So YOU want to go to Music School

I once said to a musician and former Berklee College of Music student that I met in a club in Rochester New York that it must be really cool living in a dorm with hundreds of other musicians. He looked at me like I was crazy. Of course, years later, I learned why he looked at me like that when I found myslef living in Berklee’s infamous 150 Mass Avenue dormitory. All in all, I wasn’t crazy (at least not back then), I was just terribly naïve.

Naiveté unfortunately is what leads many young people down the path to a college major that they are ultimately not suited for. With the ever increasing cost of a college education, it is more and more important that young people make well informed decisions about their higher education destination. Not decisions based on fantasy or wishful thinking, but decisions based on experience and facts.

As a teacher I have supported many students desire to study music at the college level. Often sitting down with their parents and answering their questions and laying out the facts as I see them. There have also been students whose desires I have not supported, as hard as that was. Not all students have what it takes, if you’re a student of mine and you want to take the plunge, you have to really show me your drive and determination, not just your love of music… I’m not going to just go along with it because you say it’s your dream.

If you want to go to music school and you’re not already doing the following things, then you either want to get to it or reconsider music as a career choice:

• Study your principle instrument with a qualified teacher
A good teacher can cut years off of the time it takes for you to master your instrument. Sure, you can learn on your own, and you should be doing that as well. However, unless you possess an incredibly keen musical mind, are amazingly disciplined, and have access to a storehouse of information revealing all of the techniques and secrets of your chosen instrument, it’s best to seek a highly qualified teacher to guide you and kick your musical butt when necessary.

• Practice your instrument on a daily basis
Perfecting your craft requires daily practice, end of story. If you can’t discipline yourself to sit down for an hour, or two preferably, everyday, to practice the necessary skills required to perform on your instrument, then you should definitely consider a career at McDonalds instead.

• Play regularly with others
It is so important to leave your musty room and to start playing music with others on a regular basis. Music is almost always a communal sport, a sport with its own rules and its own strange rituals. Practicing in your room, waiting until you’re ready to unleash your talent on the world is probably leading you nowhere quickly. Get out there and play with everyone you can, this is how you really learn, by actually doing.

• Hustle your own gigs
If you’re not gigging now, it’s definitely time to start. You and your friends need to get out of the basement or garage and go down to the local teen haunt or anywhere else you can think of and start plying your trade. Hustling gigs is one of the most important skills a working musician can have, start learning this skill now.

• Get involved with other peoples gigs
Worm your way onto other peoples gigs, in a nice way. Ask to play guitar with your school choir or orchestra. Sit in with your friend’s bands or bands playing at local clubs. Get involved in any type of performance activity that you can. I learned as much, if not more, from being lost reading the music in my schools orchestra and performing in the pit band for local musicals, as I did playing Black Sabbath songs with my friends at the local coffee house.

• Study music theory
Music theory and ear training are the areas most lacking in freshman electric guitar and bass students. Shouldn’t you already know how to read music and understand the inner workings of music theory? Going to music school to learn these basics is a huge waste of money. It’s akin to an engineering student needing to learn how to add and subtract in their freshman year. Learn everything you can as early as you can and pass out of the basic classes. You will get to the cooler things quicker and save yourself some money along the way.

• Study the business of music
Don’t fool yourself; they call it the music business for a reason. Learn the ropes and understand what you’re getting yourself into. While you’re at it, make sure to read only a few books written on the music business before 2005, and all of the books written on it since. The rules of the business have changed dramatically in the last five years, many in favor of the artist. Study this area well!

There is no reason to be naïve in this information rich world of ours. Don’t bury your head in the sand and say that my talent and destiny will lead me were I need to go. Just getting into a good music school can be a herculean task these days. Don’t waste your time and your or your parents money, open your eyes, learn the facts and gain some valuable experience before you leap onto this very difficult career path.