Need Help choosing a degree path

[ZENBASSGUY]

Hey guys, here's the story i am currently a jazz perfromance major at Umass and i have like a year and a half to two years before i graduate and the plan is to get my masters and teach at a college however i am not wondering if i should switch to a music education major which i would graduate in probably 2.5-3 years but be able to teach in elementary schools while i work on my masters( which is required i get to teach in my state) so i don't know what to do i already have like 70 credits out of 130 needed to graduate so i'm pretty much halfway through but need to make a desicion soon because next year i have to start on one track or the other. i guess my question is is it better to go strait for the masters and hope i can teach at a college or get the teaching license and work for the masters while teaching in secondary schools. what would you do

thanks for the help
Dan

[Kam]

Hey Dan,

Other more experienced, and far wiser folk than I browse these parts but allow me to impart my chump change opinion on your situation. Friends of mine have and are currently seeking out teaching positions at the college level in jazz departments and have found it is a long and arduous process unless you get lucky or are just that good. Also, experience seems to be a far larger part of who gets what position than you may expect, so the Grad School => College Gig may not be as easy as you think.

Of course, the flip side of that coin is that teaching music/directing bands in public high schools can be extremely demanding and time consuming. However, it sounds like you're passion is teaching, in which case, the secondary education path will be a good fit. I know quite a few people who have taught secondary and then gone on to get their masters, and I think their experiences teaching have aided their studies in grad school. Again, just my .02, good luck in whatever you decide!

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by Kam

Friends of mine have and are currently seeking out teaching positions at the college level in jazz departments and have found it is a long and arduous process unless you get lucky or are just that good. Also, experience seems to be a far larger part of who gets what position than you may expect, so the Grad School => College Gig may not be as easy as you think.

Excellent advice. As one of the "lucky" ones from the description above, I can back this up with my own experience. My first college teaching gig was at a community college, where I taught classes like Intro to Music, History of Rock Music, and African American Music. The second gig was teaching Music Technology, Theory, and Piano. It was only by chance that my third (and current) college teaching gig turned into jazz bass gig, and that's only a part of what I ended up doing. Guys like Rufus and Lynn Seaton can pretty much pick where they want to be be, but for the rest of us mortals, it's a real grind and kind of a crapshoot.

Of course, the flip side of that coin is that teaching music/directing bands in public high schools can be extremely demanding and time consuming. However, it sounds like you're passion is teaching, in which case, the secondary education path will be a good fit. I know quite a few people who have taught secondary and then gone on to get their masters, and I think their experiences teaching have aided their studies in grad school. Again, just my .02, good luck in whatever you decide!

Again, good advice. I knew a long time ago that I couldn't teach middle/high school music because I'm the wrong personality type for that and my heart wouldn't be in it. But if you think it might be right for you, it sounds worth a shot. It wouldn't preclude you teaching at a college, and it would give you a much better shot at gainful employment in the meantime. YMMV, of course.

[jgbass]

I would definitely make room for music ed. I am a performance major and I am double majoring in music ed. I tend to think a position in a university jazz department is kind of a tough call. You may get a position, but it may, more than likely, be part time without benefits, at least to start.

Everyone I have discussed this with sees the wisdom of music ed. This instructor at the community college I attended last year talked about how he went for music ed for his BA level degree. Then, he did the performance as a masters degree. He has never regretted this, and is currently a full-time community college instructor teaching jazz. He encourages all of his students to do the same thing. Even though he did music ed, he held himself to high performance standards, hit thepractice room late at night when sleep would have made more sense, and is currently also a busy gigging player as well. The thing with this is to make sure you find the time to do all the jazz stuff you intened to do, even if it is a stretch, and fit in the music ed as well.

[Sam Sherry]

Per usual, many others are better-qualified to opine than I.

I am qualified to say that, around here, VERY FEW of the college jazz teaching gigs are full-time. That may be worth bearing in mind through your decision-making process