Re: College costs and beyond


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Posted by Morgster on February 27, 2000 at 02:11:02:

In Reply to: College costs and beyond posted by Gary Press on February 26, 2000 at 18:46:44:

I agree with you that bachelor degrees in performance should not be offered. As a current music major I have come to a conclusion. With a performance degree, your only option is to play (in the music field anyway). With a music education degree you can play and/or teach. The truth is that the music ed majors get just as much private instruction and performing opportunities as the performance major. In fact, many of the ed majors can play circles around the performance majors. I think the place to get a performance degree is in grad school after you get an education degree. It seems cliche to say that you should have a teaching degree "to fall back on," but it's true. Let there be no illusion in your mind that you will have a shot at a "family wage" performing position. You may have what it takes, but you also have to realize how stiff the competition is, and even after that you may still have to give lessons or direct a school band program to survive. I hope this makes sense and I hope that I haven't put a damper on anyones dream, but I go to school with people, as I'm sure you do too, who need to wake up and face reality. Remember, there are only a handfull of playing positions open and hundreds of people who are just as qualified as you are trying to get into those very limited number of positions.
My best to all, Morgster


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