music schools

Hm... good job / college degree / musician ... you usually don't find more than two of those terms in the same place :)

The first thing to ask yourself: is 'good job' a job in the music industry, or any old good job?

If you want a generic good job, you'll want an accredited degree. The problem there is that there are so many accreditation programs... there's the National Association of Schools of Music, which accredits over 600 schools. If you browse their list, though, you'll see some names missing... names like Berklee, or Julliard.

That's because there are also accrediting organizations that don't specialize in a subject. Berklee happens to be accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (there are lots of regional organizations like that). On the other hand, there are schools that offer accreditation from organizations that are... how should I put this nicely?... accreditation mills. You'll be interested in finding out what OTHER schools are accredited through a particular agency, and if you don't recognize any of them, you might as well save money by making your own degree with crayons and a paper towel :)

There are some schools that tell you they don't seek accreditation because they are interested in music education, not having a specific percentage of instructors with earned PhDs, or meeting other accreditation requirements. Sometimes that's true - Julliard is not accredited. They prefer to have courses taught by world-class musicians rather than academics. Most of the time it's an excuse for taking your money. If you're considering a non-accredited school, ask yourself if folks will be so impressed by where you went that they won't care if it's accredited or not (I'd say Julliard, Eastman, and Curtis are probably the only three in that group in the US... and Curtis is accredited; I'm not sure about Eastman)

Next, realize that no matter what you study, music is a tough business to enter and sustain yourself over time. The single most solid career path is as a school teacher, the band director sort of thing - and that gets shakier with every budget cut. Some colleges do a stellar job of training band directors; one here in Chicago (Vander Cook College of Music) says it places 100% of graduates. There are other schools with great reputations too, but likely regional - here it's Illinois University, DePaul, and Indiana... band directors hire assistant band directors with similar backgrounds, you know? Ask people in the field.

Arts management is probably the next most stable IF you have the academic preparation - many schools offer a bachelors degree in arts management now. Follow that up with a law degree, and maybe CPA certification, and you'll probably land a job.

In just about every other aspect of music, academic credentials can help - and in some cases, like music librians, they're required - but it's not really the degree that gets you the gig, it's the ability. So if you want a good job in the music industry that's not teaching school or arts management, get a good degree in anything - it's your backup plan - and become a really good musician. Then meet everyone you can, impress everyone you can, be polite to everyone you can, never quit, and you'll get the standard 1% chance of making a living like everybody else :)

Here is a different list for Sound Engineering Schools, which is another approach to the industry.

http://www.musiccareers.net/article.php?id=241

And listen to NoteBoat, he knows his stuff.

-Laz

Thanks guys, really good info.

I actually think I will stay at the college I'm at now (would be way less of a hassle, live close to home, etc). And get a degree in music education and classical guitar, too. Plus there are some technology classes here that I might take.

If I want to get a degree from a better music school I can always try for grad school, I guess. Right now I'm at http://www.colorado.edu CU boulder which seems like it has a pretty decent music program all in all.

Anyway thanks :)