i am a highschool double bass student who is going to pursue music in college. but i dont really know where to start looking for colleges. im looking for a college that has a good school orchestra/ double bass teacher. if you have any reccomendations that would be awesome. thanks!
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Double Bass COLLEGE TEACHERS/SCHOOLS!!HELP....!
- Thread starter irbassist
- Start date
First, what year in high school are you in? If you're a senior, its pretty much too late to figure it out now. If you're a junior or younger, you're OK. If you're going to pursue bass in college, the most important factor to consider is which teacher you will study with. Also, are you more interested in conservatories, universities, or either? If you haven't checked it out yet, there's another thread on this forum about college auditions: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=606499
I think MD means it's too late for THIS year. There are people who don't go to college directly outta high school and go on to have a successful musical education/career. I would suggest finding a professional bassist from a regional orchestra and studying hard if you miss out on finding the right school right away. You can always also save yourself a lot of money by going to a comm. college and taking lessons at the same time.
Are you willing to move or do you want to stay in Texas (saw you're from dallas). If you wanna stay in TX, I know UNT has like the biggest bass program in the world (or at least US). Also, if you wanna move, I know that there are great teachers here in Pittsburgh who you don't hear a lot about in the 'mainstream' (ironic word to use when discussing the double bass in any capacity)...there are also great teachers all over the friggin country, look thru some of these threads and you'll see where everyone wants to go (Curtis, IU, etc..). Remember that you don't have to go to one of those schools to succeed, but they /do/ have a pretty good track record!
If you want to solely focus on playing and have your ass beat to a nice red, I would say stick to looking for conservatories. These schools are often private and are going to cost you a ton of money, but you'll get a boat-load of bass. I know there are universities and state schools that have great bass programs, but that also will require that you take subjects outside of music. At first I was against the idea of having to go thru all of the gen ed stuff in college, but now that I am in my 3rd semester, I can say it's been a lot of fun. Good luck to you--remember, even if you are a Sr. it's NOT too late and just because you don't stick to the traditional timeline (HS>Undergrad>Masters>beyond in back to back order) doesn't mean you can't accomplish what you set out to do!!
Are you willing to move or do you want to stay in Texas (saw you're from dallas). If you wanna stay in TX, I know UNT has like the biggest bass program in the world (or at least US). Also, if you wanna move, I know that there are great teachers here in Pittsburgh who you don't hear a lot about in the 'mainstream' (ironic word to use when discussing the double bass in any capacity)...there are also great teachers all over the friggin country, look thru some of these threads and you'll see where everyone wants to go (Curtis, IU, etc..). Remember that you don't have to go to one of those schools to succeed, but they /do/ have a pretty good track record!
If you want to solely focus on playing and have your ass beat to a nice red, I would say stick to looking for conservatories. These schools are often private and are going to cost you a ton of money, but you'll get a boat-load of bass. I know there are universities and state schools that have great bass programs, but that also will require that you take subjects outside of music. At first I was against the idea of having to go thru all of the gen ed stuff in college, but now that I am in my 3rd semester, I can say it's been a lot of fun. Good luck to you--remember, even if you are a Sr. it's NOT too late and just because you don't stick to the traditional timeline (HS>Undergrad>Masters>beyond in back to back order) doesn't mean you can't accomplish what you set out to do!!
You should really be careful about giving advice on things you have no experience with.
¡bassballbill!;8557222 said:
True, I have not yet a college student, but this is advice that I have been given by a number of professionals and college professors, such as Jeff Weisner of Peabody and Todd Seeber of NEC and BU. If you have different advice, please share it.
My main advice is what I said in my last post.
As for choosing schools, I think it's a pretty bad idea to start quantifying the importance of different aspects of schools, especially just because someone else says so. I would urge any high school students to get as much information as you can about the school as a whole and look at the big picture. There is (or at least can be) so unbelievably much more to an undergraduate music education than just lessons -- orchestra, rep class, master classes, theory and ear training classes, academic classes, exercising, talking to and playing for your peers, going to concerts, hanging out with your friends, eating food, dealing with a roommate, the list goes on and on. I think we can all agree that once you've picked a school, the most important thing is how hard and how well you work there, so I think everyone needs to be honest with himself and think hard about what will really help him thrive. For some people that may mostly be the teacher, for some people that may mostly be being surrounded by other talented, driven bassists, and for some people that may mostly be living somewhere that's warm year-round, but I think everything matters for everyone.
As for choosing schools, I think it's a pretty bad idea to start quantifying the importance of different aspects of schools, especially just because someone else says so. I would urge any high school students to get as much information as you can about the school as a whole and look at the big picture. There is (or at least can be) so unbelievably much more to an undergraduate music education than just lessons -- orchestra, rep class, master classes, theory and ear training classes, academic classes, exercising, talking to and playing for your peers, going to concerts, hanging out with your friends, eating food, dealing with a roommate, the list goes on and on. I think we can all agree that once you've picked a school, the most important thing is how hard and how well you work there, so I think everyone needs to be honest with himself and think hard about what will really help him thrive. For some people that may mostly be the teacher, for some people that may mostly be being surrounded by other talented, driven bassists, and for some people that may mostly be living somewhere that's warm year-round, but I think everything matters for everyone.
¡bassballbill!;8558721 said:
That is the best advice anyone on this board has ever given with regards to a post-high school education.
Listen to Jason Heath's Contrabass Conversations podcasts. There is a lot of good advice for students and how to pick out a college.
When I went to college in the '60's, and when my son who plays oboe picked out a school in the late '90's, we went and took a lesson with the the bass/oboe instructor at each college we were interested in.
A girl I know who is a high-school junior just took a lesson from one of the instructors at Julliard and was told after the lesson that if she wanted to go to Julliard she wouldn't have to audition, and that if she wanted in, she was in!
One piece of advice I heard on one of Jason Heath's podcasts is to decide if you want to go to a school like Indiana where there are 80 bassists in the program and you will always have someone to "chase", or if you want to go to a smaller school where the pressure may not be as great.
When I went to college in the '60's, and when my son who plays oboe picked out a school in the late '90's, we went and took a lesson with the the bass/oboe instructor at each college we were interested in.
A girl I know who is a high-school junior just took a lesson from one of the instructors at Julliard and was told after the lesson that if she wanted to go to Julliard she wouldn't have to audition, and that if she wanted in, she was in!
One piece of advice I heard on one of Jason Heath's podcasts is to decide if you want to go to a school like Indiana where there are 80 bassists in the program and you will always have someone to "chase", or if you want to go to a smaller school where the pressure may not be as great.
Does IU really have that many bassists, or is that sarcasm?
Bill's post really sums it up nicely. I highly recommend taking lessons with schools you seem interested in. Also remember that even if you choose a place and don't like it, changing is not hard. You can drop out, transfer, switch majors, etc.
Bill's post really sums it up nicely. I highly recommend taking lessons with schools you seem interested in. Also remember that even if you choose a place and don't like it, changing is not hard. You can drop out, transfer, switch majors, etc.
It's more like 40-30ish range.
As a student here at IU I love the fact that there's so many bass students; it really keeps the competition high.
But yeah, I'd have to agree with Bill. College depends on what you make of it. If you work really hard, you'll benefit a lot. If you don't, you won't. No amount of telling people that you study with (insert prestigious bass teacher name) will substitute for your playing ability, nor will it make you a better student if that teacher is not the right teacher for you.
The more you go out there and experience the school, meet the teachers, take lessons with the aforementioned teachers, meet the STUDENTS, the better off you'll be in making an informed decision.
I'm surprised more of you younger guys aren't checking out North Texas. Jeff Bradetich is the bass professor there and I can count 5 of his students that have won major orchestra jobs since I was student at UNT.
Brian Perry: Fort Worth Symphony
Bill Schettler: Louisiana Philharmonic Assistant Principal
Joe Kaufman: Seattle Symphony section, then Seattle Symphony Assistant Principal
Tony Parry: Louisiana Philharmonic
Dylan Palmer: Vancouver Symphony
Also, Andy Anderson was studying at UNT before he won the Chicago Lyric Opera audition.
Brian Perry: Fort Worth Symphony
Bill Schettler: Louisiana Philharmonic Assistant Principal
Joe Kaufman: Seattle Symphony section, then Seattle Symphony Assistant Principal
Tony Parry: Louisiana Philharmonic
Dylan Palmer: Vancouver Symphony
Also, Andy Anderson was studying at UNT before he won the Chicago Lyric Opera audition.
Not to change the topic of the thread but I was wondering about how the selection for studios happens at IU and how many people are in each studios or being taught by Graduate Students?
I'm not trying to be smug or anything
As a high school student looking at IU as a possibility I am just curious about how they handle the situation?
No performance majors at IU are instructed by graduate students and lessons are always weekly. When you get in, you probably have a good idea of who want to study with, otherwise you would be able to choose after admission. Between two teachers and five orchestras, thirty something players is quite manageable. Because Hurst is chair of the string dept. and has a slightly larger class, Peter Lloyd comes from Chicago to teach his studio about once a month or so, but that varies. Last semester Hurst was extra busy and it was more frequent, and this semester it will be less frequent. There was a similar arrangement for Hurst's studio my freshman year, but with Jeff Turner. Turner and Lloyd also teach at IU over the summer.
I thought I heard the number "80" in one of Jason Heath's podcasts, but obviously I got it wrong.
Is the 30-40 number performance majors or all bass students including non-music majors?
Conservatories are generally more expensive, and there are not any I know of in Texas.
You may be able to qualify for a scholarship or be able to afford or willing to take on loans to study where you want.
The conservatories I have heard the most about for bass are Curtis (pretty exclusive, small classes study with Hal Robinson and Edgar Meyer) Peabody (pretty interesting program, I think Hal is doing some visits there. They have a blog, looks pretty good. http://peabodydoublebass.blogspot.com/. Rice has a great program, they have some interesting videos about the music business on their site.
There are some other schools out there too, cleveland institute of music, oberlin, Manhattan school of music, hart school in connecticut (I think Robert Black is there)
I would think about how far you want to go, what the right amount of money to spend is, take lessons and find a teacher you can work well with, try to have an idea about what aspect you want to work in, are you thinking orchestral performance or music education, jazz, composition?
Summer workshops and festivals are a good way to meet teachers too.
I like the advice about working hard, I would extend it to say don't discount anything. Enjoy getting the opportunity to play the occasional bad repetoire concert with a good attitude and smile, it is amazing how many people from school you will work with again in the future, and good vibes pay off.
You may be able to qualify for a scholarship or be able to afford or willing to take on loans to study where you want.
The conservatories I have heard the most about for bass are Curtis (pretty exclusive, small classes study with Hal Robinson and Edgar Meyer) Peabody (pretty interesting program, I think Hal is doing some visits there. They have a blog, looks pretty good. http://peabodydoublebass.blogspot.com/. Rice has a great program, they have some interesting videos about the music business on their site.
There are some other schools out there too, cleveland institute of music, oberlin, Manhattan school of music, hart school in connecticut (I think Robert Black is there)
I would think about how far you want to go, what the right amount of money to spend is, take lessons and find a teacher you can work well with, try to have an idea about what aspect you want to work in, are you thinking orchestral performance or music education, jazz, composition?
Summer workshops and festivals are a good way to meet teachers too.
I like the advice about working hard, I would extend it to say don't discount anything. Enjoy getting the opportunity to play the occasional bad repetoire concert with a good attitude and smile, it is amazing how many people from school you will work with again in the future, and good vibes pay off.
One important aspect of the discussion of UNT is (and I admit I've never taken a lesson with Jeff Bradetich) that Brian Perry and Tony Parry went to BU also, and Dylan Palmer went to the New World Symphony after UNT. Not that this discredits the institution, but as a large school, it's numbers aren't the same as IU's numbers and not the same even as some smaller schools like BU that put out consistently strong players.
