<p>Hi everyone, I'm doing a dual degree in college with Music and Engineering. Since the demand for both Music and Engineering is extremely high, I will be really busy. I would not mind doing either Music Education or Music Performance but I would just like to know, which one is the less demanding of the two. Or is the difference so marginial that it does not matter?</p>
<p>I think you need to determine what you want to do after college - teach or perform? </p>
<p>Typically a person who graduates with a music education degree with receive certification to teach. I don’t believe you can teach without one in most schools. Therefore, if you want to teach, do music education. You could still perform on your “off hours.” If you do performance, you cannot teach in a school setting in your “off hours.”</p>
<p>Sorry - didn’t really answer your specific question 
I think it would depend on where you go to school, as to which program is more demanding.</p>
<p>I think the real question here isn’t so much whether performance or music education is more demanding, it is if trying to dual major in engineering and either one of those is going to be doable. </p>
<p>I could argue the music performance degrees are more demanding, in that the level of playing demanded is higher then a music ed degree, but then they can counter that the work on multiple instruments takes a lot of time and effort, and the other coursework, along with the teacher certification classes and the student teaching. With music performance you will probably be practicing a number of hours a day, added to orchestra and chamber, theory, and so forth, in music ed it is going to be the other instruments (and practice), band or orchestra, conducting, etc…in the end, I don’t think it matters, I think doing either one with an engineering program is going to be very, very difficult. </p>
<p>One question, are you thinking you may want to do music, but see engineering as the backup? Why were you thinking of music ed in the first place? I ask, because of lot of people post questions where music ed is seen as a more ‘bankable’ position if they cannot make it as a performer…</p>
<p>There are other options, you could study music with a a private teacher on your instrument, or you could rather then get a BM, get a BA degree in music on your instrument, that usually has less of a music load then a BM does…if you worked with a private teacher when in UG, you could get your skills sharp on your instrument, and if after getting your Engineering degree wish to pursue music, if your skills are they you could go to grad school for music…my point is you have options other then dual majoring in a BM or Music Ed degree…</p>
<p>Daniel,</p>
<p>I am a bit confused. Above you say you are doing a dual degree. Yesterday you made a post that said you were a senior in high school. A month ago you had a post that said you were a junior and a day before that you claimed to be a sophomore. You have also reported some wildly different numbers for your GPA. I have some advice, but it varies quite a bit depending on whether you are a high school sophomore, a high school junior, a high school senior or a college freshman. Which is it?</p>
<p>Everything that musicprnt said is exactly on target.</p>
<p>A BM and a BS in Engineering is simply not realistic. In the time that it would take you to get both of those degrees, you could have gotten a bachelors, plus a masters, and be well on your way to a doctorate. Seriously, unless you are looking at a school that has really slack programs in both of those areas, it’s gonna take you 7 years to complete both degrees. There is virtually no overlap, and both of those degree programs are highly concentrated.</p>
<p>Honestly, if you applied for both programs they probably wouldn’t let you do it, or either they would just giggle and tell you to “go for it”.</p>
<p>But to answer your question, for someone who is an amazing performer who loves to spend 4 hours a day in a practice room alone, then I am sure that a music ed program would be harder than a performance program. For someone who is interested in learning a lot of different instruments and becoming a music teacher, I am sure that a performance degree would be harder than a music ed degree.</p>
<p>My son is doing a both (sortof), he is getting a BM in music ed, plus a performance certificate. Most college degrees only require 120 semester hours, his BM requires 132, plus an additional 16 or so for the performance certificate. He takes 18 credit hours each semester and went to summer school last summer. Thats already considered an “overload” by most students. I can’t imagine how you would be able to take more classes per semester. Thats why I am saying that a BM plus an engineering degree (which is also very demanding) isn’t realistic. </p>
<p>So which is easiest? Probably the Engineering degree if you are really good at math and science.</p>
<p>BassDad,
This account is shared among numerous 8 people in my family. 5 people are in high school while 3 are in college. 4 of the 5 wants to do a dual degree in music and engineering/math/computer science. Sorry if this is very confusing.</p>
<p>danieltheboi, you should get separate accounts. It’s free to make an account, so why not? When members have a posting history such as yours, it confuses the other members of the community (searching for previous posts is a common technique) and raises questions about your sincerity. Or, if for some reason you want 8 people to use the same account, then make a username like “themusicalfamily”. Your current username suggests a teenage “boi”. If you keep posting like this, you will frustrate and annoy people trying to help you. One of my kids reads CC, and she has her own account. She rarely posts, but I still don’t want her to log on with my username because then I will not be able to see notifications for unread posts.</p>
<p>Don’t make the decision based upon which is more demanding. If you want to teach go music ed, and if you don’t then choose performance. There is more to these programs than just how much time you spend working on your instrument(s).</p>
<p>
I don’t ENTIRELY agree with this opinion, BUT I do agree that it is unrealistic unless YOU (not your parents, who want you to be employable) are truly passionate about both subject areas; unless you can afford to spend (more like 6 years at UMich) two extra years to have two undergrad degrees; and unless you’re the type of person who is super amazingly organized, because it WILL be gruelling.</p>
<p>As I mentioned in your other thread, my son is at UMich SOM and did initially pursue a dual degree but later dropped to a single degree. He actually has a handful of friends who started out dual degreeing in perf AND Eng. I believe that now, in his final term of his final year, he has only a single one left who is still pursuing both. Most of them just found the work/scheduling a little overwhelming.</p>
<p>Engineering degree aside (and realize that at UMich, you would need to be accepted into BOTH the school of music AND the college of engineering to do both, and that same is not exactly a foregone conclusion – both are competitive admits) the thing we’re not hearing about is WHY you might either want to teach music or perform music. They are not really one in the same.</p>
<p>If you pursue music education, your passion to teach should be the dominant influence. If you pursue performance, likewise, your greatest joy should be performing. Teaching is not a fall-back. It is a vocation, every bit as much as performing or engineering.</p>
<p>SO the question shouldn’t be which is more demanding. The question should be which are you most passionate about. That passion is what will carry you forward when the going gets tough.</p>
<p>Daniel, et al.</p>
<p>I agree with a lot of what has been said in this thread about the time and commitment required for the path you are proposing. As an engineer and musician myself, with a wife who has a music ed degree and a daughter who has a music performance degree, I may be able to offer some additional insights and suggestions but I need to know where you or the others are in the process. </p>
<p>A high school sophomore or junior has a lot more time to work with in the complicated process of applying to music schools (be it for performance or music ed) than a senior would. Particularly at a time when it is past the application deadline for most schools and auditions are ongoing. Someone already in college may or may not still have options for auditioning into the music performance or music ed department at their current school, or they may be looking at a transfer to do what you want. Either way, a lot has to happen in a very short time to get started in a dual major.</p>
<p>I do not know how much you (collectively) know about the process of applying to music schools. It is very different from applying for undergrad degrees in engineering, the sciences or the liberal arts. In some ways it is a lot more like applying for graduate degrees in those fields. If you have not already done so, might I suggest having a look at the first several articles over at <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/258796-so-you-want-music-major-one-familys-experience.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/258796-so-you-want-music-major-one-familys-experience.html</a></p>