<p>Exactly, I used the wrong phrase, lol. I probably should have said “alternatives” rather than “back-ups.” At any rate, how did it go for your son, poprockmom? Where did he end up? What is LAC? </p>
<p>Thanks! She is still a freshman, so there is time for more schools to add programs. USC will always be her number one choice, but hopefully there will be more “alternatives” in a couple years. And, hopefully more in California. List so far:</p>
<p>USC
U of Miami
Columbia - Chicago
Northwestern
Boston College
NYU
U of Denver</p>
<p>He is a freshman at USC in their Popular Music program as a singer/songwriter. LAC=liberal arts college, sorry. Your daughter still has plenty of time before she starts the college process but in the meantime, I would encourage her to make opportunities for herself such as performing live as much as she can. Get her comfortable being on stage and engaging with her audience. Look in to all the summer programs at Berklee and the Grammy Camp at USC. When my S was in HS he was in a band and it was a valuable experience for him in so many ways. Although she is a freshman the 4 years in HS seem to fly by so fast. I have tears right now thinking about it.</p>
<p>Jazz/shreddermom was the MOST supportive person when my S was going through the college audition season. That is why I love this forum so much and am here to help anyone in any way that I can! :-)</p>
<p>I know, my son is turning 20, and his HS went so fast! I can’t believe D’s freshman year is half over. That’s why we are starting to look into the process and schools now. </p>
<p>We just assumed she would go to USC until we heard of some kids with 4.5 gpa, advanced show choir all 4 years, and didn’t get in. </p>
<p>Does show choir count as performing live? She is also in her school’s A capella group that sometimes performs for venues. Does that count? Or, should she look for a band to perform the songs she wrote herself?</p>
<p>Forgot to mention that we are planning on Grammy Camp…just not sure if we want to wait until Sophomore year, or start now. Oh, Belmont University Commercial Music looks good too (as an alternative). We are hoping to keep her in LA though. List so far:</p>
<p>USC
U of Miami
Belmont
Columbia - Chicago
Northwestern
Boston College
NYU
U of Denver
Occidental</p>
<p>BTW, Congrats to your sons!!! Wonderful that they are at Thornton!!!</p>
<p>Megansmom, it’s not really “popular music,” but UCLA does have some options in their music department - I think “world music” or something like that (can’t remember), although it might be more for songwriters. Might be worth checking out, especially knowing that she’d seek another major before a stand-alone conservatory.</p>
<p>As for what “counts” in terms of live performances, it’s not so much about resume-building as it is stage-confidence and performance building. So yes, it would be great if she could get a band to perform her original stuff with. Many Thornton pop admits have been doing this for quite a while by the time they arrive.</p>
<p>Thanks, we’ll look into UCLA and Chapman as possible SoCal alternatives. Her show choir travels and performs all over the country, so the stage experience isn’t a problem. But, we know a lot of girls that have their own bands and book gigs - maybe that is a better route…hard call.</p>
<p>Let me put it this way. If her goal is acceptance to USC’s popular music program, they are looking for musicians who are beginning to get a take on what kind of artist they want to be. Or who already seem to be pursuing that goal. Does your daughter want to sing professionally in a chorus or is she more interested in a career singing solo, perhaps her own songs? And by no means does she have to give up choral performances to do the latter. Yes, it’s all time consuming. But we know many of the kids in the pop program, and it just seems they have a far better chance of admittance if they’ve begun to develop their “voice” as an artist. The program is NOT just looking for great voices.</p>
<p>And stage experience as part of a chorus is far different from “fronting” a band or singing solo. As I’m sure you know. It can make auditioning much easier as well. Grammy Camp would be a great experience for her, as would some of the summer programs at Berklee.</p>
<p>Does that make sense? Also, the faculty in USC’s pop program are VERY HAPPY to take DVD’s of club/stage performances/compositions in addition to the live audition. Many students hand them to the panel. In that regard, a choral performance wouldn’t have quite the same “pop” in my opinion.</p>
<p>I’m not sure Chapman has anything other than classical. I know UCLA does - just don’t know what it’s called.</p>
<p>Yeah, Chapman may not even end up on the final list. It’s sort of in case she doesn’t want to leave Southern California. She loves both classical and contemporary, but prefers the latter. Actually going to the other side of the country may not seem so great when the time comes. She did a film at Chapman once and liked the campus. (Of course USC will always be #1 choice.)</p>
<p>There is a current student in the USC pop program that was in her choir before her, but he also had a band that played around LA. It’s probably something we’ll let her do in a couple years…but not at 14.</p>
<p>I hear you, megansmom, but there may be other opportunities for her to perform popular music solo besides “clubs” - school talent shows and concerts, charity benefits, recitals, etc. My younger son is 16 and is the drummer for the band behind a wonderful female classmate who sings in all of the above (she also did Grammy Camp this past summer at 15) - the benefits have been particularly wonderful for all the kids involved. Granted, adults help organize them, but they allowed the kids to apply their musical interests toward legitimate community service AND provided great stage experience.</p>
<p>My older son’s former band (the son at USC) was already very busy in the LA club scene (Roxy, Whisky, Viper Room, etc.) by the time he applied, albeit not at 14! Summer programs are great for that.</p>
<p>I don’t know that I’d necessarily discourage her from being in a band right now. My younger sister was in a band at her age, and was on her third (and much better) band by her senior year, with a nice collection of original music. My son probably had written and performed five of his own original songs by the end of his hs freshman year (he’s now a college senior in music tech at Umich.) I’ve been in two casual bands with female singers in that age range (years ago, but I was still twice their age.) We played fairly regularly at a couple of age-of-majority venues and never had any issues around under aged drinking or other shenanigans, because we always had them “x’d” so they wouldn’t be served.</p>
<p>While I understand the parental reluctance completely, if one is heading into popular music, navigating club scene and working with others and creating original music all go with the territory. Right now, she has just two and a half years to develop competitive portfolio material before beginning the application process (and i know at least NYU requires such a portfolio.) It’s in her interest not to wait too long to begin the process of developing her
identity as an artist for these types of programs.</p>
<p>Btw, I note you have Columbia (Chicago) on your list but didn’t see Berklee. Columbia is pretty “open enrollment” in terms of academic rigor, so if it were me, I’d be including Berklee above it, especially for the type of training sought. (assuming you omitted Berklee b/c you were looking for a college type experience and rigor?)</p>
<p>I have tried to post 3 times. I spent some time creating a post and when I hit “post quick reply” my post disappears so if they appear later, like tomorrow, please understand. If I don’t post quickly this happens. Frustrating!</p>
<p>Yes, we excluded Berklee because right now she still wants a traditional college experience. But, that could change. She actually already has written 22 original songs, both music and lyrics. She recorded one that’s on i-tunes and has played a singer in a film. She has solo’d in a couple concerts for charity, but that was an adult band that agreed to play her small (15 minute) set for her. We are just now starting to look at what she needs for college. Quite a few of the girls she has worked with are already making names for themselves, but we chose not to home school and have a normal childhood. She just hasn’t played the club scene with a band. That seems to be the consensus though, so we’ll definitely have to look into that after Grammy Camp…when she turns 15. :o)</p>
<p>I am so glad to have found all you guys. She is really just now deciding for sure that this is the way to go. She is also a member of SAG-AFTRA and loves to do musical theater, so it’s hard to concentrate on one thing so early. This board is very helpful…she would probably have had too broad of experience and not enough of any one area to get in. Thank you!</p>
<p>To gain experience singing on stage fronting a band, I recommend the after school program at The School of Rock. My son has been taking voice and guitar with them for several years and has grown tremendously as a performer and musician.</p>
<p>poprockmom, when sending in audition portfolio for USC popular music performance, do you think it is important to include live performances?<br>
thank you. (Background: daughter is junior, applying next year to USC, has written songs since age 10 so laptop is full of original songs (also on You Tube), has performed her songs at various venues and wondering if one should include snippets or just choose a few songs and have a go at recording all at once). Any idea?</p>
<p>USC has specific prescreen requirements. If you go on the Thornton website they should be there. They may change slightly from year to year but you will get the idea. Although my S had plenty of live performances that we video taped, he did not use those. He applied as a singer/songwriter and recorded some original pieces that were videotaped all at once. His keyboard teacher helped him do it.</p>
And, hopefully more in California. List so far:</p>