Unsure about Music Education

College Majors Music Major
1

Hi everyone, I’ve browsed this forum for a long time, this is my first time making a post.

Basically, I am having trouble deciding whether or not a major in music education is good for me. I know that I would like to be a high school teacher of some sort, but I just don’t know whether being a music teacher is appropriate.

To provide some information about myself, I am currently ending my junior year. I joined choir as a freshman, and I began taking voice lessons after the first year. Over the past few years I have gotten more and more involved in choir and have taken it more and more seriously. At this point, I enjoy singing and learning about music much more than I enjoy any of my other classes. I am signed up for AP Music Theory next year, and I’m looking forward to it very much. I have no doubt that music has become my number one passion in school.

There are a number of things holding me back from definitely pursuing music education. Firstly, I feel like I am very behind where other future music majors are by the end of their junior year. It seems like everyone who majors in music has been doing it forever, whereas I am just someone who was introduced to music at the start of high school and who has developed a passion for it. I’m concerned about auditions for college, although I did read that auditions for music education are not as intense as they are for performance? But can I have any idea of exactly how intense they generally are? If I were to begin practicing with my voice teacher for auditions this summer, would I even realistically stand a chance at being accepted into a program?

Secondly, I have always very much excelled in academics. This shouldn’t be a problem, except for the fact that I believe my parents would be opposed to me following a path in music. I have always placed a lot of importance on academics, and so have my parents, although at this point I care much more about music than I do about academic subjects. Although I personally know that a person can be a good musician and a good academic student, I feel as if the reaction from my parents would be along the lines of “Really? A kid who does so well in academic subjects wants to major in music?”

If majoring in music education were realistic for me, I would do it in a heartbeat. I have no doubt that this is what I want to do, but I just don’t know if it’s actually appropriate for me. I am unsure of how to even go about talking to my parents, voice teacher, music teachers, or counselor about the subject. For a student who’s whole life has revolved around academics but wants to study music, is this just a waste of time?

2

Since the school year is winding down very soon, can you print out your above post and send it to your counselor or music teacher or patent. It is well written.

3

Ditto to the above. And I’ll add:

I don’t know if you should study music ed in college or not. But based on what you have written I feel quite sure in saying you definitely should “explore” music options in college. It’s your life. Don’t forget that. Mom and dad will fade some in the college years and you’ll be on your own. What do you want that life to look like? You will want to have few regrets. So be sure to explore your musical options for college NOW…be that a music ed degree or a school with an academic subject you are interested in and a strong music program where you can participate.

And don’t think of it as an either/or right now. It sounds like you have some research to do. This will be your first step as an adult to determine YOUR future. Talk with some other adults about options…your voice teacher, counselor, parents. Research a few schools and degrees. My D auditioned for music programs BUT I made her apply to her state school as an academic back-up. There was one other school that was an academic back-up as well. If the situation isn’t so black and white, everyone (including yourself) may be more comfortable. AND with more research and discussions with adults that can assist you, you will get more comfortable too. Over the summer and fall and then into audition season, you and your family will learn and change opinions. That’s normal. It’s not a bad idea to have a few options on the table.

Finally, vocalists start late…particularly males. I know many male vocalists that did not start singing until high school. Voice lessons shouldn’t start until about age 14. Instrumentalists are different. So don’t compare yourself to them. My D started before 14 but it was for fun and she was singing Disney songs…don’t be intimated by anyone who started in middle school…bc what they are only singing just for fun at that age.

Good luck. I hope you can start the conversation very soon and see where it takes you.

4

Here is an interesting essay for you, so you can think about different ways to study music, including a double degree in music and something else. http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/conservatory/admissions/tips/doubledegree.html

I am not clear on why you are thinking about music ed versus performance. Are you being “practical” or do you genuinely want to teach music in a public school?

It is fine to get a bachelor’s in music. A BM would be 2/3-3/4 music classes and that degree is as good as any other in terms of grad school, med, law, nursing school, or jobs in or out of the music field.

A BA in music is another option, and it often IS an academic degree (with varying performance components). Theory and aural skills, music history and analysis, ethnomusicology, music and technology, composition…Usually 1/4- 1/3 classes in music. Again, this offers many options for future careers or school, and doing internships can also help with that.

You can also do a bachelor’s in some other subject, and do private lessons and extracurricular performance.

Then there are double majors, and double degrees. Your parents might like the double degree idea :slight_smile: But it is usually an extra year.

It sounds to me like you might want to do a mix of schools/degree programs, 2-3 BM programs and then some BA programs as well. The double degree option is offered at certain schools that people on here can tell you about.

But first, tell us why music ed is in the mix for you, because that might mean that a state school in your state would be well worth looking at. (And don’t forget there are grad programs for music ed if you do do performance BM or a BA).

5

Thank you for the advice, @GoForth and @bridgenail.

@compmom When I say I want to major in music education, it’s not me just trying to be “practical.” I know that even if I don’t end up teaching music, I will certainly want to be some sort of high school teacher. I’ve known since basically the start of high school that I want to be a teacher, but I could never decide what subject I wanted to teach, but now I know that I really would love to teach music, if it’s possible. Especially in this past year I’ve gained such an appreciation for the ways that my own chorus teachers actually teach us the meaning of the music and the proper style in which to sing it. A lot of my inspiration in becoming a teacher in general has come from seeing the way my teachers have taught me. I don’t want to just learn and perform music, I’d much rather teach it to students myself.

I guess part of the reason I feel so unsure about it is because I’ve always kind of assumed I just needed to get good grades, get good test scores, and do extracurricular activities, and then I would get accepted into some good school and choose what subject I wanted to teach and take classes in that area. But now that I’ve decided I would like to teach a specialized subject like music, this type of approach doesn’t apply the same way as it does for more traditional subjects.

A lot of it is just that I do know what to expect next year when I begin to apply to colleges. It’s easy to tell that a certain school accepts a certain percentage of students and that the students it accepts have certain grades and certain test scores, but as far as I’m aware the same type of statistics don’t really apply for music majors because of auditions. I would like to have an idea of the range of selectivity of schools in terms of music education auditions. Like how selective are the most selective schools, and at what point does a school become so non-selective that a music degree from that school is meaningless? Do people who take music seriously to the point that they want to major in it commonly get rejected from all the schools they audition for? It’s one thing to make a “reach, match, safety” list for schools when applying based on academics, but is there a way I would be able to do this for music?

Lastly, like I said before, I’ve done fairly decent academically so far, but I know that the schools for which I am competitive academically might not have good music programs, and that a state school might be the best choice for music, even though academically it might not match up to my grades and test scores (which I am okay with, if it means a good music degree). From the threads I’ve read for performance majors, the audition is much more important than the academics. That makes sense, but if it’s music education (emphasis on education), do they consider grades? Would having a GPA and ACT score far above a school’s average be of any benefit to me in the process, if I am auditioning for a music major? Would I receive any financial aid based on my academic accomplishments, or is this all based on the audition?

(Sorry for this being extremely long and full of lots of questions; there’s so much I just don’t know about. Also, I didn’t ignore your mention of double majoring, I just want to take care of all the unknowns surrounding music right now)

6

Call the schools you are considering right now—they love to answer the questions from thoughtful students. .They are mostly wrapping the year up but soon they will not have a lot on their plates. So it’s a good time to ask questions.

7

Many students get advice about music schools from their current teachers. Your choir teacher would most likely be a great resource. You are very thoughtful and asking good questions. Now ask those questions to your choir teacher. If you have a voice teacher you should be asking him/her too. And you can call music depts at schools and ask for specifics about GPA, ACT, acceptance rates etc. Don’t be afraid. They get calls for this info all the time. I think if you had more information you would definitely be more confident in moving forward. Your choir teacher should be a good starting point.

8

You are very articulate and ask really intelligent questions. I am very inspired reading about your desire to teach, and about the teachers you currently have who are such great role models.

A state school program can often be really good for music ed.

Wherever you apply, your hard work for grades and scores will be appreciated.

There are many good schools for you to consider…check out Colleges that Change Lives for some interesting colleges and see which ones have BM’s and/or music ed, just for starters. People on here can suggest specific schools with a little more information. Music schools and conservatories are possibilities: I have a feeling you would do well on a campus that has a broad spectrum of studies and interests, even if you are focusing on music.

You seem very mature and well able to do some of the investigating suggested above.

good luck!

9

Thank you everyone so much for the help! I am very happy with the advice you gave me. I will definitely keep all of my options open, and I’ll make sure to start asking my music teachers and voice teacher about how to go about this. Thanks!

10

I am just repeating rumors here, but if there is merit to the idea or not, let’s see. If you have a particular school where you would like to teach, try to see where they draw their teachers from. I have heard rumor that some schools prefer to recruit out of a limited set of colleges. True? Regionally-dependent? False?

11

@SecondTenor Are you still considering Music Education? I wrote a long response to some of your questions, but decided not to post that yet because your original post was in May.

My daughter is a freshman Music Education major at a state university. It was a “safety” for her academically (with almost full-ride scholarship) and a “match” for her in the School of Music.

It’s very common for men to start singing late. Two men in my D’s HS choir didn’t start singing until HS, but were admitted to Music Education at more than one university. One of them is at a highly selective School of Music.

For now, I’ll just say:
If music education is truly your passion, go for it. I hope your parents will understand that you’ll excel in a major and career that you have a passion for. In my region, there are abundant job opportunities in music education. Public schools need very bright students like yourself in teaching…especially since you love music & have a strong desire to teach.

If you major in music, having Music Theory in HS will make your life MUCH easier in your first two semesters.

Regardless of the major & university you decide on, I wish you all the best!

12

@SecondTenor
Northwestern has an innovative music+science degree!
It could be something to look into. I assume that it would provide you with the best of both worlds and everyone remains happy.
Also, NU is pretty hard to beat when it comes to ease of taking many classes that interest you and exploring academic fields.
Best of luck!

13

@Littlebitanxious Northwestern sounds like a great option to consider! It’s well-known that students who excel in math & science very commonly excel in music too. Flexibility is very important for students who don’t want to be locked into a major when they enter as a freshman. Quite a few of my son’s classmates from the largest public university in Texas transferred to another university (after 2 years) because there wasn’t enough flexibility for them to change majors.

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@CollegeMom789
I’m well aware!!
I actually applied NU ED because of this very flexibility!
Also since the OP says that they are academically competitive, NU sounded like a great option.
However it is very expensive to attend which is something to be looked at…

15

@CollegeMom789
I also applied to the university that your son attend then :wink:

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@Littlebitanxious. It sounds like you’ve done a lot of research! My daughter only visited & applied at universities in the South. I didn’t know about Northwestern’s music+science degree. Sounds very interesting.

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Hi @collegemom789:

I would love to know your thoughts on Music Ed, as my HS senior son is choosing between an out of state school (Univ Puget Sound), a Pennsylvania school with a conservatory (Gettysburg), and a local school with an excellent Music program but perhaps less well-known nationally (North Central College, Naperville, IL). All 3 offered generous merit-based aid, but N Central is by far more affordable. Wondering if the out of state tuition (private schools) x 4 years is worth it? Son is undecided and frustrated because they are all similarly attractive. Decision is due MONDAY!

Any suggestions/recommendations? Thank you!

18

I don’t have any answers, just comments and questions.

As others have said, your post is very well written. Clearly you are very articulate and have thought this through carefully. I think that this country wants articulate teachers who think things through.

It it very good that you are taking AP Music Theory next year. This will subject you to some of the “work” and “important background” aspects of music, which in turn will give you a better sense of what it might be like to major in music.

I am wondering whether you could dual major in something like Mathematics and Music, or some form of science and music. Part of the reason that I wonder this is that I have seen a significant overlap between people who are interested in and good at Math and people who are interested in and good at Music. Part of the reason that I have wondered about this is that I have seen sort of ongoing issues with whether schools are going to fund a music teacher. If a teacher could teach both mathematics and music (or science and music), it might encourage more schools to include a music program.

I will also note that there are some public universities that are very good at music, as well as being affordable for in-state students. The Universities of Massachusetts in Amherst and Lowell both have very good music programs. I know someone who teaches at a small university in eastern Canada which has a very good music program as well as a very good education program (although I am not sure whether teaching qualifications are valid across national border, or even state or provincial borders). Does your state universities offer good programs in music and education?

19

My D decided to major in special education and do a music concentration because she didn’t want to be a music teacher but she wanted music in her life.

My friend’s son is a bassist and he is going to be a music ed major at a state school. He had private school options but decided, as did my D, that the best place to study to be a teacher is at a state school because, at least in my state (NY), the state colleges are run by the same people who write the curricula.

20

Conventional wisdom on here has been it is an advantage to do music ed in the state where you plan on teaching, but one thought I have is if an option requires taking out significant loans, you may want to go with the one that is more affordable and gives less debt, because with music teaching it may take time to get to a point where the job pays well, so minimizing debt might be a good thing.