Posted by Steve Lamb on February 27, 2000 at 20:47:20:
In Reply to: Re: College costs and beyond posted by Morgster on February 27, 2000 at 02:11:02:
Morgster writes: "With a performance degree, your only option is to play (in the music field anyway). With a music education degree you can play and/or teach."
I must disagree with you on this statement. With a performance degree, there are many options of utilizing your musical knowledge in the business. How many marketing directors of orchestras have any musical knowledge whatsoever? I can name two in my region that have none prior to their current jobs. There's also opportunities in the administrative side of orchestras/musical institutions such as Artistic Administrator, and Production and Operations that a musical education comes in very valuable. Overall, what I'm trying to say is that there are more opportunities for those who do get a music ed. degree to work in music. Yes, you do have to look at the overall aspect of the business, but the jobs exist.
As far as having a music ed. degree to "fall back on," I'm probably one of the few people who disagrees with this concept. For two years I worked towards a music ed. degree, and then in my third year I changed to a performance degree. Why? Not because of an easier work load (that doesn't exist at my school), but because I realized that my heart was not into teaching (at the elementary and secondary level) as much as my heart was into performing. I realized that I did not need to cheat young students of a valuable education by "filling" a position that a teacher who loves to teach should be in. I knew that if I did get a job teaching band or elementary music, I would not want to be there, so I eliminated that option for a career.
Don't get me wrong, this is not an attack against education. I still want to teach private lessons, and at the university level. (Primarily, I want to teach tuba.)
I feel that those who do teach at the elementary and secondary level are absolute saints, and I thank you. They have the largest and most influential impact on music in the future.