<p>Over the course of the last year, my pianist ds has decided he does NOT want to pursue music performance as a major in college. He is interested in IR/International Business at this point. In our research we have come across the University of Denver as a possible match school for him. If I rememer correctly, they have a reputable music school as well in Lamont??? My question is how accessible music instructors within the music school would be at the University of Denver.</p>
<p>Have you called a specific teacher? Or the department? With a few high profile exceptions, virtually every school has instructors who teach private lessons outside of school.</p>
<p>No. We haven’t gotten that far. We won’t have the opportunity to visit there, but that doesn’t preclude me from reaching out, does it? :)</p>
<p>No,of course not, but I am confused as to what you mean by “accessible”. Accessible for contact, for lessons within the department, for private lessons outside of the department? I am not familiar with that particular department, but the more specific you are the more apt you are to get a cogent response. Just trying to be helpful.</p>
<p>Accessible for credit and accessible for private instruction are two different things, although I don’t know in the case of Lamont whether there is any issue or not.</p>
<p>If you mean “accessible studio for elective credit” – I know many places such as UMich operate on the following preferential tier for lessons:
1st Pick - BM Perf majors IN instrument;
2nd Pick; BM Perf majors on ALTERNATE instrument;
3rd Pick, BM/BFA music students in non-perf instrument or performing arts students at the SOM;
4th Pick - anyone from the general university</p>
<p>Accordingly, as one moves down the tier, the likelihood of available instruction from a GSI is increased.</p>
<p>As a comparison, Rice’s faculty are pretty much only accessible for non-majors through private lessons - not for credit and not through the uni. This is what I mean by accessibility, I suppose.</p>
<p>If you make a distinction between faculty and a grad student, then I would say in practice this is likely true at Michigan as well. For example, my son was a bfa composition/technology hybrid type of major and when he wanted to take voice, he studied with a GSI – a great GSI, mind you, but from the outset he did not expect to access the studio of one of the “major” faculty voice members. Had voice been his principal instrument, it would have been different. Likewise, piano, which was a requirement but not performance level, was also taught by a grad student. None of his “major” classes were, however.</p>
<p>If your son does not want to major in music, its reasonable to expect that however accomplished he may be, he is not likely to have the same kind of access as a major. </p>
<p>Over the years i’ve heard from lots of kids who get into Umich academically (no small feat these days) but don’t get into the music school who believe somehow they can just transfer over or access the amenities. I’ve heard of one student who accomplished this after transferring from Oberlin and then doggedly pursuing the SOM department he desired, but he is a rare exception rather than a rule :)</p>
<p>Does your son fully understand that by making this decision it would mean extra years, auditions, etc. if he were to change his mind toward pursuing a performance degree? A BMUS is so much more structured than typical degrees that very little actually can be used towards it.</p>
<p>I don’t think he is going to change his mind about music performance as a major. He has said he might want to do a minor in music, however.</p>
<p>We visited U Denver this week and Rice a few weeks ago. My daughter plays an uncommon instrument very well and plans to get a BA in a social science with a second major (not a separate BM degree) in music. At Rice, she would not be able to do this. They do have choral and orchestra groups for non-majors and a zany (non)marching band and she could take lessons from a grad student and relatively few classes in music for non majors. She liked Rice enough that she was willing to consider being a non major there. You can’t even minor in music at Rice–it’s a very exclusive music program. U Denver seems much more inclusive. Music is part of the social sciences and humanities school rather than a separate conservatory. All students can audition for all ensembles. I don’t know how lessons work for popular areas like voice or piano, but with her instrument the faculty member readily met with her for over an hour and seems quite involved and available. I would second the suggestion made above that you get in touch with the individual professors and start a conversation by phone or email. You’ll get a good sense that way of the opportunities.</p>
<p>Here’s the link you want.</p>
<p>[Music</a> for Non-Majors | Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences | University of Denver](<a href=“Lamont Home | Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences”>Lamont Home | Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences)</p>