Posted by Jay Bertolet on November 28, 2001 at 11:52:12:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Gross injustices posted by Kenneth Sloan on November 28, 2001 at 02:45:52:
Also, with all due respect: no, no, no ,no, no, no!!! ;-)
I have been watching this discussion unfold and your post finally spurred me to respond. I couldn't disagree with you more (and some of what Rick Denney posted earlier) regarding the role of real world training for the college musician. I'm not going to debate with you the merits of such arguments as they apply to other fields because, to be honest, I wouldn't really know what I'm talking about. I'm in music and that is what I am an expert on. I will confine my arguments to that realm.
Consider the path of the would-be musician. You achieve a certain level of playing in primary education and decide, right or wrong, that you'd like to pursue a career in music. You audition for and (hopefully) are accepted into Music School X. If you have a good primary instrument instructor (in my opinion), your training revolves around two key areas: mastering your instrument and learning the skills necessary to compete for a job. Both of these sound like real world training to me. Rick pointed out earlier that we learn a lot of useless information in music degree programs like theory and history, things we'll never apply when we get out to the real world. Actually, this statement really bothered me because a good musician IS using these skills on a daily basis on the job. If there is one thing I could change about my college experience, it would be to go back and take those courses much more seriously. I would be a better musician as a result.
The typical performance degree consists of the standard kinds of requirements: ensembles, private lessons, theory, history, ear training, and electives. If I had it to do over again, I would absolutely take some business courses as electives. There is no question that some business knowledge would be a huge asset to the working musician. These kinds of issues crop up almost daily. So let's say our mythical student does just that. He pursues a well planned course involving all the elements I've laid out. Let's also assume that there is another student who pursues a course more like what you're advocating. Instead of focusing on the things that might help his specific career choice, let's say that this student pursues a more broad based education that encompasses a number of disciplines.
Four years (maybe five) go by and both students graduate. Who are you betting is going to win the first audition that comes up? Both have essentially identical resumes. They also both have roughly the same amount of experience; none. So what makes the difference? I'll bet on the focused student any time.
The advice you give applies (I think) to the student who isn't really decided on a career choice. With that proviso, I will agree your program is the much better choice. For the student who is really sure they want to pursue music performance, I think your advice would be a disaster. Unfortunately, like it or not, the audition process is still based on how you play. It does not take into consideration how broad based your knowledge is or how well you adapt to the changing environment you will be working in. It is based solely on execution. The prospective performance major faces a daunting catch 22. He needs the skills necessary to compete for a job but can't get the experience to develop those skills until he is good enough to do that job. The best way to beat this paradox is to acquire the skills in college.
Actually, I found your statement near the end of your post rather ironic:
"Bringing this back to Music - don't ask for a Music degree that "prepares the student for life in the business". You won't like the result, and it won't really work."
My perception is that this is exactly what we have already. It seems to be working fine. The only improvements I would make to the equation would be more focus on the business aspects of music, something that is sorely neglected as of now. Otherwise, I believe that the typical music school is doing an excellent job of producing well trained musicians. Whether or not all these students really want to be performers and whether or not there are enough jobs out there to support them all is another story.
Thanks for the good discussion!
My opinion for what it's worth...