Don't Know Where To Begin

College Majors Music Majors
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My son is a HS junior and has recently decided he wants to major in music. My college freshman daughter just went through the BFA musical theatre application process – which was a nightmare, but there were a lot of resources to help us muddle through. Music seems a little harder to figure out, and I’m hoping the hive mind here can help us get started.

My son claims (at least this month) that he wants to major in music ed. I’m a little dubious about this path for him because, while he is good at teaching, he does not have patience for kids who are unserious and also despises the administrative tasks that would be a huge part of the job.

He has previously said he was interested in composition, but he’s never really done it before. I had him take a cheap self-paced class over the summer; he was perfectionistic and slow and decided maybe he doesn’t want to do composition, after all. He’s more interested in arranging, but I don’t think that’s an actual major anywhere. He does not feel he wants to pursue performance as a major, although he does want to continue performing in some capacity always.

I’m pretty sure he would prefer a BM or BME degree over a BA because he’s kind of fed up with formal education and really just wants to do as much music as possible.

Besides playing trumpet and noodling around on the piano, his other true passion is video game music. He is a strong student and was previously interested in video game design/computer programming (even though he’s never had room in his schedule for a programming class – he’ll finally take one next year). I am encouraging him to look at programs that combine composition/audio design/music, which I think would be a great blend of his skills… but he says this is not for him because he does not see this as a stable career path. He also has not been receptive to doing a summer program in either performance (trumpet) or composition.

Typing this makes me realize how difficult this process is going to be because he gets dug in and is unwilling to do the things that I think he probably needs to do to get through this process (making a plan, choosing rep now so that he has plenty of time to learn it, making connections)…

Anyway… if you’ve made it this far, my first question is… Is it typically possible to audition for multiple music programs at the same school (i.e., education and composition)? And how difficult is it to be accepted to a music ed program at a school that is not considered top-tier? He is looking at the University of Maryland (because they have a video game orchestra) and Towson right now. I know U of MD has a very strong trumpet performance program, so I’m not sure how difficult that would mke acceptance as a music ed major. Other schools he might apply to include Shenandoah, West Chester, Gettysburg, Shepherd, Virginia Tech. His criteria: Must have a marching band and not an urban campus.

Also, what does the teaching component of the music ed audition entail?

Any suggestions for schools, path, majors? What should he be doing now to prepare? In lieu of a summer program, he wants to play in a local community band that does new rep every week all summer – which will be cool and challenging – but I’m not sure how much he needs to be doing with the specific aim of college admissions and how hard this road is going to be. He’s had kind of a disappointing year with audition results, and I think it’s taking the wind out of his sails – at exactly the time he needs a confidence boost. (I think the pressure he put on himself is probably the reason for the disappointing results.)

Also, how many schools does a music major typically apply to? Musical theatre was absolutely insane.

TIA for any help you can offer!

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So sorry- your frustration is palpable.

Does your son participate in his school music programs or local bands? Does he take private lessons? Perhaps a teacher or a mentor can guide him through the process. My kids were all active in the school district music program, and I noticed that most of their band teachers went to one of our state colleges. Had they gone the music ed route, I would’ve encouraged them to attend this same university.

My one kid who did major in music is currently applying to MM for performance. His private teacher (beginning in 6th grade) was instrumental in teaching him the basics- scales and basic audition repertoire for his instrument. So when audition time approached, it wasn’t such a mad scramble to get ready. And it seems repertoire for undergrad and grad doesn’t really change too much, if at all. If your son doesn’t have someone to guide him, maybe he can start looking at the requirements of schools in which he’s interested with focus on repertoire required. I had to do a lot of the research for my son (as with my other kids for their majors) because frankly I didn’t have too much faith in their thoroughness (one of the reasons why I appreciate this forum.)

Since he knew where he wanted to go, kid only applied to 3 schools (one safety) both for undergrad and grad. I know others in the forum would recommend otherwise.

Your video game music reference made me smile bc it’s only thanks to my kids that I appreciate that music. In fact my music guy plans to include a piece for his senior recital.

Take a deep breath- you’ve been through something similar before with your daughter. It all works out.

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Welcome to the music major forum. I will venture to say that you will get a lot of great feedback from some very experienced and thoughtful folks here.

I would start by saying, it is not at all unusual for a HS junior to be still undecided and/or changing their focus regarding their path and goals with respect to a music related program and career. You will need to cast a more general net with respect to schools and make sure there are programs which allow for changes in focus even once he is accepted and enrolled. But this is very doable. I won’t speak to specific schools because I do not know your geographic area well. Others will certainly be able to chime in.

If your son is considering a music education degree, for most states the strongest programs can be found at your in state publics. The music education path might be a good fit based on some of your son’s attributes and interests which you share in your post.

He will be able to explore music theory including composition and to some extent arranging. Arranging is a particularly helpful skill to have when teaching.

He would audition on his primary instrument, but the standard for acceptance is not the same as for a music performance major. To my knowledge there is no “teaching component” to the audition. But I defer to others with more recent experience.

He may benefit from working with his band teachers now to get a feel for the actual job.

I also recommend that if he likes piano, it is very helpful to go into any music program with good piano skills. Always wish we had done more piano lessons with the musicians in our family.

I hope this helps. Know that there is a path for every kind of student. Some paths take longer to define. But that is perfectly fine. They seem to all end up where they should be in the end.

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Thank you, Busy_Momma, for knowing exactly what to say. Yes, he does have a fantastic private teacher and has been working on scales and transposing and some of the rep I’ve seen on lists (Haydn and Hummel concertos). I was just surprised to see that several schools had specific required rep and that it differed from place to place – which made me think it would behoove us to get started ASAP.

He did talk to his private teacher a few weeks ago re: the process. What my son reported back was that his teacher told him to go on youtube and look at different instructors from different schools to figure out who he thought he might click with. Now, I’m sure he said lots more than that, but that’s all my son could/would share. I know I am going to have to do a lot of the legwork here because this process is a bear, and getting info third-hand is not cutting it.

My son goes to a half-day arts high school program, and I think there is some focus on prepping for college auditions – but not until next year, which seems a little late.

I know if he does pursue music ed and wants to teach in Maryland, it makes sense for him to stay in-state. I’m just not sure how hard it is to get in to U MD or even Towson. He’s a fairly strong player – has always been first or second chair in All-County band (until this year) but has never made All-State. The All-County conductor last year is a trumpet player and offered my son a free lesson at the private college where he teaches. Did my son follow up with him? Of course not.

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At this point in junior year my older kid, a son, seemed to lack interest in college. We visited a few schools and he was mainly concerned with getting home to some party where a girl he liked would be. He was highly accomplished (not a partier in general) and landed at an Ivy ultimately, but he showed no interest whatsoever until fall of senior year. I call it head in the sand syndrome.

The trouble with music is you do have to do certain things along the way. I sense a certain passivity in your son in your posts. I also want to comment on his idea of doing composition without having done any before. Composition requires the same intensity of preparation and experience as performance. He would need a few pieces to submit for a portfolio: some require live performance, and MIDI is okay at times.

If he works on a DAWS, I can send you a list of schools for music technology/production. In your area, Peabody has a program (new) for Music for New Media which includes film scoring and video game music. Columbia College Chicago might interest him: look at the website.

He sounds like he needs more time to figure things out. Does he want to do music in order to avoid academics? Just asking!

I really hope he thinks about a summer program. For composition as a beginner he could look at Boston Conservatory’s two week program. Walden School in Dublin NH is 6 weeks and fantastic if on the expensive side (they do have financial aid). Maybe Peabody has something (Walden has a connection to Peabody btw)

It’s great that he is in an arts school. If he is concerned about career path, stability and earnings that can sometimes affect decisions prematurely! Hoping he has good guidance at his school. As a parent, maybe it is good to help him continue to explore and build skills but not get into school or major choice yet. He doesn’t sound ready, like my son!

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Take a look at u hartfords hartt school. Great trumpet teacher who also does arranging. Strong music ed program. Merit money. Great local public school internships.

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I have been through the music process with 2 kids. My first kid sounds a bit like your kid in that he was multi interested. He was taking lessons on 3 things and doing composition in high school. He also wanted to double major (his 2nd major was CS, also very interested in scoring, video game music, etc). He graduated college this year.

Does he really want to teach in a school setting? That is a lot like a double major in a lot of programs. And a lot of people who end up teaching private lessons, running community/youth programs, etc tend to have non-ed degrees. I also know people with undergrad degrees in music or something else who have grad degrees in composition or some other music path. I also know students who have taken composition classes or lessons as an undergrad while majoring in performance or something else, etc. I think there are a lot of paths that can work for a student like this. I have also seen students switch between ed and performance (either way) their first year.

So his primary instrument is trumpet? If he doesn’t have a private teacher that has helped students apply to music programs, this might be a good time to get one.

I have one kid that applied to 8 programs and one that applied to 12. I do think the 6-12 range is pretty average. That said, this can vary by instrument, by finances, by any connections your student might have to a program through their teacher, summer programs, etc. My kids auditioned for vocal programs. They did a lot of MT too, I know how crazy that path is. Admissions to vocal is kind of quirky and unpredictable and possibly more competitive than other music paths. I don’t have a great sense for how competitive some other instruments/programs are, maybe someone else can chime in. I think it can be hard to predict. Numbers are small so if yield were up or down last year that can really affect results. Also this process is certainly easier if you have unlimited funds. If you are shooting for merit money, that can be harder to predict.

UMD has a great music program. Next spring through fall you could try and have sample lessons at program. One nice thing about this is your student can ask very direct questions - can music majors participate in non-traditional ensembles, take composition, take lessons in a 2nd instrument, etc. I really wish more schools had multiple paths in music. My quirky music kid/double major had his best college music exeriences in non-traditional ensembles/ways. So also explore clubs, etc. Like arranging music for a acapella group or some other club on a large campus might give great exposure to that while majoring in ed or performance in another instrument. A school like UMD with a grad program may allow more flexibility for an undergrad to explore different things too.

Musicians in the real world often need to able to perform, teach, arrange, compose, write grants, run a small business, network, tech skills, etc etc etc. So looking for a path that allows a student to hone their current skills while broadening their skill set, especially for a student that has broader interests.

You may be able to audition for multiple programs at the same school but you need to verify by school.

Anyway that was all over the place, just a few thoughts from our experiences. I will say my quirky music kid did end up in a large public university and that was great in so many ways. A less flexible program wouldn’t have been a great fit. You are welcome to message me.

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Parent of freelance professional trumpet player here…who went through the whole audition process. My kid was not interested in teaching so my perspective will be a little “off” for you.

As noted above, the standard bar for auditions for performance majors is higher than that for performance majors. And your state public university music education programs are a great place to start.

I’m a little concerned that his private teacher didn’t have a little more guidance for your son. Re: repertoire, I believe you can find this year’s repertoire online for trumpet by looking at college sites. By the end of 10th grade, our kid’s private trumpet teacher knew his skill progression, and levels, and was already providing names of schools for our kid to research. We visited about 18 schools with this kid…combined with family vacations…to tease out locations and general college feel.

The three people who were very instrumental (no pun intended) in helping our kid tease out private teachers at the college level were…his private teacher (who was very well connected and was also principal of our symphony at the time), kid’s precollege ensembles director who also happened to teach at the college level, and kid’s high school symphonic band director. It was interesting to hear their suggestions for colleges, as well as private teachers at those colleges. DS found a significant amount of overlap…and some names just kept coming up over and over…in a positive way. Even with music ed majors, the private instrument teacher is a very important component of the college selection process, in my opinion.

I would suggest that your son make an appointment asap with his high school ensemble director (I sure hope he is IN a high school ensemble). This high school music teacher should be able to give your son some good information about what it takes to be a music educator, and that is important info to have.

UMD does have a very strong trumpet studio. But they do give preference to instate students. The year my kid auditioned there, there was exactly ONE opening for trumpet players, and it went to an instate student. We have a very nice letter still here explaining this from the private teacher at the time. I’m sure that instate student was a strong player too.

My kid auditioned at 7 different places. Frankly, that was enough. At the time, all auditions were in person. He applied to a combination of conservatories and conservatory types within a larger university. He was accepted to New England Conservatory, Boston University, Peabody, University of North Texas, Duquesne, and the Hartt School. The only e he was not accepted was…UMD. Kid had private lessons with faculty at all of these schools. He also spent two summers at BUTI (Boston University Tanglewood Institute) so knew the trumpet faculty at BU very well.

Your son needs to find out what prescreens are necessary as I understand those are standard now. They were not when my kid auditioned.

I will venture an opinion…I do think a summer program would be better than the summer town band. But it’s December…so betting he would need to hurry to apply to summer programs, and many require a recorded piece as part of the audition process.

We need wonderful music educators in our schools. Anyone entering education needs to understand that their craft (whatever it is) will not be all they do. So if your son wants music music music and no paperwork, meetings, etc…he might not be happy as a teacher (I am a career educator, and I’m speaking from experience…the meetings and other stuff really are not some people’s cup of tea).

But really…if he wants to be a music teacher, he needs to talk right now to music teachers. They know what it takes to get to where they are.

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Thank you for this very encouraging response. I do think it’s important that he choose a program that provides a variety of options so that he can explore a range of interests. Excellent point.

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Thanks so much. Since he wants a marching band and a traditional campus, a lot of programs that have what he wants in terms of video games are probably off his list. We are also hoping not to pay $$$$ (i.e., Peabody).

Great question about music and academics. I asked him – he said both.

I’d agree that maybe he needs more time to figure things out, but he seems to be spinning his wheels and getting way too much in his head…

A gap year is a big thing in the musical theatre world – how about music?

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Thank you! This is SO helpful. Yes, his primary instrument is trumpet. I think my kid sounds quite a bit like yours. And I’m not sure he really wants to teach in a school setting. He said he does, but I think it’s just the least scary of the options out there. He knows what that job looks like, whereas the others have much less defined career paths. He’s feeling a bit “jack of all trades” now and doesn’t fully realize the value of having diverse skills and interests.

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Thank you! My daughter is at Hartt (loves it), and I think it would be the PERFECT school for my son, too – if only they had a marching band!

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Thank you. I suspect his private teacher did have more guidance but that it was not relayed to me. Maybe I should ask him if we can schedule a meeting outside of lesson time so that I’m in on the conversation.

My husband and I are both teachers, so my son definitely understands what the paperwork looks like on this end. :slight_smile:

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What about his music directors at school? We knew these folks very well, and they had our son as a student for a long time.

Maybe there is some good info on YouTube, but we found that the personal references for college applied teachers was very important. So…your son should network. Our son also had fellow musician friends from youth symphony who were a year older and were able to share the student perspective on these faculty members at the colleges.

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As you know, University of Maryland has a terrific marching band. So do many other flagship universities, and they usually have music education as well. As an OOS student, costs could be an issue.

Would he consider being in a strong pep band? Those are fun too…just not marching on a field.

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Chris Gekker, trumpet teacher at U Md, is considered to be one of the best people in the nation to study with.

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Chris Gekker (UMD) and Terry Everson (BU) are considered amongst the best studio trumpet teachers in the country. However, there is no marching band at BU. But there is a pep band for the hockey team!

Really…talk to a bunch of trumpet players if you can…get their feedback on the trumpet faculty and programs at various colleges.

For most musicians, the applied teacher is a key ingredient.

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Thank you! Not sure he would go for the pep band, but I’ll ask him. I think if he could be a professional marching band player, he’d sign up immediately. (But he doesn’t want to do DCI because he would miss the woodwinds. This kid!)

He is in his HS band (and two college bands and a regional brass band, etc., etc.) He is planning to talk to his HS teacher after their concert next week.

His private teacher started him on the Hummel and Haydn concertos in 10th grade, and I have seen those on rep lists at a few schools he’s looked at. I’m a bit startled by how the requirements vary from school to school. Seems like an awful lot to ask of these kids. (At least in musical theatre, you get to choose your own rep.)

I am going to strongly encourage him to do a summer intensive and appreciate all of the recommendations. I think he is a bit paralyzed right now by the number of possibilities and his own lack of clarity about what he wants to do.

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Is your son interested in teaching at a high school where he would be directing a marching band? If so, I would suggest looking at music education programs where there are lots of high schools with marching bands. Ones that come to mind for me are in Texas and Tennessee, and Florida. These are places where marching bands are in many high schools.

One of our favorite friends of our kid is a brass player who happened to love choreographing marching band routines. He actually earned quite a bit of money doing so…in both Arizona and Tennessee…for high school marching bands.

He was a professional player, however, and never played in a marching band…your son can discuss playing in a marching band vs playing in a concert ensemble. The skill set is a little different.

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I think that decisions about direction can wait, as I wrote before. Lots can happen in the next year. It seems the summer might be clarifying so I hope he decides to try a program. But even that decision seems hard: performance? composition? band or orchestra? production? home or away?

I wonder if marching band will be a requirement for him in a year. If so, that would really guide choices.

In the meantime, I hope he can just live high school life, pursue his interests, and put off decisions on college for a year!