Posted by Rick Denney on October 18, 2002 at 15:51:01:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: What music degrees lack? posted by Matt G on October 18, 2002 at 09:37:04:
The problem with "getting information to do the job well" is that the information will change in a couple of years and you'll have to start all over again.
On the other hand, if you know how to make your own information, you'll be able to educate yourself for the rest of your life. That takes understanding how information is made, which, in turn, takes the detailed study both of how others have made information and why their information was useful.
I know skilled engineers who went to good engineering schools. They have lots of information, and lots of skills, both based on years of college-level job training. They also can't craft one cohesive sentence, and they are lost when put in the position of creating anything new. I was saved from that fate by my professors in graduate school, who rejected my complaints that their programs weren't useful to me professionally, and who explained why they were rejecting my complaints. For once, I listened.
When job training is the objective, the focus of education is on how. Classical education, however, has always been focused on why. If you know the why, you can develop the how for yourself. That's why advanced degrees require (or should require) theses describing original research; they demonstrate the ability to create new knowledge.
If all I wanted were sufficient playing skills to become a professional performer, I'd study with a big-city symphony pro, and play gigs whenever possible. I'd bet the gigging experience would teach all that is useful to a performing musician about "business" and "marketing". This is an effective commercial choice, too: It maximizes the chance of success at the least possible cost. Why do musicians go to college instead of following that plan? That so many do indicates that education is more important to them than job training, even if they don't realize it.
Rick "who went to school as an adolescent (and later as a graduate student) because he was embarassed to be less well-educated than his father" Denney