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Double Bass Undergrad And Graduate School Ideas

Well, the great thing about universities, as opposed to conservatories, is their ability to give healthier scholarships. Aside from typically having more money to give, they want to bring in talent to strengthen their departments and, thus, the school as a whole. At a conservatory, however, there is money to give, but it is more selective -- everyone is talented.
 
I'm sorry for the multiple posts but this post caught my attention. I'm sorry but I feel that you couldn't be more wrong. Why is a degree any less important for someone playing jazz than classical (for popular music ill take it, but not jazz). Good luck being a succesfull jazz musician without the connections you make in college with your teachers and peers.


Sorry, but I don't think you could be more wrong either. You DONT need a degree in jazz to be able to play it! The connections are good, but that's all you're pretty much going to get. Most colleges just give you a formula to SOUND like you're playing jazz- and most people just end up spitting out licks, not knowing why or how they sound good.
 
I have not read the whole post, but do not overlook the great music conservatories in England and Europe! There are many great teachers there and opportunities for music students.

believe me, ive looked and am very interested as studying abroad is one of my aspirations. But the proposition is always shot down by the parentals as "it is to far away" :hmm:
in fact i would rather study in England or Germany, but would need help on getting started on the research of the "major" schools there and abroad and whats available.
:help:
 
in fact i would rather study in England or Germany

Well, Germany is pretty hard to beat. Practically no tuition (maybe a 200 Euro a year fee), you would learn a foreign language if you don't hang out with English speaking foreign students, incredible musical tradition etc...

There can be a few stumbling blocks, like having to audition live (you can usually borrow an instrument from the school), having to take some German before hand, having to translate your transcripts etc....but when you take into account the financial savings and the professional benefits it all becomes worthwhile. Certain things won't be easy, especially when dealing with German bureaucracy, but you have to look at things with an open mind because everything will be different, from the way you buy groceries to the way you behave in society. But all this, along with the foreign language, will give you culture and will be worth more than the piece of paper you will get when you graduate. You will be ahead of many people.

Weimar used to accept a video audition as a preliminary audition, and they used to not require German language proficiency for admissions. Mr Wenkel is about to retire which is too bad, but I am sure they will get an incredible person to take over, because the bass studio has always been one of the strongest in Germany. They have cheap dorms (I mean CHEAP), subsidized cafeteria, cheap beer (I mean CHEAP) and not just any beer but some of the best in the world. And the town is a jewel in architecture and culture.

They have a website in English too:

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Tell your parents that there isn't much difference between flying from NYC to LA or to Frankfurt, and be sure to mention the savings.

This is a quote from their website: " There are no general tuition fees required by The LISZT SCHOOL of Music Weimar for undergraduate studies"
another interesting quote: "Starting on 1 October 2008, a tuition fee of 500 Euros per semester will be required for graduate studies which do not directly follow an undergraduate degree" which basically means that if you choose to continue after your undergrad, you still won't pay any tuition.
 
Well, Germany is pretty hard to beat. Practically no tuition (maybe a 200 Euro a year fee), you would learn a foreign language if you don't hang out with English speaking foreign students, incredible musical tradition etc...

This is a quote from their website: " There are no general tuition fees required by The LISZT SCHOOL of Music Weimar for undergraduate studies"
another interesting quote: "Starting on 1 October 2008, a tuition fee of 500 Euros per semester will be required for graduate studies which do not directly follow an undergraduate degree" which basically means that if you choose to continue after your undergrad, you still won't pay any tuition.


does anybody have some German Rosetta Stone software i could borrow?
this has opened up a whole new world of opportunities.
no thanks that could be said on a blog would suffice.
but for kicks and giggles, THANK YOU
 
Sorry, but I don't think you could be more wrong either. You DONT need a degree in jazz to be able to play it! The connections are good, but that's all you're pretty much going to get. Most colleges just give you a formula to SOUND like you're playing jazz- and most people just end up spitting out licks, not knowing why or how they sound good.

+1 thank you.
This should be a debate for another thread. School vs Self Taught Jazz. It would probably get ugly - let's leave this alone in this good civil thread where we are helping this young person on their way towards discovering a life in music. We know he does not want to play jazz now, so it will be irrelevant to him.
 
You could go into the army for a few years. That would take care of the financil problem. Beteen the GI Bill, Army college fund and pay (if you save that up) you coul have about 90 grand. Also, I hear that the Uiversity of Washington has one of the best schools of music in the world, foriegn or domestic.
But I don't know. I'm just prejudice agaisnt big name colleges and uinversitys because they make you pay through the nose to get an education and most everyone ends up going into tens of thousands of dollars in debt. College just shouldn't cost that much. Berklee College of Music gets over 100 million a year. I just simply can't believe that a college needs that much cash to develop a cirriculum and opperate.
Now that I'm donbe ranting :D just try to be concientious of the cost VS quality of school.
 
hey guys,
another question school related so i figure just throw it on this thread...
When a college (university or conservatory) is going through application after application, how big of a factor are the level of classes the applicant took in high school with subjects that arent related with music? would a kid who took some AP college level classes in math/social studies be regarded as a better choice over someone who took Honors level classes. Or would the AP student seem as though they couldnt put their heart into one area.
_______
otherwise, how many of you performance graduates were able to take AP classes and still be at the top of your playing ability?
and, were the AP classes worth it?
registration for my junior year is coming up, and many view it as the most important year that colleges look at.

thanks everybody


Hey,

Take as MANY AP courses as you can. If you get at least a 3 on the AP exam, your school pays the exam costs (most times), and MOST colleges accept the credits. IMO, they are the ONLY courses that prepare you for real college courses. Taking a REAL college course can be challenging without prior experience.

I earned a 3 on AP Chemistry, US History, and Calculus AB exams. My school (U. Delaware) gave me credit for the calculus and history courses, a total of 10 credits. That calculus class was also higher ranked than the math course the music majors had to take - you might as well get it out of the way now!

Depending on your major, not all schools accept all AP credits. For me, majoring in chemical engineering, the only way we could test out of freshman chemistry was to get a 5 on the AP test & have special circumstances - essentially they wanted us all to take UD's chemistry. Something to keep in mind.

Regarding the difficulty level of the classes - they aren't THAT hard. It IS HIGH SCHOOL. There is no reason why you shouldn't be able to take 3-5 AP courses and still practice several hours a day.

Hope this helps!

ian
 
Hey,

Take as MANY AP courses as you can. If you get at least a 3 on the AP exam, your school pays the exam costs (most times), and MOST colleges accept the credits. IMO, they are the ONLY courses that prepare you for real college courses. Taking a REAL college course can be challenging without prior experience.

I earned a 3 on AP Chemistry, US History, and Calculus AB exams. My school (U. Delaware) gave me credit for the calculus and history courses, a total of 10 credits. That calculus class was also higher ranked than the math course the music majors had to take - you might as well get it out of the way now!

Depending on your major, not all schools accept all AP credits. For me, majoring in chemical engineering, the only way we could test out of freshman chemistry was to get a 5 on the AP test & have special circumstances - essentially they wanted us all to take UD's chemistry. Something to keep in mind.

Regarding the difficulty level of the classes - they aren't THAT hard. It IS HIGH SCHOOL. There is no reason why you shouldn't be able to take 3-5 AP courses and still practice several hours a day.

Hope this helps!

ian


I agree with this, I have credit from the AP Calc AB and BC, Spanish and another two classes of math, and Physics this year. I'll have enough to cover the gen-ed classes for Math, Foreign Language and Science by the time I'm done, It was 90 bucks for each AP test as opposed to about 1500 (for instate) tuition per class.
 
believe me, ive looked and am very interested as studying abroad is one of my aspirations. But the proposition is always shot down by the parentals as "it is to far away" :hmm:
in fact i would rather study in England or Germany, but would need help on getting started on the research of the "major" schools there and abroad and whats available.
:help:

I am not a double-bass major at my uni, but these are the conservatories in England and Europe that I have heard are very good.

Royal College of Music
Royal Academy of Music
Trinity College of Music
Royal Northern College of Music
Guildhall School

HFM Berlin
Musikhochschule Stuttgart
CNSM de Paris

Bayerische Rundfunk Orchestra Academy
Orchester-Akademie der Oper Zürich
Karajan Academy-Berliner Philharmoniker
Munich Philharmonic Academy