.” Well, I say more power to you. Imagine how much ‘poorer’ you would have felt if you hadn’t help give him his best chance at his dreams. :-)</p>

48

<p>Updated list of ‘rock voice’ schools offering vocal performance programs:</p>

<p>Colleges (primarily degrees)–</p>

<p>Berklee College of Music, Boston, Mass.
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif.
University of Colorado Denver, Denver, Colo.
Academy of Contemporary Music @ U Central Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Okla.
Catawba College, Salisbury, N.C.
Santa Fe College of Art and Design, Santa Fe, N.M.
Belmont University, Nashville, Tenn.
McNally Smith College of Music, St. Paul, Minn.
Tiffin University, Tiffin, Ohio
Johnson State College, Johnson, Vt.
Western Oregon University, Monmouth, Ore.
Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
Tennessee State, Nashville, Tenn.
Five Towns College, Dix Hills, N.Y.
Shepherd University, Los Angeles, Calif.
Plymouth State University, Plymouth, N.H.
UK: Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, Liverpool, England
UK: Leeds College of Music, Leeds, England
Down Under: University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia</p>

<p>Career schools (primarily certificates)–</p>

<p>L.A. Music Academy, Pasadena, Calif.
Musicians Institute, Hollywood, Calif.
UK: Academy of Contemporary Music, Guildford, England</p>

<p>Unique non-vocal programs that could interest vocalists–</p>

<p>Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, New York University, New York, N.Y.
Bruce Hornsby Creative American Music Program, U Miami, Coral Gables, Fla.
Canada: Humber College, Toronto, Ontario</p>

49

<p>See, that’s just it. I have many other reasons for being very happy he’ll have a degree, especially from USC. I’m just not remotely convinced it’s upping his chance at his dreams. At least not for any of the conventional obvious reasons that would apply to more traditional degrees/dreams.</p>

50

<p>Updated list of ‘rock voice’ colleges offering vocal performance programs:</p>

<p>Colleges (primarily degrees; certain colleges also offer certificates)–</p>

<p>Berklee College of Music, Boston, Mass.
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif.
University of Colorado Denver, Denver, Colo.
Academy of Contemporary Music @ U Central Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Okla.
Catawba College, Salisbury, N.C.
Santa Fe College of Art and Design, Santa Fe, N.M.
Belmont University, Nashville, Tenn.
McNally Smith College of Music, St. Paul, Minn.
Tiffin University, Tiffin, Ohio
Johnson State College, Johnson, Vt.
Western Oregon University, Monmouth, Ore.
Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
Tennessee State, Nashville, Tenn.
Five Towns College, Dix Hills, N.Y.
Shepherd University, Los Angeles, Calif.
Plymouth State University, Plymouth, N.H.</p>

<p>Down Under: University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
UK: Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, Liverpool, England
UK: Leeds College of Music, Leeds, England
UK: London Centre of Contemporary Music, London, England
UK: Tech Music School London, London, England
UK: Goldsmiths, University of London, London, England
UK: Middlesex University, North London, England
UK: Institute of Contemporary Music Performance, London, England</p>

<p>Career schools (certificates)–</p>

<p>L.A. Music Academy, Pasadena, Calif.
Musicians Institute, Hollywood, Calif.
UK: Academy of Contemporary Music, Guildford, England</p>

<p>Unique non-vocal programs that could interest vocalists–</p>

<p>Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, New York University, New York, N.Y.
Bruce Hornsby Creative American Music Program, U Miami, Coral Gables, Fla.
Canada: Humber College, Toronto, Ontario
UK: University of Chichester, Chichester, England</p>

51

<p>@brendansdad - as you may have noticed if you visit other boards on CC, I want to do acting AND songwriting. I kind of set music aside because I thought there were no inexpensive schools. I just looked at London Centre of Contemporary Music…tuition’s only about 6,750 pounds, or roughly $10,500. Thank you so much for helping me find this school! I still have to look at the others, but…thanks so much!!</p>

52

<p>Hi! The UK seems to have far more options when it comes to studying popular voice at the collegiate level. I used the exceptional [url=&lt;a href=“http://unistats.direct.gov.uk%5DUnistats%5B/url”&gt;http://unistats.direct.gov.uk]Unistats[/url</a>], “the official website for comparing UK higher education course data,” to locate <em>possible</em> popular voice programs. Unlike the UK colleges I already added to the list, the following are not yet vetted, but you could give them a look. (I might start with Chichester and Colchester, as they appear to have a wide variety of programs. In fact, a number of British schools offer degrees joining music with another specialty as a single degree program.)</p>

<p>Anglia Ruskin University, Bath Spa University, Bournemouth University, Brunel University, Canterbury Christ Church University, University of Chester, University of Chichester, Colchester Institute, Edinburgh Napier University, Falmouth University, University Of Gloucestershire, University Of Huddersfield, University of Hull, University of Kent, Liverpool Community College, Liverpool John Moores University, University of Liverpool, Manchester College, Manchester Metropolitan University, NCG, Newcastle University, University Of Northampton, Royal Northern College Of Music, University Of Salford, University Of South Wales/Prifysgol De Cymru, Southampton Solent University, University Of Sunderland, Truro And Penwith College, University Campus Suffolk, Wakefield College, University Of Wales - Newport, University Of West London, University Of The West Of Scotland, University Of Westminster, University Of Winchester, University Of Wolverhampton.</p>

<p>[If anyone knows of a U.S. <em>government</em> site that offers similar national depth, please post a link here. Government–not the well-known and helpful likes of, for example, Princeton Review, US News…]</p>

<p>You might search CC for threads on Americans schooling in the UK; there are some challenges. One plus you’ve discovered: They can be less expensive. A further reason for that: You can have a bachelor degree equal in stature to a U.S. bachelors in three years, not four; given that master’s degrees in the UK are often one year, you can have a master’s in four, instead of six. I would have expected the American marketplace to treat British degrees as thus less valuable, but – maybe it’s our Anglophilia – that appears not to be the case. Still, I’d do more research on that. For example, if you told a potential employer you attended Chichester, they’d likely not have a frame of reference the way your being able to say, say, “USC” would give. (But look at jazz/shreddermom’s and others’ comments on that.)</p>

<p>Another consideration: The UK schools that offer full BMus degrees also offer diplomas and certificates that take just one or two years. If you want to spend just 12 or 24 months studying only music and head out into your career, the UK offers far, far more options. But another thought: You’d want to take into account the challenge of transitioning back to American shores–you wouldn’t have made the industry connections here you would have if you’d trained stateside at a large-city school.</p>

<p>One last note: My son attended Berklee last summer and met a female singer/songwriter who, a year ahead, was already deciding colleges as a rising senior. Her top choices then: Berklee and Northeastern. She’s now entering her second year in London at the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance.</p>

53

<p>Make that, she’s entering her first year. I’ve asked my son to tell her about this thread to see if she will join in to describe what went into her decision making and what she learned about attending college on the Isles. He says she has a wonderful voice, one of the very best at Berklee that summer, so I would doubt she chose a UK school because she wasn’t accepted stateside. Also, I noted that ‘a number of British schools offer degrees joining music with another specialty as a single degree program.’ To explain further, it’s like taking a double major here in America, but it sometimes seems to be designed as a single degree. A good example is University of Hull’s BA Drama and Music, BA Music and Theatre, BA English and Music, BA Music and French, BA Music and German, BA Music and Spanish, BA Music and Italian, BA Music and Film Studies, and BA Jazz and Popular Music programs. Sometimes these are called multiple subject awards, or joint honours, which seems more like what we would call double majors. The difference is, the college has crafted the combinations in advance. An example of a multiple subject award of interest to you could be the Joint Honours in Drama and Popular Music at the University of Northampton. There are a handful of UK schools that join drama and music in one degree, but that was the degree name that included ‘popular’ music.</p>

54

<p>Right now, my top school is U of Hertfordshire, b/c of the impressive rate of employment in the music industry :slight_smile: Thank you so much for all the help!</p>

55

<p>Updated list of ‘rock voice’ colleges offering vocal performance programs:</p>

<p>Colleges (primarily degrees; certain colleges also offer certificates)–</p>

<p>Berklee College of Music, Boston, Mass.
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif.
University of Colorado Denver, Denver, Colo.
Academy of Contemporary Music @ U Central Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Okla.
Catawba College, Salisbury, N.C.
Santa Fe College of Art and Design, Santa Fe, N.M.
Belmont University, Nashville, Tenn.
McNally Smith College of Music, St. Paul, Minn.
Tiffin University, Tiffin, Ohio
Johnson State College, Johnson, Vt.
Western Oregon University, Monmouth, Ore.
Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
Tennessee State, Nashville, Tenn.
Five Towns College, Dix Hills, N.Y.
Shepherd University, Los Angeles, Calif.
Plymouth State University, Plymouth, N.H.</p>

<p>Down Under: University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
UK: Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, Liverpool, England
UK: Leeds College of Music, Leeds, England
UK: London Centre of Contemporary Music, London, England
UK: Tech Music School London, London, England
UK: Goldsmiths, University of London, London, England
UK: Middlesex University, North London, England
UK: Institute of Contemporary Music Performance, London, England
UK: BIMM - Brighton Inst. of Modern Music - also in Bristol, Manchester, Dublin</p>

<p>Career schools (certificates)–</p>

<p>L.A. Music Academy, Pasadena, Calif.
Musicians Institute, Hollywood, Calif.
UK: Academy of Contemporary Music, Guildford, England</p>

<p>Unique non-vocal programs that could interest vocalists–</p>

<p>Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, New York University, New York, N.Y.
Bruce Hornsby Creative American Music Program, U Miami, Coral Gables, Fla.
Canada: Humber College, Toronto, Ontario
UK: University of Chichester, Chichester, England</p>

56

<p>Undergraduate ‘rock voice’ music performance programs:</p>

<p>Colleges (usually degrees; certain colleges, esp. in UK, also offer certificates)–</p>

<p>Berklee College of Music, Boston, Mass.
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif.
University of Colorado Denver, Denver, Colo.
Academy of Contemporary Music @ U Central Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Okla.
Catawba College, Salisbury, N.C.
Santa Fe College of Art and Design, Santa Fe, N.M.
Belmont University, Nashville, Tenn.
McNally Smith College of Music, St. Paul, Minn.
Tiffin University, Tiffin, Ohio
Johnson State College, Johnson, Vt.
Western Oregon University, Monmouth, Ore.
Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
Tennessee State, Nashville, Tenn.
Five Towns College, Dix Hills, N.Y.
Shepherd University, Los Angeles, Calif.
Plymouth State University, Plymouth, N.H.</p>

<p>Down Under: University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
UK: Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, Liverpool, England
UK: Leeds College of Music, Leeds, England
UK: London Centre of Contemporary Music, London, England
UK: Tech Music School London, London, England
UK: Goldsmiths, University of London, London, England
UK: Middlesex University, North London, England
UK: Institute of Contemporary Music Performance, London, England
UK: BIMM - Brighton Inst. of Modern Music - also in Bristol, Manchester, Dublin</p>

<p>Career schools (certificates)–</p>

<p>L.A. Music Academy, Pasadena, Calif.
Musicians Institute, Hollywood, Calif.
UK: Academy of Contemporary Music, Guildford, England</p>

<p>Contemporary industry programs that could interest vocalists–</p>

<p>Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, New York University, New York, N.Y.
Bruce Hornsby Creative American Music Program, U Miami, Coral Gables, Fla.
Canada: Humber College, Toronto, Ontario
UK: Univ. of Chichester, Chichester, England (via Platform One, Isle of Wight)</p>

<p>Unvetted UK popular music programs (with high marks from students):
U Hull, U Kent, Royal Northern College of Music, U Gloucestershire,
U Huddersfield, U Salford, Colchester Institute</p>

57

<p>Hi, BrendansDad!</p>

<p>My daughter is going to be a fifth semester student at Berklee (ie, a junior) and she is definitely a rock vocalist. She looked at Belmont, I begged her to look at USC but she didn’t want to go to CA. She didn’t want Belmont because it looked like her high school. She wanted the international flavor of Berklee.</p>

<p>She currently has her own rock band and plays all around New England. Many of her band members are from Berklee (one isn’t), and if she needs a new band member for any reason, she dives in the Berklee pool. </p>

<p>She has had to do classical pieces and jazz pieces, in addition to rock. However, I think that that requirement is changing for next year. I can give you more update on that when I talk to her next. She has used her classical training to sing Ave Maria, for example, at a funeral service and jazz standards at a few weddings, but she mostly uses her rock voice at gigs.</p>

<p>Feel free to private message me!</p>

<p>Her gigs don’t come from Berklee, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to have it on a press release either.</p>

58

<p>Awesome, RockBandMom–yes, please update on the emphases–there’s a comic saying about Berklee that it has ‘jazz police’ to make sure you’re paying attention to that genre. Great to have wide music experience though!..as extras, that is, to the primary focus on your own genre. And tell her she can add her thoughts here anytime. Interesting about her not-USC and not-L.A. slant, because a plus of being a Trojan is you’re right in pop/rock music’s capital, where the labels live. I’ve wondered about Boston–a big city, but I think of NYC as being music’s corporate capital and L.A. being music’s artist capital. So her experience of being/gigging in Boston and the New England environs would be great to hear.</p>

59

<p>^This is why for my son it HAD to be one of the NY schools or USC. But Boston is truly a wonderful city, isn’t it?</p>

60

<p>Undergraduate ‘rock voice’ music performance programs:</p>

<p>∙ Colleges (usually degrees; certain colleges, esp. in UK, also offer certificates)–</p>

<p>Berklee College of Music, Boston, Mass.
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif.
University of Colorado Denver, Denver, Colo.
Academy of Contemporary Music @ U Central Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Okla.
Catawba College, Salisbury, N.C.
Santa Fe College of Art and Design, Santa Fe, N.M.
Belmont University, Nashville, Tenn.
McNally Smith College of Music, St. Paul, Minn.
Tiffin University, Tiffin, Ohio
Johnson State College, Johnson, Vt.
Western Oregon University, Monmouth, Ore.
Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
Tennessee State, Nashville, Tenn.
Five Towns College, Dix Hills, N.Y.
Shepherd University, Los Angeles, Calif.
Plymouth State University, Plymouth, N.H.</p>

<p>Down Under: University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
UK: Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, Liverpool, England
UK: Leeds College of Music, Leeds, England
UK: London Centre of Contemporary Music, London, England
UK: Tech Music School London, London, England
UK: Goldsmiths, University of London, London, England
UK: Middlesex University, North London, England
UK: Institute of Contemporary Music Performance, London, England
UK: BIMM - Brighton Inst. of Modern Music - also in Bristol, Manchester, Dublin</p>

<p>∙ Career schools (certificates)–</p>

<p>L.A. Music Academy, Pasadena, Calif.
Musicians Institute, Hollywood, Calif.
UK: Academy of Contemporary Music, Guildford, England</p>

<p>∙ Contemporary industry programs that could interest vocalists–</p>

<p>Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, New York University, New York, N.Y.
Bruce Hornsby Creative American Music Program, U Miami, Coral Gables, Fla.
Canada: Humber College, Toronto, Ontario
UK: Univ. of Chichester, Chichester, England (via Platform One, Isle of Wight)</p>

<p>∙ Unvetted UK popular music programs (with high marks from students)–</p>

<p>U Hull, U Kent, Royal Northern College of Music, U Gloucestershire,
U Huddersfield, U Salford, Colchester Institute</p>

<p>∙ Other UK popular music programs to consider–</p>

<p>Anglia Ruskin University, Bath Spa University, Bournemouth University, Brunel University, Canterbury Christ Church University, University of Chester, University of Chichester, Edinburgh Napier University, Falmouth University, Liverpool Community College, Liverpool John Moores University, University of Liverpool, Manchester College, Manchester Metropolitan University, NCG, Newcastle University, University Of Northampton, University Of South Wales/Prifysgol De Cymru, Southampton Solent University, University Of Sunderland, Truro And Penwith College, University Campus Suffolk, Wakefield College, University Of Wales - Newport, University Of West London, University Of The West Of Scotland, University Of Westminster, University Of Winchester, University Of Wolverhampton.</p>