What Did Your Kid Do with A Music Degree?

A more academic music grad degree is outside my expertise. I would think that @compmom would have better knowledge on that. Knowing his goals is definitely needed to give any “advice” - remember however we are not experts. But it sounds like he wants a bachelor’s. So, here’s a little unsolicited advice…to think about the future is to know fear…so just stay in the present. A bachelor’s in anything you have a passion for…is time and money well-spent.

The program I am experienced with involves performers as well as composers and the other students (computer music, sound art, interdisciplinary arts) I mentioned above. The master’s is part of the doctorate, but students can also leave after the master’s. Both master’s and doctoral level are funded. Most everyone stays for the doctorate, including performers. This is more innovative classical music, part of a university, but both PhD and DMA are offered as part of the same program, and they study side by side. Everyone does writing exams, recital and dissertation.

At some schools, when you enter the doctoralprogram, you get a master’s along the way but cannot get the master’s if you leave. Others require a master’s for entrance into the doctoral program.

There is so much variation. We definitely made finances a big part of any decisions and in that regard, Europe was on the table but ended up not being needed. Funding for summer programs in Europe was a big plus too.

I feel that studying music, whether for BM or BA, is worthwhile in its own right for undergrad. I think it is wonderful for kids to do what they love for those 4 years, and it is apparent that music majors are well-respected in so many fields and professional schools. Interning during undergrad can build job skills and clarify goals as well, as can working or volunteering.

There are many paths. I don’t think grad school is a must at all. But I do think if you find a well-funded program, grad school can provide a place safe from certain outside pressures, where artists and musicians have time to develop further- if music is what they want to pursue. And of course grad degrees of various sorts help with teaching of various sorts.

At one point we were looking at grad programs in art history for one of our kids. We found three possibles with funding for MA, which was surprising. I didn’t think there would be any. The Internet is a wonderful thing for this kind of research and we kind of randomly looked at schools to find funded programs.

For music, choices were more geared to teachers and the favored aesthetic of the program (for performers there would be different criteria) so the search was narrow but we still had to focus on money because we don’t have that much!

Yes, DMA has a lot more academic-type requirements and is typically done if you want to teach. But many teaching in conservatories have only MM (or, for older, highly established players, even just a BM.) Sometimes players go into DMA programs to keep an academic visa, or to postpone being on the job market.

I don’t l know if you can, but acceptance would be unlikely considering how competitive the field is (i.e., most other applicants will have an MM.) Anyway, you can’t know in advance what kind of funding you will get for an MM degree. There are too many variables.

For some fields, you can absolutely apply for a doctorate without a master’s (and the master’s is obtained along the way). This needs to be researched but I do know it is true at some places. It is highly selective of course.

This is absolutely true which is what I mean by having an umbrella to protect from certain outside pressures:

“Sometimes players go into DMA programs to keep an academic visa, or to postpone being on the job market.”

We know a couple of people from Iran who are doing DMA’s in order to stay here. And with funding, a delay in entering the job market with more time to develop, may mean more opportunities once finished.

Regarding funding, at some schools, it is the same amount for everyone.

I just saw this post and I admit I have not read all the responses. But you asked so I will answer.
My son graduated with a Jazz Performance BM from NEC. Among his peers most went on to do a masters, with the exception of my son’s two housemates. One housemate is a piano Jazz prodigy type and he moved to NY and is making it doing gigs and teaching. The other housemate is from NYC and has two parents who are professional musicians. He already was part of a moderately successful Rock Band which he continues to tour and do gigs with. He also is teaching to make ends meet.

My son attended Berklee Global and he chose it because it was 1 year and it was entirely free and also he did not want to spend the next two years in a practice room as he felt that would not help him grow in the way he wanted to grow. My son’s best friend was fortunate to become a Soros Fellow which meant that Juillard was entirely free for him. Another friend got a generous scholarship to attend MSM for his masters.

Last year after my son graduated he decided he wanted to be in NYC. As a bass player he did not want to depend entirely on building up a private teaching studio or on gigs so he looked for a part-time job that would provide him a bass salary that would give him some flexibility. He found it and was hired as a part-time music appreciation teacher for 9nth grade at a private school on the Upper West Side. Last year was really hard. The learning curve for class room teaching was steep. He had some dental crises that made winter especially difficult. And he often found he was just too tired to do the level of gigging he needed to do to feel like he was part of the scene.

This summer he attended Banff and the timing could not have been better. Banff provided him with connections to other artists in NYC and motivated him to continue to work on his own composition projects, apply to grants and try to maybe find another job that is less draining on him emotionally. And all that has been a work in progress this year. But I have faith in him and he is working it out. Getting a DMA is certainly something he is thinking about as he is pretty academic and would much prefer teaching college over teaching high school. But he is also clear he will not take on any debt to get a DMA. Is he rich? No he lives pay-check to pay check. Is he dependent on us financially? Not really (although we do help out by occasionally buying him meals when we visit and paying for a piece of clothing he really wants).

@sbjdorlo My daughter received her BM in VP from NYU with a specialization in Musical Theatre. By sophomore year, she was pretty convinced that she may not want to do all that is necessary to be in MT professionally–ie, she didn’t want to go on the road, work on a cruise ship and audition, audition, audition. It was not the lifestyle she wanted. If her senior showcase gained her access to Broadway, she would have gone with that, but kidding aside, she knew she needed to re-think her direction. But she still loved studying VP and wanted to continue–but added a minor in music/ entertainment business and English to the mix.

So she began to use all her free time summers and during the school year to intern in the business end of theatre/ entertainment. Upon graduation she worked in casting, theatre marketing, and as a talent agent assistant in the theatre dept. of a top agency.

She decided that she wanted to open more doors and have the opportunity to move up to higher exec positions (and salaries), so 4 years post-graduation began to apply for MBA programs, full-time. And scholarships.

Currently she is about to graduate from NYU once again, this time with an MBA from Stern. Incredibly she got a full tuition scholarship! Her career path has been re-directed–she has accepted a position as an associate branch manager for consumer goods at a pharma company. Her plan for right now is to gain experience as a brand manager and then swing back into entertainment on an exec level.

BTW–Schools that interviewed her LOVED her unique music background!

D was able to afford the student loans to cover the non-scholarship portion of her master’s because she chose to do her undergrad at a program where she was fully funded. She’s supporting herself as a working musician (teaching and gigs), but has felt for some time that she can’t afford to take the time or money to do summer festivals due to financial pressures (and then there’s the issue of who will take care of the cat if she leaves town for several weeks…).