For decades, it was commonly believed that only affluent students pursued creative degrees.
If you have enough money and connections, and you don’t need to worry about getting a good job after you graduate, then, sure, go ahead and study something you’re passionate about. Everyone else had to stick to practical degrees.
However, as music schools have emerged over the past century, this thinking has evolved. It turns out that music degrees can be practical.
Just like traditional “safe” degrees, such as engineering or nursing, a music degree offers technical training, valuable networking opportunities, and the soft skills that employers expect.
Rightfully so, many musicians and their parents are interested in learning more about whether studying music in college is truly worth it.
So, let’s look at the significant benefits of a music degree, benefits that go beyond the basic joy of doing something creative.
Specialized Training
The best reason to attend music school is to receive training that you cannot get anywhere else.
While pursuing a music degree, students get direct training from senior musicians, many of whom are among the most accomplished in their field.
These teachers bring years of experience, knowledge, and basic familiarity with the instrument and share it with their students. It’s a time-honored tradition that goes back to the mentor/mentee relationship of centuries past.
We all know the old dictum, “Those can, do. Those who can’t, teach.” That phrase has never been less true than it is with teachers at music schools.
These aren’t professors locked away in an ivory tower, far from the realities of the profession. They’re working musicians who know what it’s like to tour, collaborate, and record.
They understand the business and teach their students what to expect, equipping them with skills that extend beyond the ability to play an instrument.
Many also hold dual appointments with major orchestras and have performed with renowned soloists across every genre. Some faculty members at some schools are renowned soloists themselves, such as Midori, who teaches at Curtis Institute of Music.
This fact remains true for those who teach music production or entrepreneurship. Most professors come to a school with a history of success, whether that be engineering a Grammy-winning record or being a former record executive, and pass that knowledge on to future generations.
Career Opportunities & Networking
Networking with future professional musicians, such as your classmates, as well as others in the industry, is a great reason to choose college for music.
Because teachers at music schools work in their respective fields, even when they hold teaching positions, they provide a point of connection for students simply by teaching them.
Through their instructors, students meet other professional players, creative directors at various symphonies, and producers who own studios.
Even if these people don’t have open positions or opportunities by the time a student graduates, they know the industry as well and can point young musicians to others looking to hire.
Furthermore, music schools immerse musicians among other learners, situating them within the next generation of professionals.
They form the first connections of their professional lives with one another.
And so when one graduate finds a position, they become yet another point of contact for another graduate, only deepening a young musician’s knowledge of the industry.
Performance Opportunities
Yes, there’s something romantic about the idea of a musician so driven by passion for their art that they sit on a street corner and play. Anyone who loves music enough to make it their life’s work does it ultimately for themselves.
But music is made to be heard, and music schools remain the best way to access performance venues.
All credible music programs have a performance element, requiring students to spend a certain amount of time performing their art for others, whether that be playing on stage in a group or solo, composing for student ensembles, or working behind a soundboard in a studio.
Music schools support students in this requirement by providing them with opportunities that are otherwise unavailable.
A good college music program has its own prime stage, the same stage where world-class talent plays when their tour brings them to the college.
Many of the best colleges for music feature top-level recording studios, complete with equipment and technology that would be unaffordable for an individual to purchase on their own.
Finally, music schools have formal ensembles and orchestras that are already established and ready to accept new students.
And, if any of those groups don’t suit a particular student, music school means that they’re surrounded by other musicians, creating the opportunity for groups to form organically.
Studying More Than Just Music & Double Majoring
Already, it’s clear that music schools give students an exceptional chance to become professional musicians.
Even then, however, some may graduate only to find that they don’t want the life of a working musician.
Most music schools in the United States are part of a larger university, which means that students must take general education courses and can even double-major in a non-music field.
Thus, they graduate with not just the skills and abilities to make money from their music, but with all the training they need to join a different industry.
At this point, a skeptical reader may reasonably ask, “Well, why not just study a traditional major and continue playing music as a hobby?”
One answer is that you can absolutely can study both a traditional major and music at the same time!
In fact, many of my students go on to do precisely that, and using your musical background & skills can be a “slant” you use to gain an advantage in college admissions.
Another answer is that some students don’t know that they want to be professional musicians until they’ve tried it.
Further, there’s something to say for the motivation provided by studying music. Let’s be honest, it’s hard to graduate from a prestigious four-year university, and some students thrive by maximizing their passions while enrolled.
If they love music enough to play it every day, a music school guarantees that they get to follow their passions, even if they choose not to make that passion their career.
Some Music Jobs Require a Degree
Sometimes, people assume that a music degree is a luxury. It’s nice for those who can get it and even better for those who can earn a living after graduation, but a music degree isn’t practical.
One look at jobs such as K-12 musical education, for example, shows the opposite is true. Many real jobs require a music school degree, just like positions in any other profession.
Such expectations are particularly true of technical professions. A cursory glance at job listings for studio engineers on Indeed.com reveals that most expect at least an associate’s degree.
A bachelor’s degree or higher is needed for particularly competitive areas. Likewise, those interested in the business side of things require a degree to stand out against a host of applicants who have plenty of enthusiasm, but not much knowledge or experience.
Even when such requirements aren’t explicit, the expectation of a music degree is implied.
For example, the overwhelming majority of those playing in orchestras today hold at least one degree. Several hold more than one.
So prevalent are degree-holding professional musicians that most treat getting a degree as the first step into a professional musician career.
“Most orchestra musicians start their professional careers soon after earning a bachelor’s or master’s degree, usually from a conservatory music performance program,” states the Berklee College of Music’s page on the career of an orchestral musician.
Graduate School in Other Fields (think MBA, Medical School, etc.)
Anyone who has switched careers knows that it’s not always about the specific technical knowledge one has.
It’s more about soft skills, such as critical thinking and the ability to learn. These qualities may help philosophy majors become software technicians, or propel accounting majors to work in the publishing industry.
The same is true of those with music degrees.
Why?
Because it is a process that teaches valuable skills such as commitment, task-oriented thinking, collaboration, and more.
The ability to transfer skills is particularly useful for those planning on going to graduate school.
Many students take their music degrees into advanced fields that have nothing to do with music.
Some enter the sciences, earning degrees in medicine, biology, or dentistry. Others get MBA business degree or qualifications in other technical fields.
Rather than hurt their applications, a music degree helps students stand out. I’ve known countless musicians who, after a bachelor’s degree, seamlessly transition into graduate school in a completely different area of music.
Finding Your Community
Second only to learning your subject, earning a degree is fundamentally about finding a community.
By immersing yourself with other learners and masters of the craft, you get to share in their knowledge, experiences, and enthusiasm.
In any major, those qualities result in higher grades and greater overall success. When applied to a music degree, those qualities result in beautiful music.
Making music is an inherently collaborative exercise, even if it just involves playing a piece that someone else composed. Music schools provide musicians with that community.
It puts them alongside musicians with whom they can learn, play, and create. It puts them among the people with whom they best relate.
Unsurprisingly, this collaborative atmosphere makes for the creation of beautiful music.
However, it also intensifies the qualities of a music degree that we’ve outlined in this article, including specialized training and performance opportunities.
A collaborative atmosphere is ultimately something you can only get in college, something that makes a music degree worth it.
