Interesting reality check for singers

srw
Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:51:18 +0000

The truth of the matter is top school, state school, super star etc. very few of these students will have a career in their intended field. Only a fraction will see a professional stage. It has always been this way and is now worse ^.

It seems with the proliferation of music schools/departments that most anyone can get into a music program. There seems to be no system of reality check for students and they all seem to think that they will work.

There’s tons of wonderful singers with wonderful educations that are not working. That’s why I harp on getting a good teacher and knowing the steps toward a potential career. (I only have knowledge of singers, but I imagine it is similar for other instruments as well.)

I don’t think that it is right that so many students go into this with their eyes closed. On the other hand if a students know the odds and still wishes to pursue music then more power to them.

I once made a comment that a singer should not pay for grad school as a rule of thumb. By this I meant that if they are not good enough at this point to have a full ride that they should look into another career.

I know this is not a popular approach and that parents/students feel that they can beat the odds, but do they know the odds really? It would be devastating to put your all into something only to have the door slammed in your face. We regularly remind our son that he is more than a voice. While we do support him totally in his endeavors we do talk about alternative careers. An while he is very serious about music he has thought about other careers and understands the situation.