Music College

TheMarkV · #1 03-12-2010, 09:14 AM

i am thinking of going to school for bass performance, but i dont know exactly where to go or what is involved with doing that for a living. but theres a good chance that i will go to temple, but i dont know a lot about the place or the program there. if anyone can answer any of these questions and tell me about temple or what life is like with a bass performance major, it will be great help. thanks

fdeck · #2 03-12-2010, 07:03 PM

You need to get a teacher who has a music degree. A teacher can advise you about music school and careers. He can also evaluate your skills, so you have a realistic assessment of where you stand relative to the expectations of a college music program. So far as I know, you will be expected to be fairly advanced, and also, to know how to read.

An analogy that's worth thinking about is that a student in a mainstream subject such as history or math, has already been studying those subjects in high school from people who know how to prepare students for college. You have to get something like that for bass.

MalcolmAmos · #3 03-13-2010, 10:49 AM

Yes talk to your HS counselor. He/She will be able to help you - I bet you are not the first student that has asked that question.

Couple of our friends children have studied music at Berklee, SMU, and SFA, all three got masters, one a PhD. In my opinion if you want to have music as your life time endeavor you need at least the Masters.

Don't know anything about Temple, I understand Cincinnati has a great music department.

Good luck.

Rockman · #4 03-13-2010, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MalcolmAmos

Yes talk to your HS counselor. He/She will be able to help you - I bet you are not the first student that has asked that question.

Couple of our friends children have studied music at Berklee, SMU, and SFA, all three got masters, one a PhD. I know you want to preform, but, be qualified to do something beyond preform if you want music to be a life time endeavor.

Don't know anything about Temple, I understand Cincinnati has a great music department.

Good luck.

Don't know about your school, but mine all but discouraged anyone from doing anything with the arts. Then again they were exceptionally unhelpful even for someone wanting to get an engineering degree. As far as Temple, are you looking into Jazz? I have several friends going there for a Jazz degree and they couldn't be happier about it. I mean how could you not be happy with half the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra as the faculty. The classical school on the other hand, they said was pretty meh.

Jeremy Darrow · #5 03-13-2010, 10:56 AM

You should contact Temple and ask them. Take a tour of the Boyer College (Temple's school of music) and meet a few faculty members. You should also take at least a few lessons with one of the professors you would study under.

I graduated from UArts, just down Broad St. from Temple. You might want to pay them a visit too.

cat_saltnpepper · #6 03-13-2010, 08:02 PM

if you are willing to or fine with studying jazz at least, it should be fine. anywhere you go, most of the program consist of harmony, ear training, ensemble classes, history and private lessons. some schools offer more advanced or specialized courses like 'modal' harmony, 'advanced' ear training, 'artist' ensemble and on on.

once you graduate, you can be a freelance musician, which means self-employed or unemployed depends on perspective. there are tons of places you can work as a bassist like military bands, cruises, theatre productions and depends on where you are and who you know, you can teach bunch of people or even, will be able to become an instructor.

playing live gigs and etc. are great but in jazz industry, club gigs don't pay a lot. studio sessions do make good money but scenes are getting smaller and smaller. Neil Stubenhaus once said on the article of BP that if you are interested in becoming a studio musician, get a loan and build a home studio, then get some experiences and proofs. in 'pop' music, it's pretty much all business. if you can sell yourself, it'll work out regardless of your major.

depends on how you look at it, it's not that bad but you'd have to work your AXX off to make some quality living as a musician, at least in the beginning though. it gets better as time goes by since your work and all the stuff grows, too.

good luck with your study, hope you have great time during your school year. oh, GE sucks, man.

TheMarkV · #7 03-15-2010, 12:33 PM

thanks for all the advice guys. ill try to do as much of it as possible really. i might just finish the second half of my bachelors degree and then maybe try to just get my foot in places playing drums without a music degree. im not sure how far i will make it this way, but at least ill be sure to have money to do it haha. will this even work or do i need more than just a reputation to get gigs?