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Double Bass College Auditions Results 2012

#25
calebbarton said:
education is not worthless, but it is expensive. If you can teach yourself to do things and nail some interviews, you can get jobs that most people cant get. Even if the pay isint completely the same as if you had a college education, you wont be making student loan payments on a $50,000 education.
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$50,000 for an education LOL!!

For many of the better schools $50,000 will buy you 1.5 years.
 
#26
zon6c-f said:
In High School, I was average scholastically, but I excelled in music.

I did a Summer camp at UGA in 1969; got enough credits to graduate early, but I am not good at test taking, so my S A T score was too low..even for UGA..lol...

I lived on the wrong side of the tracks and I thought my next best route was to get a job and take private lessons until I could better figure my future.

While taking private lessons form ASO's Jane Little, I learned from listening to her stories, that symphony players although were highly skilled and educated, made @ little above minimum wage unless well tenured. Most had to suppliment their income by teaching or other vocations.

College, much less university wasn't in my future. Even music colleges, such as Berklee at Boston were not attainable. I had no funding, no scholarships.

I studied independently, but music as a career [ without a degree] never happened as I realized it was more of a matter of good luck and good timing; I had neither.

In the long run I wish I had studied harder in School and got scholarships as opposed to my anti-establishment attitude, but here I am.

In the 1980's, I made equal $$ playing country covers, to my day job, where I am at retirement, now.

Would I have had medical insurance and retirement as a musician? Not likely in this country. Would I enloy teaching music, as opposed to playing? NO WAY WOULD I TEACH TODAY'S STUDENTS...worse than we ever were, when chewing gum, not gun possession was a typical crime.

As for symphonies? Funded by grants... can't make it from ticket sales, symphonies are going broke..... lay-offs...

And still I would not discourage anyone form attaining higher education. Just better have a back-up plan career -wise.

Best of luck to all of you and DO IT WHILE YOU'RE YOUNG.
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Let me offer another perspective. I too excelled at music in my youth but was self taught. I never thought of doing anything else but music. However, when in my senior year I found out that to get into music school you had to have a formal background I hurriedly started lessons and progressed enough to get into music school. After a year my professors told me that although I had the talent I probably wasn't going to cover enough material to get thru the program. Being young and dumb I believed them and switched majors. I got a degree in business (Accounting) and became a CPA.

Spending a lifetime in a career you despise is no picnic either. And no guarantee that you'll have health insurance or retirement either. The consequence of my experience is that I've advised my children to follow their heart and their dreams. ALL CAREERS are tough. A music career isn't easy but accounting is not easy either. Better, IMO, to choose what you enjoy and find a way to make a career of it. In music, I believe that means developing your skills and flexibility so that you can play as many different styles well as you can and developing a private studio to augment your income. Will you be rich? Not likely but you're not likely to get rich in accounting either.

Just my $.02 for the young folks reading this.
 
#27
Another thing worth considering is how long you're willing to be a student/low-level freelancer. While people do occasionally win big jobs right out of undergrad, it is not normal nor expected. The average age for first-time job winners has been creeping upward, with anyone under 25 winning being unusual. Most people continue their studies into graduate school, others will subsist on low-paying freelance work until an audition comes through (or until the freelance jobs get more reliable).

The time it takes is variable, and it all depends on how long you're willing to wait and how hard you're willing to work. You should have some idea for a plan on what to do after school, and you need to assume you will continue practicing no matter what. When you let your job waiting tables eat all of your practice time, you've essentially given up.
 
#29
I'm seeing more and more excellent young bassists who also are double-majoring. I know several who have Science related degrees along with performance.

Very, very good idea, especially since college is VERY expensive and the chance of getting into a major orchestra minimal.

So, what will YOUR other major be? Food for thought guys.........
 
#30
THE SAW said:
I'm seeing more and more excellent young bassists who also are double-majoring. I know several who have Science related degrees along with performance.

Very, very good idea, especially since college is VERY expensive and the chance of getting into a major orchestra minimal.

So, what will YOUR other major be? Food for thought guys.........
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Whatever it is it should be something that is of interest to them and not just a meal ticket.
 
#34
Just to chime in to some of the stuff going on above... since so few get into major orchestras, don't a lot of folks on here teach in public schools as well as pursue a high level of playing? I seem to remember reading that in a similar thread a long time ago. If you have a knack/patience for it, teaching can be a steady gig that allows a good amt of spare time...at least according to my music teacher friends and what I've seen on here. ...not that you should go into teaching just for a paycheck... 8)
 
#35
There's a ton of options to make ends meet while you're getting it together. Playing- if you can play jazz, or in a cover band on the electric, or whatever, you can get by. Long-term freelancing is becoming a more and more dangerous career path here. See the union dispute on Broadway over "Pricilla Queen of the Desert."

If I had it to do over again, I'd do what most struggling musicians do- work a few nights a week at a bar. You can make a good living, and have a huge amount of time free to shed. Just don't get caught in the trappings of the "industry" lifestyle ie spending all night at a bar after your shift, blowing all your tips....

All this said, if music is not your TRUE life calling, save yourself the time and heartache and double major in something people still value. Sorry for the darkness.
 
#38
People that want to teach should teach. People that want to "make ends meet" should place their energy elsewhere. My dream has been to teach and touch the lives of children by introducing them to music and challenging them to reach their fullest potential. Playing the bass is also a goal of mine, to push myself constantly so I can always offer the most to my students musically. This is just my belief. I'm almost done with my music education degree in undergrad.
 
#39
drayberg said:
People that want to teach should teach. People that want to "make ends meet" should place their energy elsewhere. My dream has been to teach and touch the lives of children by introducing them to music and challenging them to reach their fullest potential. Playing the bass is also a goal of mine, to push myself constantly so I can always offer the most to my students musically. This is just my belief. I'm almost done with my music education degree in undergrad.
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I completely agree. I feel like it takes a special person to teach music. I've had my fair share of teachers who just resorted to education instead of performance, and I wouldn't consider them the most "affective" (I trying to put it as nicely as possible). I am lucky enough to have had teachers who decided to education because they were passionate about it. I seriously owe those teachers the world. If they ever need a kidney, I'm their gal. :-D
 
#40
Off topic: Anyone else hear that a former student of Hurst at North Carolina U is replacing Hurst at IU? Faculty members of NC came by my highschool to play, and I talked to there violist because he was a graduate of IU. He told me that there bass teach is supposedly replacing Hurst.
 

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