Thinking About College

[blasticore]

It's my senior year, and I'm being asked more often what I want to do with college. I've long considered a bunch of different fields of study (some <b><i>strongly</i></b> suggested by some people), and have come up with my current list of things that appeal to me in some way. The list is (for elipses, I just fill in some other things that interest me. Nothing too noteworthy):

-Music ed
-Performance (Not <i>too</i> confident in my performance skills)
-...
-...
-Marketing/Advertising (Ever said ",I could've made that billboard or commercial so much better!"?)
-...
-...
-Law (strongly suggested by someone *cough: DAD! DAD!*)
-...
-Hobo (I believe this is a 2-year degree )
-Jumping in front of cars for insurance money
-Suicide (kidding btw)

I've realized some things with music performance and ed though. With a performance degree, I can perform. With an ed degree, I can perform, but I actually have a job. A question though; if I choose ed, wouldn't I have to learn like ten different instruments? I don't exactly have strong chops, and am fairly sure this would throw my trumpet playing way out of whack. Also, would I have much of an opportunity to perform during school then?
Anything said is bound to be more help than I've gotten from most colleges or teachers, so please, ramble on. And thanks to anyone who does.
_________________
Chris King
http://www.cktrumpet.com
http://www.ckbrassworks.com

[fuzzyjon79]

If you do music ed, then yes, you do have to take woodwind and brass methods courses to become "familiar" with instruments other than trumpet, but they're not so bad. This is to prepare for a "band director" job if you decide to do that. My trumpet professor had a doctoral in performance. He plays with local orchestras, does gigs on the side, and he taught also. He was one of the happiest people I ever met. If you do want to perform for a living the "safest" way to go about doing that is do a degree in performance (if you really don't want to teach) and then go into the military. You will play your butt off and you will get money for grad school. I wish 1,000 times over that I had just gotten a performance degree and then went into the military. It's not for everyone, but you will get to"play for a living" without having to worry about starving and having a roof over your head. The world also needs good dedicated teachers, so an ED degree would get you a job pretty easily.

The best piece of advice I can offer is to find a school that offers EVERYTHING that you would want. Music, Marketing, Law, etc....You will have the best of everything you want, and you won't have to transfer schools like I did.

_________________
J. Fowler
Houston, TX
Schilke X3 w / Warburton 2MC, 6 backbore
"It takes a big ole' sack of flour, to make a big ole' pan of biscuits!"

[ This Message was edited by: fuzzyjon79 on 2003-08-27 21:15 ]

[ This Message was edited by: fuzzyjon79 on 2003-08-27 21:16 ]

[Nonsense Eliminator]

Chris --

There is a pretty large variation in what's expected of Mus Ed majors. You can pretty much count on being expected to do some sort of methods classes, but beyond that, things are pretty open. Generally, Mus Ed majors will have more class requirements than performance majors -- sometimes it's a little more, sometimes it's a LOT. At a school that has a substantial performance focus (e.g. the Big Name Music Schools) it's generally going to be more difficult to get taken seriously as an Ed major. At schools with more of an education focus, it's usually easier for Ed majors to get performance opportunities.

Of course, all of these points are massive generalizations. The only way to find out for sure is to investigate the schools you're considering.

I sometimes wish I had an undergraduate Mus Ed degree. Substitute teaching would be a nice way to pick up some extra money when things are slow. On the other hand, I'm awfully glad I never had to learn the oboe.

[fuzzyjon79]

When I was majoring in music education, we had to take these AWFUL education courses....reading all these case studies... I would have rather learned to play the oboe than sit in an education class for 4 hours after marching band rehearsal!!!! If you're an ed major, you might have to take them.
_________________
J. Fowler
"It takes a big ole' sack of flour, to make a big ole' pan of biscuits!"

[mafields627]

At my school, there are a lot of methods classes:
Four Semester of Class Piano (unless you test out)
Brass methods
Single Reed Woodwinds
Strings/Beginning Percussion
Percussion II
Double Reeds

Not to mention the ed courses and ensembles. I've found that since I've transfered to a larger school, I don't have to do as many ensembles, which is actually better on my chops. I was up to five ensembles, in addition to practice time, in the fall semester last year at my old school.

Remember, with your music ed degree, you can always teach, perform, OR go to law school. For law school you have to get a major in something else first.
_________________
--Matt--

No representation is made that the quality of this post is greater than the quality of that of any other poster. Oh, and get a teacher!

[_trumpetgod_02]

Chris,

I would definitely recommend FSU for Music Ed. (probably because that is what I am in). But they do have other strong programs just incase you decide that music ed isn't for you. I has been a little overwhelming these past two weeks getting everything straightened out, but now everything os cool, very relaxed and I am looking forward to a great semester here. If you want more info on what goes on here I would be more than happy to talk to you about it. Just let me know.

Nick

_________________
>>"I hate it when I do something great....... once" - Nick Miller
>>"Here's a variation with triple tonging....... using one tongue"- Al Hirt


[ This Message was edited by: trumpetgod_02 on 2003-08-29 20:07 ]

[tcutrpt]

I will say this: It takes a very special person to do a B.M.E. degree and find enough time to practice enough to make it in the performance realm. I only know of one person like that and she gets maybe 4 hours of sleep a night. It is a rough way to go if you want to perform. If you're happy with teaching, then go the ed route and you can still get some lighter gigs on the side.
_________________
Matt Cyr
trumpetmc@gmail.com

[caritas]

I did this another way: first I trained as a performer, then eventually did work as an ensemble director (at schools). This only works if one teaches advanced groups; working with beginners takes more knowledge of various instruments than a performance major like myself has. Fortunately for me, there are plenty of schools with ensembles (orchestas, bands etc) advanced enough so that I do not need to actually play the oboe, or other instruments not my own! Yes, I have taken pains to familiarize myself with all the orchestral instruments so that I can coach and conduct decently. On the plus side, however, my background as a professional orchestral musician helps me improve student ensembles in ways that an education major would not have prepared me to think about.

[ChopsMcgraw]

Here's a funny one for you- One of the most accepted undergraduate degrees in Law School is Music, be it ed. or performance. As far as the methods classes go, the only instruments that really messed with my chops were oboe (but I can play any note/scale while fingering a c#...) and tuba. Oboe just plain wore me out, and tuba spread my chops like you wouldn't believe. But bear in mind, they are one semester classes, so once they are done, they are DONE. As far as ed classes go, yes some are very tedious. BUT, some are incredibly valuable, and you will learn things very pertinent to life, the universe, and everything. Bottom line as far as I'm concerned, an undergraduate degree is worth very little in reality. All it means is "Yes, I know how to learn." So if you don't like the money or the field, you can always go and do something else or learn something new, just do what you love.

p.s.- It took me two years of deliberation to figure out this "do what you love" thing, but it is worth it now. Especially when I see my sugar mama accounting major girlfriend trying to do her homework... Last tip, marry a girl with a money making major-hello Cobra...


ChopsMcgraw

[_londonhusker]

Two things you might consider when looking at the number of ominous embouchures you will have to learn and play as a music ed major....

1. You won't actually be playing them long enough to build a counterproductive musculature.

2. The tonal and control problems arise when one stops thinking. For all intents and purposes, these embouchures represent a group of neuro-muscular habits, that you have complete control over. If you choose to play a clarinet with a trombone embouchure, that's your problem. All it takes is to sort out what works with each instrument, and you won't mess up your chops for trumpet. If one can't remember how to consistently set up their trumpet embouchure, that's a completely different problem. Thinking about the musical sound and how the wind carries that sound appears to also be an important part of preventing instrumental methods neurosis.

Best of luck!

Dave
londonhusker

[adieste]

A few years ago, the Rockefeller Foundation reported undergraduate music majors as having the highest acceptance rate (66.7%) into medical schools, more than any other undergraduates, including biology and biochemistry majors.
_________________
Trumpet: 1975 Benge CG, 1964 Martin Committee
Flugelhorn: 1963 and 1973 Olds L-12
Cornet: 1895 Conn Wonder, 1915 Buescher 57C
Pocket Trumpet: Funky No-Name Thing
Alto Sax: 1965 Buescher Aristocrat
Tenor Sax: 1956 Buffet Crampon Paris

[jamie]

well i have heard that you can take your ed degree and minor in performance at the same time.....
and a small answer to our money situtation is you could audition for the reserves band and then get paid to go to boot camp and to go to practice a few times a week.