<p>The number of students helped by scholarships is still very small, SS, when looking at numbers of music students in total. </p>
<p>Plus, each of these low income music students needs to show enough promise that a mentor or teacher notices, and then helps them navigate for lessons, etc. It is hard enough to find the right instruction when you can afford to pay; it is ten or 100 times harder when you can’t. Even at the music schools my son has attended, there are no “full” scholarships, and when you are talking $98 an hour, how is a partial of $20 off going to help anyway? Some programs will have tuition reimbursement, but no stipend for travel, which makes the program attendance moot.</p>
<p>Sure, there are cheaper lessons and perhaps local programs (depending on where you live), but not necessarily for students at a high level.</p>
<p>There are also huge sacrifices that some people make, in order to facilitate music instruction and study for their talented children. I have been so amazed by some families that I have met on this journey.</p>
<p>I would argue that even if you took the financial factor out, the parents who encouraged music study would be the same parents who encouraged other behaviors that lead to success. If a kid comes from a home where hard work and practice are encouraged-- for music or other areas of life-- they are likelier to be successful later in life.</p>
I’d certainly consider a kid who is accepted into the Pre College program at Julliard to be high level. They offer full scholarships to needy students. In fact, the majority of families who apply for aid are given some tuition relief. </p>
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This is very true. Even if you don’t have to agonize over the costs of high level training in any endeavor, it does take a huge commitment of parental time & energy to make those opprotunities a reality. With music, however, there are parts of the brain being used that oher hobbies or endeavors do not. Plus all that muscle memory. A pretty unique mix of talents are utilized & developed with music instruction, I believe.</p>
<p>You’d have to live in NYC though, for Juilliard. Most pre-college programs (including the one my son attends) do not have full scholarships, although there is <em>some</em> financial aid. It is just much, much harder to reach a high level without the financial backing, not that it is impossible.</p>
<p>And I would agree about the time and commitment required from parents (and students). It is a second, very serious, job (but I love it, and will miss doing it tremendously next year!).</p>
<p>There are a number of articles that correlate music involvement with achievement and intelligence. I would expect that the achievement part would relate to higher earners. In addition, there are likely other demographic reasons why this group is higher paid. Too bad these statistics aren’t what MUSICIANS earn.</p>
<p>We have had numerous discussions about these correlations on the music major forum. Some of the correlations are very impressive. On a percentage basis, many more music major grads are accepted into medical school than grads in biology or other sciences. There is a strong correlation with high level music skills and high level math skills. There are some theories and a bit of research which indicate that music training influences brain performance. An interesting book on the topic is “This is your brain on music.” In spite of the correlations and limited research, I think that there is little proof for causation. Kids who naturally do well in music may also have other special abilities and music performance may have no effect. It is certainly true that parents who can provide music opportunities also provide other opportunities and encouragement. </p>
<p>My D attended a pre-college conservatory program. I still remember attending the “graduation.” About 1/3 of the kids were going to the Ivies or other very selective colleges. Another 1/3 were going to conservatories. The stats at my D’s “competitive” suburban high school were much different. Six kids out of 600 were going to Cornell and 1 kid was accepted at Yale, coincidently she was also first violin in the HS orchestra.</p>
<p>I was just going to add that perhaps one of the greatest things my kids gained from all their music lessons wasn’t even their skill (which is not magnificent LOL) but the fact that they really like and understand good music. I mean, when you hear your teenagers grooving to classical music or opera you just know you must have done something right! (Of course they also listen to other stuff too!)</p>
(Of course they also listen to other stuff too!)</p>