A lot of young people dream of going to one of the world’s best music colleges. They hope to find that elusive fame, shooting up to the stars with the greats like Jimmy Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Slash. Very few, however, actually achieve that. Music colleges do not exist to create rock stars, they exist to deliver true musicians, people with not just talent, but with knowledge and understand as well. As a result, the vast majority of people who graduate from music college end up becoming music teachers.
Do You Enjoy Teaching?
Teaching is reasonably easy to get in to. It is important, however, that it is actually something that you want to do. If you went to music college, you are undoubtedly passionate about music, but you have to ask yourself whether that passion extends itself beyond playing, and into conveying it to others. If so, then teaching may just be for you. If that isn’t what you want to do, however, then studying music may not be right for you either. If you are more interested in becoming a performer, what you need is not a solid education but rather a huge dosage of good luck. If, on the other hand, you do want to work in the field of music, but not as a teacher, you may want to consider studying music business, audio engineering, or any other such option.
When Should You Go to College?
Most of us go to college straight after high school. In terms of music college, however, this is actually not the best time to go. When you’re in your late teens to early twenties, you probably don’t really know how you see the rest of your life panning out, and you probably haven’t thought about any of that yet either. Additionally, you will not yet be on the same wavelength as your instructors, which means lots of their wisdom will be lost on you. Lastly, you may feel overwhelmed with the amount of stuff you have to learn. It is important to go to music college only when the time is right, as your passion for the instrument may just get lost if you don’t.
Consider, instead, going when you are approaching 30. At that point, you have life experience, and you will know what you want. If you already love music, you may have already played quite a few gigs, and you’ll have a solid foundation of theoretical knowledge and technique behind you as well. Going to college will be about refining what you already know, and confirming that you have done things right.
You need to consider what it is you want to do with music and how you see it getting intertwined with your overall life. Then and only then will you be able to decide whether or not music college is right for you. It is about taking a candid look at yourself before deciding what it is that you need in your life in order to make your dreams come true.