We're eager to share some holiday tips for parents of future music majors, because we know you're in a unique position. We've been there too. For kids applying to college in fields other than music, the winter break of the senior year is typically a time of relief. College applications are in or close to being finished, midterms are over, and a chance to catch up on sleep and socializing with family and friends has finally arrived. For music parents, it's a different story.
What’s a back-up plan for music school about, anyway? Isn’t it your envisioned safety net, in case your front-and-center plan fails? Given that times are tough and that thousands of new college grads in every field are having a rough time finding a job, isn’t a back-up plan what you need?
Do you really need to go to music school to pursue a career in music performance?
I'll always remember that first "uh-oh" phone call with the dreaded words, "Mom, I'm sick." It took two months into my son's freshman year at music school for me to realize the one thing I never in a million years would have thought to do: find the closest source for chicken soup.
A musician’s ability to connect with his or her audience has everything to do with how well the performance is received and how likely it is that the audience will come back for more.
Hisham Dahud applies his background in music to the ten best-known Gandi one-liners about how to “do” life. The result is a handy list of timeless jewels set to the tune of music business.
How would I feel if my student or son or daughter wanted to major in popular music in college? I found myself asking this question at the 2nd Annual Conference of the Association for Popular Music Education (APME) held in Nashville, Tennessee in June, 2012.
The International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) provides a list of schools that offer "College Level Bluegrass & Music Business Programs", according to Dan Hays, former executive director.
What happens for you when you hear about a "self-made" success story?
Music students, music majors, musicians: Ever wonder why you have trouble with improvisation sometimes while at other times it’s a cakewalk?
Did you know that there's a national non-profit association of writers, bloggers, photographers, web producers, audio broadcasters, film makers, videographers, and new media specialists whose focus is jazz?
USA Today recently ran an article by a career consultant named Andrea Kay. She talked about her experience of needing to hire a musician for a program she was presenting, and what it was that drew her to hire a particular individual.
What happens when high school students attend summer music programs? They transform. There are no distractions to keep them from diving into their music as there are during the school year.
Kudos to band students at ThunderRidge High School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. They're members of SAM (Students for the Advancement of Music), and they're providing an interim solution to budget cuts that have forced the elimination of music in the Douglas County elementary schools.
Classes are back in session at most high schools around the country. For seniors whose plans require an audition for music school, those auditions are just around the corner. This is the beginning of the next phase in the wild and wacky world of applying to music school, and not the easiest of times for students OR their parents.
We've already mentioned the fact that one of the top criteria for deciding which school to accept, should you be fortunate enough to have a choice, is how much career development support you'll receive. Now that graduation and what follows are becoming increasingly more real to seniors, it's time to revisit your options.
We've written about the occupational hazards of hearing loss facing musicians on MajoringInMusic.com (see "Use Protection! Tips for Saving Your Career"), so it was particularly interesting to discover the 11.16.11 blogpost, "Is Your Favorite Band Making You Deaf?", written by Bob Boilen, host of NPR's "All Songs Considered."
After spending Saturday at Occupy Denver to try to figure out for myself what the Occupy movement, at least the one in Denver, is all about, I was interested to see today's NPR's Song of the Day, "No Doctor" by the Seattle band Virgin Islands.
Tis the season for scam services who want to lure you into paying for access to “thousands of scholarships, internships, and jobs” for a “small fee.” Don’t believe it and, most of all, don’t buy it. Any scholarship or internship that’s worth applying for is one where you don’t have to “pay to play.” But you have to do your homework to find them.
Music theory is a part of every music major's curriculum because it has everything to do with being able to understand and perform music.