Should I go into music?

College Majors Music Major
1

This is going to drone on a while because I have too many thoughts, sorry in advance.

I made a realization the other day. I’m a senior in high school, so it’s a little late, but I want to be sure I make the right decision. As a senior, I’ve been in school for a long time, I’ve taken lots of math classes, lots of english classes, lots of science classes, lots of history classes, lots of music classes. I’m tired of math and english and science and history, but I still feel just as into music as I always have (very into it). I just want to know how I should make my decision, which is essentialy a “where do I go from here?”

I got in to a decent liberal arts college, and I think I could have fun there but I’m starting to doubt my opportunities there. They have a music program, but I feel like I can get a better education in singing if I go somewhere better known/proven for music (they have a few musical alumni, but I think I can get into a better school for music). I can’t say 100% that music is the only thing I want to do with my life, but I can say that if someone told me that ten years from now I’d be a professional singer, I’d be pretty happy with that.

Background on me: I’m a guy, I am currently in a show choir and I love it. A key difficulty for me is I sing soprano (falsetto) and I hope to find somewhere I can do that. I’m not sure if that’s a problem in places since there’s pretty limited information available on that, but I feel like it’s something that needs to be mentioned. I am also interested in exploring all parts of my voice, but I’m not interested in being told that singing falsetto isn’t legitimate (Nick Pitera proves otherwise). I don’t know how to compose music, but I’d love to learn. I like singing all styles and that given I’d like multiple styles available (aka not just classical). I am not going to pretend I’m a great singer, I don’t think I’m good. I hope to be able to fix that somehow. I would love music to be able to take me to either singing and dancing (it would be a dream come true to be in one of Todrick Hall’s music videos) or just singing. I don’t think I’ll have an academic-related limitation on where I can apply since I have 2200+ SAT and good GPA with a difficult schedule; my limitations I’m concerned with are musical auditions, and while I don’t know how heavily they are weighted I assume pretty heavily. My musical background is 6 years of choir, 3 of them show choir.

Options I’ve considered:
1. Go to the college I got into and do music there, possibly transfer out if I decide that’s best (could be very expensive, which is a concern, if I don’t get advanced standing where I transfer to)
2. Defer my admission to the college I got into to let myself apply to colleges for music, and in the meantime take voice lessons to help myself
I’d love to hear other options I have. I know my thoughts are pretty scattered right now but I’d appreciate any help I can get.

All that said, I guess what I want to know is what should I do? Should I go into music? If so where (as in stay or college recommendations)?

tl;dr: Go to okay school and study music or take a gap year and try to go to a good music school?

Thank you sooo much for any help you can give, I feel like I’m in a really difficult situation and I need some calming and some advice.

2

The lions share of music schools and departments teach classical voice. Unless you want to be a countertenor I would recommend that before you abandon your current path at the LAC.you do more research as to what schools teach the sort of music you want to perform and what teachers have produced good singers in your very specific voice type. Go to your current choice and pay for private voice lessons. A private voice teacher might be able to point you in the right direction. Besides, it’s highly unlikely that you will get into a good voice school without a few years of private lessons.
(You can probably find a good teacher recommendation through the music department.)

3

We don’t know what LAC you might attend, so it is hard to say. But if there is a decent music department, I would go ahead and attend, take theory, conducting, music history, history, and other classes related to your goals. If no vocal performance courses or lessons are offered, find a private teacher (and often a school will fund this if in an area they don’t provide). With voice, I have learned on this forum that there is no hurry. I would think getting a few years of private study and music classes under your belt would be helpful.

You can even major in something other than music, take some music classes, and study privately.

Perform in extracurriculars and maybe, as time goes on, off campus if that works.

You mentioned dance. Have you studied dance? Ballet is really important for any dancers. The kids I knew who are now on Broadway as actors, did dance, voice and acting- triple threat.

You will benefit, I think, from your time at the LAC and may even find you want to stay. If not, then fine, you can figure that out.

There are many viable paths…

4

Hi @Confusssssssssed - I don’t know much about vocal studies since my kid is an instrumentalist, but one thing you probably should do ASAP is to take a thorough look at the music offerings at the school you are currently committed to, since that is by far your easiest path to take. I assume they have a B.A. program in music there? If you can get your hands on a course catalog PDF, music B.A. requirements or advising worksheets that music majors would used to select courses, that can give you a better idea of what being a music major is like there, how much performance/vocal training is involved vs. music academics, composition, etc. Find out what vocal ensembles are available and see if you can find concert videos on YouTube. If you have specific questions based on what you see, ask the school’s music department and/or post about it here and it’s likely someone will be able to help.

You also might want to reach out by email to faculty members in the music department before they scatter for the summer, especially any voice professors or instructors, to get a better idea of what the program is like and to ask specific questions. Presumably you would want to approach them as an enthusiastic incoming music major rather than making it clear you are thinking about going someplace else. They might be able to share recordings of ensembles or put you in touch with a few current music majors who are vocalists.

This type of information may end up reassuring you that your musical needs will be met at your school, or it may give you more specific reasons why it might be better to defer. Do pay attention to what musicamusica said, though. There may not be very many music school options out there that would suit you and those may be very tough to get admitted to. You may be better off exploring music more generally in a BA program like the one your LAC has. You might want to check out this thread if you do decide to look at music schools: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1666721-contemporary-vocal-performance-and-music-business-programs.html

Consider connecting with a good voice teacher locally who can advise you, assess your voice, and potentially prepare you for auditions if you decide to defer and apply to music programs next fall, because if you decide to go that route you would need to start working on audition repertoire. As you suspected, for music schools it is (almost) all about the audition, and many schools have very specific requirements that you may not be prepared for. Ask your choir director for voice teacher recommendations.

Good luck!

5

I agree with the above. You really need to be talking with a private voice teacher or your high school music teacher. These are the people that can steer you in the right direction. I would not make your decision based on “doubts” (May is the season to have lots of doubts about your future). I would encourage you to talk with people who know your voice and can give you some concrete information about your chances at music schools. You may find you can do one year at the LAC and then transfer - but you’ll want to understand what that entails as far as preparation and support from a voice teacher. If you sit out a year, you will want to have some confidence that you can train with a teacher and have a good shot for a handful of schools. You should also check if there is a good private voice instructor at the LAC and if that would work for you and there would be no need to transfer. In other words you need a lot more information to make an informed decision. Good luck.

6

One other thing. You bring up whether or not singing falsetto is “legitimate”. Since you have a desire to be a professional singer rather than considering whether or not a certain style of singing is “legitimate” consider the marketability of your voice type. Where and how do falsettos in popular music make money? For instance, Nick Pitera has a visual arts degree and makes his living at Pixar. Don’t assume that because one person appears on youtube or on television, that there is a strong viable market for that particular voice type. If you are going to spend a lot of money on an education in vocal music (and no mater where you go, it is going to cost a lot of money) look into your post education options. Those options will help you guide your path in your music education

7

Thank you everyone for so much help! I’ll respond in order I guess.

Firstly: Thank you all for letting me rant on this forum, it has helped me considerably as has your advice. I think I will be going to the LAC I got in to (Macalester, don’t know why I’m hiding it.) To my understanding they have a good music program with multiple a capella groups (which I love). I guess I was just doubting everything as usual, I know Mac’s not a bad place to be, plus they’ve sent plenty of people to good master’s programs. In the end I guess having regrets can be a good thing, it helps me solidify my confidence in my choice.

@musicamusica (to your first and second comment)

I’m not opposed to singing classical music, nor am I opposed to singing tenor, but I should clarify. My end goal is to be able to sing well and sing for a living, and I understand how falsetto would be the harder path, but I don’t think it should be disregarded as an option because I enjoy it and although difficult, it is possible. Regardless of my decision on where to go for this year, which is pretty much definitely Macalester, I do plan on having a voice teacher, which Mac has available for both classical and jazz/contemporary, so that’s good.

@compmom

Macalester. Don’t know why I felt a reason to not say it. They have plenty of vocal instruction available and I’m sure it’s great, I just tend to doubt everything. I plan on taking a double major, and the other one could be dance (or even theatre and dance) or something else, I don’t know yet. I have never taken a dance class, I’m not good at dancing but I do like it. We do choreographed numbers in the choir I’m in and I’d say at that I’m not terrible, that’s the extent of my experience. As for the dance, voice, and acting thing, I’ve considered musical theater as an option and I would need to look more into it/try it out to see, but I did some looking around and unfortunately Macalester puts on a musical only once every few years, but I can’t imagine not being able to find that sort of opportunity in the twin cities.

@classicalsaxmom and @bridgenail

Yes, they do have a B.A. in music and they offer multiple ensembles, with 2 classical ensembles and a few (4 or 5) a capella ensembles that seem pretty cool. I watched them perform and the classical ensembles are clearly more put together but they are all good (although I couldn’t find videos of their larger chorale). I’m going to wait a bit to find a voice teacher since I’m moving soon, but after I move I will seek one out. I’ve gotten more confident in the music program via my research, so I’ll just take theory I and learn about the department that way. I think I will email one of the theatre or dance professors though, since I’m interested in trying those subjects out and I’ve never done them before, so I don’t know what the atmosphere is like. Side note: I went to a summer camp in architecture and the classroom atmosphere was just perfect, it was collaborative and creative and open but also with a lot of advising and guidance. That’s the sort of atmosphere I love, even though I’ve since decided against architecture. Anyway, maybe I should reach out to the vocal coach/es there too to learn about how I can do there.

Thank you all very much, this has been very calming and gotten me excited again about the process rather than scared. I really appreciate everything everyone has said.

8

Our school’s music teacher went to Macalaster. He has a very rich musical life, playing in the regional orchestra, teaching in the school and privately (violin), and playing in a successful indie Rock/cabaret band. After a few years of teaching, he went to Columbia for a master’s in music education and then returned to our school. He loved Macalaster.

I checked out their theater and dance and there are technique classes in ballet and modern dance, so that’s great. Four theater productions and two dance productions a year. Looks wonderful.

If you went to an architecture camp last year, and are now thinking about music or maybe music theater, it would seem as if you are appropriately exploring various interests. My only other advice would be to continue to explore a place as rich as Macalaster, without trying to decide on your future in any absolute way. In other words, stay open to possibilities :slight_smile:

You can study anything really, and take private voice lessons, and do extracurricular singing. The path is up to you and is a lot more flexible over time than you might think. In fact, major doesn’t always match career at all, or even grad school. Enjoy! I am excited for you…

9

I’m excited for you, too! Macalester should be a wonderful place to explore all of your interests. One of the coolest people I ever worked with went to Macalester.

Just to give you a little personal anecdote to illustrate what compmom says about major not matching career…when I was your age I wanted to study art and was convinced not to because my parents didn’t think I could make a living that way (this is part of why I am supportive of my son’s plan to major in music). I ended up loving where I went to college, I came in as undecided but ended up majoring in an equally “unmarketable” major (a modern language), and through several accidents of fate ended up making a career in the internet/web industry just as it was getting off the ground in the mid 90s. That career field didn’t even EXIST when I was headed to college. Now in my late 40s both my career and hobbies are drifting back toward creative/artistic pursuits and when my son goes to college I plan to take some community college art courses (both traditional media and digital media). If you stay open minded and explore the opportunities available to you it is possible to reinvent yourself multiple times in the course of your life.

10

I’m not saying your voice type should be disregarded,( I know one of the best countertenors in the US,) Do you know what the career options for countertenors or falsettos are? Are you familiar with early music rep? It’s a very specific technique that requires a very specific kind of training.I’m just saying that the career options,the required technique and the repertoire should inform your educational path.

11

Congrats! You are coming to a very accessible artistic city. I live in the Twin Cities. Macalester is in a beautiful part of town and very accessible to the downtown St. Paul and Mpls music and theater scenes. The great thing about being in the cities is you will have opportunities to explore, learn and perform in and outside of school. You will have no difficulties finding private music instruction. I would suggest reaching out to the school instructors first and taking advantage of what the school has to offer. But, have no fear, you can find excellent instruction nearby too if you feel you would like to branch out. Here are two music schools to be aware of in the area.

The MacPhail music school in Mpls is for ages 0 - 100. It is not a college. Many people interested in music will take private or group lessons there - from babies to pros - for classical, rock, jazz or contemporary. There have a large presence for all types of musical training. You should also be aware of McNally Smith in St. Paul. This is a college that focus on contemporary music. I would guess many of the teachers there also give private lessons. Most of these teachers also work in the contemporary music scene in the cities. The point is there are many good teachers in the area. Also it is a tight knit community meaning a teacher at Macalester is probably associated in some way with a teacher at McNally Smith and MacPhail. Particularly if you are interested in contemporary, after some time, you should be able to gig in the cities pretty easily.

Edit: Check out Zenon dance school … all kind of dance lessons but best to just start at your school. And for musical theatre, there are auditions for good community theaters up to the more professional theaters in town that kids in the UMN Guthrie Acting program often do in the summer…to supplement their training. You’ll have more opportunities than time…BUT start with your school programs first. You can branch out as you grow over the years.

12

Men’s voices settle in later and a great many counter tenors don’t have undergrad degrees in vocal performance anyway because of that. As for Musical Theatre, unfortunately, that ship has sailed- the kids who are majoring in that have been doing it since they were in middle school or early high school and are attending colleges that are putting them out there in Showcases to be seen by casting agents in NYC. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t/shouldn’t take dance classes in school and learn movement so that you look great on stage! It’s fun and you’ll enjoy it, the same as you will with voice lessons. It’s great that your school has classical training as well as pop/jazz, so explore what appeals to you and see where it takes you. It sounds like you’re really into the arts and you’re going to have a lot of fun!