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22 replies

Music, not baseball ...

MN-MomMN-MomHSBaseballWeb Owner
I hope no one minds, but this question is about a good college for a music major who doesn't plan to play baseball in college (my 06).

06 son plans to major in music (performance and composition), but wants to be able to focus on both piano (classical, jazz, contemporary) and guitar (rock, acoustic, and jazz).
08 manrunning

One of our webster moms pointed me to a fantastic school in Boston, the Berklee College of Music. It is "the premier institution for the study of contemporary music" and my son is very interested and hoping to attend one of their summer programs to check it out. But we are also wondering if there are any colleges closer to the Midwest that offer strong programs in both piano and guitar, with at least some contemporary music focus.

Son has the grades (3.9 GPA) and preliminary test scores (99th percentile) to be admitted to an academically challenging school.

Anyone with additional suggestions on music schools?
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P PioneerDad100+ posts
MN-Mom

I graduated from Berklee, but it was a long time ago, so things may have changed. At that time, the school was very much jazz oriented, and very strong in pop music, arranging, performing, and (to a lesser degree) composition. It was not strong in "classical"; had no traditional orchestra, string quartets, etc.

Also in Boston is the New England Conservatory. I took some private composition lessons, but don't have any other first hand knowledge of the school. I believe they are more traditionally classical and offer dance, as well.

Here in Rochester (NY, not MN), the Eastman School is very strong in classical music studies, and jazz/contemporary to a lesser extent. Very strong education, performance (including voice), compostion.

Happy plucking!
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D dbg_fan1,000+ posts
Another Berklee graduate here.

Back in the day it a jazz school. My degree is Jazz Comp & Arranging.

Now Berklee has a very strong recording studio & music 'engineering' (studio operations) program.

Be forewarned - it can be a cutthroat place. There were approx 3500-4000 kids in school when I was there in the early 80's. 1500 were guitar players, 1000 were piano players, 800-900 drummers. The rest were filled out with players & bass players. Less than 100 singers, probably.

In my experience Berklee will take anybody's money and let you in the door. Of those 1500 guitar players it was rumored that only 10 kids could read music. Most of those guitar players dropped out after 2 years & moved to NY to chase the rock star dream.

You can get a great music education at Berklee; play and learn from some of the best in the nation if you set goals and plan a challenging path in your class curriculum.
L lhpx2100+ posts
Great question, MN Mom. My oldest son (serious musician) left the midwest and went to University of Miami, where they have a fabulous music school that covers everything from classical to jazz to music engineering and music business. THey also have lots of scholarship money to give. And of course, it is a great place to watch good baseball! A little closer to home might be Lawrence University in Appleton, WI. A great liberal arts school plus highly regarded conservatory that offers a top rated jazz program. Good luck and keep us posted!
D dbg_fan1,000+ posts
Along w/ Miami (very expensive compared to Berklee in my college days) here are 2 more schools to consider. North Texas University in Denton, TX. Cal State Northridge in CA. Both of these schools have long & rich histories of matriculating quality musicians. All of these schools (and Eastman) were on my wish list before I chose Berklee.
L lhpx2100+ posts
Yes, on paper Miami is expensive, but the scholarship money brought it down to "state school prices" for us, which was great. I'll second the suggestion of N Texas -- another large music school that is quite comprehensive in what they offer. Oberlin and Baldwin Wallace have good music schools, but maybe not with the emphasis your son might be looking for.
B Bordeaux500+ posts
MNMom...isn't music wonderful? My baseball player son is also an accomplished jazz trumpet player. He looks almost as happy after a jazz band performance as after a successful baseball outing!

I suggest that you go to www.collegeconfidential.com, and go the discussion boards, "College Search and Selection". Type in your question and you'll get tons of very knowledgeable people helping you. You can also try a message search for music schools.

Also, get a book called the "performing Arts Major's College Guide, by Carole Everett, which has chapters on recommended programs for different instruments and also tips on admissions, auditions, etc. Also there is a Princeton Review Guide to Performing Arts Programs.
PAmomPAmom1,000+ posts
Also---Duquesne University, Manhattan School of Music, U. of New Orleans, the New School in NY.

These are some of the schools that the #1 high school upright bass player in the country (as rated by Downbeat Magazine) is checking out as we speak. The young man of 17 (senior at the local high school) just returned from the Grammy's, where he jammed with Chick Corea, among other jazz greats, as a memeber of the Gibson/Baldwin Grammy HS Jazz Ensemble. These kids were among the elite few across the nation chosen by the International Assn. of Jazz Education to perform at the Grammy nominee reception, the pre-telecast awards show, the official Grammy post-party, various Hollywood nightclubs, USC--as well as attend the Grammy's live and record a CD. He is a SERIOUS musician, as your son sounds. Good luck!

Is this heaven?...
J Jazzman10+ posts
MN-Mom,
You've received some very good information and getting Berklee Alumni's feedback helps out alot. Berklee is still one of the premier colleges for music especially jazz in the country, but there are many other excellent programs. A good resource guide is the magazine Jazztimes, they publish once a year around December their "Jazz Education Guide" and there is a directory of college programs by state. I'm sure if you e-mail or called them they could send you a copy. There website is www.jazztimes.com.
I'm Scholorship Chairman for a Jazz Society and last year we awarded 4 scholorships, 2 students went to Berklee and 1 went to Univ. of Hartford, the other at the time was undecided.

Best of luck
URKillingMeBlueURKillingMeBlue1,000+ posts
MN Mom - Know this is a late post, but I just saw this thread. What about your neighbor to the east, UW-Madison??? I attended there as a music major,,,, errr, let's just say it was some time ago. They had a great jazz program at the time with Les Thimmig at the helm. Don't know what's happening these days, but suggest you check it out before heading to those highly touted (deservedly so) east coast schools!

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Pay attention to the feedback that takes you where you want to go!
C cbg500+ posts
You may want to look at Belmont University in Nashville, TN. They have a great music program and for those that do not have the talent to be a star they have a music business program. This is the program that many of the country music stars and executives graduate from. Vince Gill & Amy Grant are only two of the high profile music industry people that support the program with both their gifts and time.
MN-MomMN-MomHSBaseballWeb Owner
Thank you all for the continuing suggestions for my 06 ... we will check them out! He has been receiving a lot of mail from colleges as a result of his excellent scores on one of the preliminary national tests ... I think it was a pre-ACT ... but his only question when he looks at all the mail is, "What does it say about their music program?".

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