<p>Mozarts’ and Beethoven’s fathers went to college and studied music but never amounted to anything artistically. Mozart and Beethoven never even attended school and learned through other musicians and self studying, but they are in music history obviously. </p>
<p>In Aerosmith, the creative riff writer was a high school drop out and the supporting player was the college educated one. John Mayer, Alicia Keys, and a lot of bad alternative rock bands went to college for music when Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain didn’t. John Lennon, Keith Richards, Bob Dylan and Jimmy Page went to art college but dropped out. All of the great Hip-Hop artists never had a college education. And again, looking at college graduates, you see John Mayer, Tom Scholz from Boston, majority of modern jazz and classical musicains…</p>
<p>Is college bad for music or something. I am just connecting dots but what do you think…</p>
<p>What about Juilliard or Eastman Schools?
I would bet just as many famous musicians went to college, especially in Classical music.
Yo-Yo Ma (Harvard) jumps to mind.</p>
<p>I forgot to make this point more clear. John Mayer and Brad Whitford are both technically good players, as Yo-Yo Ma is too. I mean, Yo-Yo Ma is one of the best cello players (recorded) of all time. Bach would be better though because he was a great artist and not just a technician. </p>
<p>But anyway, overall, I wouldn’t call any of them great musicains because none of them can compose well, they can only play. Juilliard, Eastman and Harvard, etc. produce a lot of good technical players, but you don’t hear about any ground breaking genres or great albums coming from those schools.</p>
<p>Plenty of them went to college. Mac McCaughan from Superchunk went to Columbia, Robert Pollard went to Wright State, David Byrne went to RISD, Damian Kulash from OK Go went to Brown, and Tom Scholz from Boston went to MIT.</p>
<p>Granted, none of them were music majors, but that’s because classical training isn’t really necessary or important for modern music.</p>
<p>Yeah but none of the people you listed are even close to being great, innovated, and influential.</p>
<p>The best don’t go to college because they don’t need to.</p>
<p>Elliott Smith went to Hampshire, and graduated.</p>
<p>If your the best you will make money without going to college cause a degree is not required.</p>
<p>if we’re talking rock music, then college doesn’t really go well with the whole anti-establishment thing. </p>
<p>oh and i think Rivers Cuomo from Weezer went to Harvard, even though he’s not really what you’d call ‘influential’ (and Weezer’s sucked balls since 1996 anyway). besides, it’s not like Jimi, Kurt Cobain, Layne Staley and the like had any money to go to college either. </p>
<p>Eh I think Jim Morrison went to UCLA too btw</p>