> the same thing could be said about any musician,
> really. or, if they go to
> college, why not continue lessons with a good
> teacher and get a more
> practical degree (like a masters in ancient gaelic
> literature).
I have to disagree, although I'm not saying getting a
practical degree is a bad thing, since I have one in
addition to my music degree :o). I think university
music degrees can offer so much more for the serious
musician than what you'd get through private lessons
alone. Here's a list of what I learned outside of
private lessons that are invaluable to me as a singer:
1) Theory. When the poetry of a song is ambiguous (and
it often is) I can analyse what the composer did and
it helps me figure out how to interpret it. Also, it
helps me memorize songs, since I now understand form.
2) Sight singing and ear training (especially in
conjunction with theory). I'm pretty sure I don't have
to explain why these would be important to a singer,
but I'll give an example of when it can come in handy
when you least expect it. A few weeks ago I was
sitting in on a recording session of a composer
acquaintance of mine. There were some problems with
the string parts and the score was absolutely useless
(done on a piece of garbage software that totally
warped everything into unreadibility). I used my
eartraining to manually count the bars and figure out
where exactly the problems were - I was able to fix
in ten minutes what they had been trying to fix for
several laborious hours.
3) Music history. It is so useful to be able to put
things in context, to understand stylistic elements
and where they came from, to be able to go to a
concert and have some idea what to expect and a basis
for comparison (and the ability to explain things to
my non-musically trained friends).
4) Masterclasses. I had the opportunity to attend -
for free - many masterclasses given by a variety of
teachers and singers, some quite well known. I learned
something important from each one of them.
5) Recitals, both the ones I had the opportunity to
perform in (any performance experience is a good
thing!) as well as those I had the opportunity to
watch (at least one a week).
6) Other classes that were optional but useful - lyric
diction (improved my pronunciation a thousand fold),
song interpretation, opera theatre techniques, German
and an English poetry class (the last two aren't
technically music classes, but they sure help with my
pronunciation and interpretation skills).
7) The opportunity to be around a large group of
singers on a daily basis (since you all hang around
Vocalist, I'm sure I don't need to explain this one
either :o).
Wow, looking at the list the cost of tuition is
starting to look a little more reasonable...
Jennifer, glad to have a university music degree
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