Can anyone recommend a university with modern guitar and/or songwriting programs?
I am looking for a large university with a major or minor in contemporary music which also has other diverse academic programs.
Thanks in advance for your help.
University of Southern California has a great popular music program and it is a really good school academically.
It looks incredible. Do you know of any on the East Coast?
I used to have a guitar teacher who had studied music at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. I haven’t looked at their program but it is probably worth taking a look at their web site.
SUNY Purchase
Thanks so much! I had missed this but it looks awesome.
I am looking at their studio production B.M. and I am really blown away.
Have you read the Double Degree Dilemma essay posted above on this music forum? It discusses different ways to study music. If you want a conservatory or music school (including both freestanding and those on a college or university campus), that is a BM degree, with 2/3-34/ of your classes in music. You can also go to a college or university for a BA in music (1/4- 1/3 music classes( and take guitar lessons, take songwriting courses. Or you can major in something else, entirely for a BA or BS and still take guitar lessons and songwriting as an elective. Or you can continue with guitar lessons and do songwriting on your own. Or you can do a music minor. Or you can do a double major. Or you can do a double degree. So there are a lot of options! You can apply to a number of these and decide in late senior year.
BM programs will want an audition or portfolio. For BA programs, regardless of major, you can submit a supplement to the common application with samples of your playing and your work, a music resume, and letters of recommendation if you think it is worth the attention of admissions.
Generally, for contemporary music, people here mention Berklee in Boston, Belmont in Nashville, USC Thornton in CA, and Frost in Miami. UMass Lowell and SUNY Purchase are possibles. Look at Ithaca and Hartt for guitar. Not sure what they still have.
For colleges, you could consider places like Bennington, Vassar, Sarah Lawrence, probably many others. Look at music department websites and check the course listings for guitar and for songwriting. Some schools may even find you a guitar teacher.
We don’t know much about your academic interests or how competitive you want your schools to be. We could suggest more schools. But first think in general about what path you want!
ps check the thread on the Journey…etc. for some info on songwriting somewhere in that thread maybe…
Thank you so much for the detailed response! This is very helpful information. I’m looking for a moderately competitive school. My other academic interests include film/video production and psychology and I’m still not 100% sure about what path I want.
Which student do you feel you most resemble in the Double Degree Dilemma?
It sounds like you have three strong interests, and you can apply to places where you can pursue all three, and you can also apply to schools that focus on one specific interest. I get the feeling that you are a creative person with strong interests, too, so make sure you find a school with the right vibe.
Conservatories or music schools (BM programs) will have a more narrow focus, because so much of the coursework is music. A double degree takes 5 years. You can also pursue all of your interests in a BA program and decide at the end of your sophomore year which one you want to focus on.
Many conservatories are primarily classical. Academic BA’s, like BM’s, in music include theory, aural skills, composition (but not songwriting primarily), music history, ethnomusicology, and technology. But usually there is less of a performance component and performance is extracurricular.
Superficially, from the little you have written, I hope you look into colleges that have music departments and offer BA, and consider, for a couple of years anyway, psychology. music, and film/video production as majors, take classes in all of them, and continue your work independently as well. At some schools (like Bennington) you can do all three and find a way to combine them in interdisciplinary work.
Figure out colleges you like and google the departments in these areas and look at courses. I would add Clark University, Tufts, and also Colleges that Change Lives (website). Look at location (weather!), size, academics, music, film psychology, and try to get the “vibe” for each school.
If you do decide to completely focus on music, that’s cool too and people here have given you some music schools to think about 