Music Education

[ChuckTbone]

Hey guys! I’m going to college soon and I don’t know what I should do. I absolutely love music and playing trombone, the thrill of performing is the best thing ever to me. I want this to be my career because it’s what makes me happy but I know performance jobs are not only rare but I would have to move to find those opportunities. I just really do not know what to do, my original plan was to go for my bachelors in music education then go to grad school for a degree to maybe teach in college for trombone. I don’t know if I could handle the young kids even High school kids for that matter. I don’t know what degree would be right for me that would make me happiest and keep my love for music though.

Any thoughts are appreciated!

Chuck

[WilliamLang]

Your original plan sounds ok for what you want to do right now. If you want to teach in College, you'll probably look into getting a DMA after your Masters degree. Practice hard and smart, pay attention to your education classes to keep those doors open, and play whenever you can for whoever you can.

Also, keep an eye on yourself - you may find that your goals change over time, and that's completely ok. You might even end up in a completely different industry! One cool thing is that the skills to be a musician (ability to practice long hours, ability to accept and work with criticism, ability to work as part of a team) are highly sought after in other fields.

The music industry isn't for everyone, and there's a lot of ways out there to be happy. Just be honest with yourself to the best of your ability and keep moving forward.

[robcat2075]

I absolutely love music and playing trombone, the thrill of performing is the best thing ever to me.

Music education is not going to fulfill that passion.

Music education is 10% music, 90% education. Any performing that gets squeezed into that is not about you... it's about your students. You are not the show anymore.

You should only get into ANY Ed field if you love explaining things.

If you are the sort of person who leads off with things like, "If I've told you kids once, I've told you a thousand times..." you will hate teaching.

The possibility that you might play trombone well is not enough. You need to enjoy and be thrilled about explaining things, re-explaining them and starting from zero every year explaining them again.You need to be good at that explaining, too.

You want to skip teaching junior and high schoolers, get your masters and go straight to teaching college? There is already an over-abundance of people in education with advanced degrees in "education" but no substantial experience in real teaching. I've had them at the college level.

I'm also doubtful there are ample career opportunities for teaching trombone at the college level. Many positions for teaching instrumental lessons will be only as "adjunct instructors" because the need is so slim. It's just a part-time temp position. You'll never get tenure. You may not even get an office.

Look at this quick scan of one job site for "trombone instructor" and note how many are "adjunct instructor" and also how many are expected to double up on teaching other subjects.

https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=trombone% ... 9498105f49

If performing is your joy, major in some other subject besides education. You can still take trombone lessons and still play in ensembles. They are not going to turn you away because you are a biology major. When you graduate you'll have a degree of some market value.

[Mikebmiller]

Most of my band director friends who play trombone actually don't play that much. Many are quite good players but they stay so busy with teaching that don't don't participate in community bands or other opportunities, especially during that time of year loosely defined as "marching season," which seems to run from July to December. I was a non music major and I play in 3-5 ensembles, run a brass band and quintet, and play all the shows at my local theater.

[Posaunus]

Most of my band director friends who play trombone actually don't play that much. Many are quite good players but they stay so busy with teaching that don't don't participate in community bands or other opportunities, especially during that time of year loosely defined as "marching season," which seems to run from July to December. I was a non music major and I play in 3-5 ensembles, run a brass band and quintet, and play all the shows at my local theater.

This is also what I see. Hardly any music teachers / band directors around here find the time to perform (until they retire, perhaps) no matter how talented. The groups that I play in are mostly populated with accomplished amateurs or semi-pros who have had other day jobs, or are retired.

[bassboneman69]

Hi Chuck!
I am not sure where you are located. I believe the reality of teaching/performing will vary greatly upon your location.
Getting a bachelors in Music Ed could give you an opportunity to be employed w benefits and retirement. Getting a masters in performance will help w honing any trombone skills. DMA will be a must to teach collegiately.
Just be ready to be in school for a long time and move to many places.
I agree w almost all of what Will Lang wrote. The one caveat…there are MANY, MANY students graduating from music schools also looking for jobs and performing opportunities. So competition can be pretty intense!
I disagree with the statements about teaching jobs interfering with gigging! This to me is a personal preference. IF you have the drive and opportunity to gig and teach then you do it! This is where the location part may also play a great deal. If you are in a metro area as opposed to rural, these jobs may be wildly different or plentiful.
Good luck in college! To many, it can be the best (shortest) time of your life!
Sam

[Mikebmiller]

I disagree with the statements about teaching jobs interfering with gigging! This to me is a personal preference.

He is right about that. There are some band directors that play quite a bit.

Regarding performance as a career, you really need to do a self-assessment as to whether you have the chops and/or the motivation to become one of the top 1 or 2 % of players. I was at the Southeast Trombone Symposium a few weeks ago as a volunteer video guy and I can tell you that there are many many very talented college players out there. These kids sounded great, yet I would guess that a small minority of them will make it as pro players. But don't let that discourage you. Good luck!