Sunday, May 23, 2010

Just how many are we talking about?

There are 625 Music schools, departments, conservatories in the U.S. who are accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music. (and not every school is a member school. Juilliard is not a member of NASM. And we all know Juilliard trains musicians). Entering class sizes vary, and the number of graduates are less than the number we accept in to these programs, however, if you figure that a graduating class can graduate anywhere between 10-60 students every year, that puts the graduating number of music students at between 6,000 to 30,000 new music graduates every year. So the question that I see before me, is this- because of the specialized nature of music training, are these skills transferable? In our efforts to prepare our music students for the highest level of music study, are we omitting other skills that they can use to support themselves? And are we preparing musicians for the realities of the music world? The music world today?

Perhaps the place to start is to get a realistic sense of how many music students we really are turning out- a 24,000 possible difference in numbers is a big one. I think that will be an ongoing research project. . .

All college graduates must face the question of what to do next. And there are plenty of arguments against the philosophy major, or the ubiquitous English major for the very reason that there are few professional philosophers out there. But I'm thinking there is enough room in the English major or philosophy major curricula for a broader based liberal arts education, and the nature of music study leaves little room for that.

I see this post has more questions than answers. Seems to be time for some research. . .

3 comments:

Macio said...

Hey now.. I was a philosophy major in college! LOL. In defense of the Philo major I would argue that the next 20 years will be a very interesting time for this country from a philosophical perspective: issues such as the right to die, privacy issues, bio-ehtical issues, bio-informatic's and the privacy issues that arise from the knowledge of an individuals DNA as they may relate to health care costs! And the list goes on. The chair of my department's job after receiving his PHD: an ethicist for the government.

This, however, probably gives you no guidance on your question: broader curricula for the music major. But I will say this: any decent liberal arts college provides a core curriculum to help round out the student. I believe a key ingredient to the musician in today's modern world is that this musician be savvy in technology.

Today's world more than EVER before enables a tech savvy musician far greater access to disseminating their work than. No evil labels and no corrupt business people. Just pure access. As such, traditional nodes of music education ought contemplate shakin things up a bit ;)

Heather McCowen, Ph.D. said...

Hi Macio- Thanks for your comment! Funny thing, even before seeing your post, I felt a bid regretful about baggin' on the philosophy major. Here's a link to a nice article about philosophy from the NY Times from a bit back-

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/16/what-is-a-philosopher/

I know that for me, this blog is a why for myself (and anyone who reads and/or comments) to challenge what we think we know about music and higher ed. I know my own experiences, but I'm trying to get a feel for the whole system. And you're right, liberal arts colleges DO give a good core curriculum. Here's the problem, to get accreditation to offer the Bachelor of Music degree, there needs to be 70-85% of the curriculum in music classes. Is 30-15% enough? still working that one out. . .perhaps it depends on the 30-15%

Heather McCowen, Ph.D. said...

Or a "way for myself"