https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/studying-music/ Guitar Noise Discussion Board en-US Thu, 04 Jun 2026 05:31:19 +0000 wpForo 60 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/studying-music/#post-79617 Mon, 13 Dec 2004 19:59:25 +0000
http://www.musiccareers.net/article.php?id=241

and there are other articles over there too:

http://www.musiccareers.net

-Laz]]> Guitar Players Discussion Dan Lasley https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/studying-music/#post-79617 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/studying-music/#post-79551 Mon, 13 Dec 2004 14:44:35 +0000
A college or university, because it grants a recognized degree, gives you more career options than a music school. If you're trying to get your foot in the industry door, and there's an opening for a coffee-fetcher at XYZ records, they may require a college degree. A B.M. or B.A. will fill that requirement, but a certificate for Joe's Guitar God School for the Musically Adept might not.

To earn a degree, you're going to study some non-music stuff... English, Social Science, etc... and a University will have broader offerings than a college. I remember when I was considering music schools in the 1970s, Berklee had only the minimum number of non-music courses to meet the legal requirements - there was no choice at all for English (on the other hand, the stuff they had looked fun, like "the Poetry of the Blues").

I'm assuming your friend wants to study composition. Their are a few opportunities for composers today... film and TV, where academics aren't required (but they may help you get proximity - more than one film composer met producers by being a coffee-fetcher at a studio!)... advertising jingle work, where degrees also aren't required... and then there's the band/orchestra stuff commissioned by ensembles. Virtually all composers in that sector have music degrees, and most have advanced degrees. In part, that's because their audience is school band directors, who have academic credentials (the other part is the publishers, who may not know music - but they know a PhD is 'better' than an MM).

Then there's the ugly business of making a living. The world supports only a handful of composers. Every movie producer wants a Danny Elfman or John Williams. Independent films often have a low (or no) music budget. Jingle work can pay well, but ad agencies have their favorite writers. Every year there might be several hundred or a thousand new graduates with a composition degree, and a handful will make a living at it.

What do the rest do? Well, most of them teach. That means getting a recognized degree, which would rule out unaccredited music schools.

What he would learn in a college or university is virtually identical - the big difference is in the non-music offerings. He'll study a principal instrument (and they like to see piano as the principal for people on the composing track, because it has the range of all the orchestral instruments), ear training, theory, harmony, keyboard skills (if his principal isn't piano). The rest of the courses will depend in his concentration, and a concentration in composition will mean coursework in composing, arranging, and conducting.

One final thought... there are music schools, and then there are music SCHOOLS. If he's got the talent to enter a top-tier school (like the unaccredited Julliard School of Music), the connections made and the cachet of the school name on the resume can overcome a lot of the minuses associated with non-accredited programs.]]> Guitar Players Discussion NoteBoat https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/studying-music/#post-79551 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/studying-music/#post-5546 Mon, 13 Dec 2004 13:05:20 +0000 where he has to go? college , those schools of music or university? In
fact what's the difference between them and what would we learn in
each? he wants to be a composer. where he has to start studying?
thanx]]> Guitar Players Discussion Rainbow https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/studying-music/#post-5546