I need help on a leap of faith (need any help I can get)

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BrownEyedBoy

Rock n' Roll Doggie
Joined
Jun 18, 2001
Messages
3,511
Location
San Pedro Sula, Honduras
This is something I've toiled with for ever since I can remember.

All my life all I've ever been truly passionate about is music. But I know that the musician's life is very difficult and pretty much a shot in the dark.

I started law school about three years ago and have been working at a pretty decent - if not pretty good - law firm for about two years. Basically, I've dabbled on the subject for a while; I know what it's about. The last couple of months, though, I have been very bored of class - to the point of not even showing up at classes - and I've pretty much lost whatever enthusiasm I had with my job.

And the one thing that I still enjoy is music ago nd the one thing I dream about is music but in Honduras I don't have a snowball's chance in hell to ever make a decent living in music.

Long story short, I want to take a shot at going to a music school in the US and see where it goes even though I have a pretty limited budget to do it (about 15k maybe a little more). I am willing to work and do whatever's necessary to stay in school and give this a legitimate shot. I think my eventual happiness is worth it. If it doesn't work out then I'll just come back here and finish what I started.

Anyway, what I'd like to know is if anybody here can give me
any orientation as to what schools are possible or what jobs. I am a pretty decent guitar player and I'd love to take piano lessons. Speaking the english language isn't a problem at all for me, either.

I really do want to give this a shot so any help or advice is more than welcome as I am completely clueless as to what doors to knock on and whatnot. Hopefully all I have the balls carry on with this all the way.

Thanks.
 
I don't have any perspectives on good music schools or anything in the US, but I just want to say, you should go for it. Living your life doing something you know is not the thing you'd love to do the most, can make you think back in a couple of years thinking to yourself: WHY on earth did I not take that chance? A lot of people would say here, work is not something to be fun, it's difficult to find a fun job, blablabla. But I say, you should try to pursue your happiness. Life is too short thinking 'what if I'd done that'. You should act. And if it doesn't work out, like you said, you can go back to being a lawyer, you've got a degree in that after all. Good luck :)
 
I also don't have any specific advice I can give but just wanted to encourage you in your quest. Not much worse than looking back and realising you should have taken a completely different path.
 
Well, Music is actually a very diverse field. You'll have to do some research, as well as an examine of your own heart to decide what it really is you want to study. There's so many areas: music performance, music theory, music education, music industry, etc. Each one is quite different from the next. I suggest exploring various schools, contact their advisors and faculty to get a feel for the programs to see which ones best match your needs. The only ones I've had friends that went to are Indiana University, Berklee, and Carnegie-Melon. My friends really liked each of these programs. This site provides a list of Universities that offer programs in music:

http://www.excel-ability.com/Music/Programs/MusicSchools/MusicSchools-USA.html

You can also do a search at Yahoo!Education here: http://education.yahoo.com/

Since you're currently in law school, you may be able to get into a graduate program...however they will probably require you to take some pre-requisite courses in addition to your audition.

Good luck! It really doesn't hurt to at least apply. You can worry about making that leap of faith decision once the offers of admission start coming in.
 
clarityat3am said:
Ever thought about music law?

I'm not sure what that would do for him. All you would do is push paper related to the music industry; it isn't as if his love of music would somehow come into play while doing 90 hours of due diligence a week.

I'm not sure about American music programs - maybe USNews & World Report has some kind of ranking for it, since they do it for other programs (like meds, law, etc)?
 
Well hey, you only live once. Its better you go for it, and see what happens than in x years time saying to yourself "I wish I had..."

GO GO GO! Do you have any music qualifications? Im guessing you're pretty knowledgeable, can read music and know theory etc.
 
How is your musical skill at the moment? If you can't sight read decently or know very little theory, don't expect to walk into a graduate program in music, nor a bach in many music programs.

At any university with a semi-decent music program, you'll be competing for placement with a bunch of people who have been playing classical instruments since they were seven or eight years old. I appreciate enthusiasm, but there's also a very real need to be realistic about the program you select and what you want to get out of it.
 
Canadiens1160 said:
How is your musical skill at the moment? If you can't sight read decently or know very little theory, don't expect to walk into a graduate program in music, nor a bach in many music programs.

At any university with a semi-decent music program, you'll be competing for placement with a bunch of people who have been playing classical instruments since they were seven or eight years old. I appreciate enthusiasm, but there's also a very real need to be realistic about the program you select and what you want to get out of it.

Thank you. That's exactly the type of orientation I need (not that the other posts haven't been helpful). I'm a pretty good guitar player and I plan on learning some piano and learning to sight read with that.

I also plan to try for music in a year and a half after I graduate as a lawyer here.

Thanks.
 
what canadiens said. i work in international admissions for a private university with a well-respected school of music and it's really competitive not just to get in but to get any funding. Also keep in mind that as an international student (assuming you are planning to study in the US), you have to be able to show money in the bank equal to the amount it will cost to fund your tuition, room and board, and expenses for at least one full year...just to get your student visa. Depending on the school, that can be quite a chunk of change. Once here, you're not allowed legally to work anywhere except for dinky jobs on campus which pay minimum wage. Much of the scholarship funding is limited to domestic students and is not awarded to international students. So money really does become an issue.

That said, I always think that following your heart is important. But I think that you might be able to learn a lot in an informal setting by playing with a band or surrounding yourselves with other musicians. I have a lot of friends who are musicians and most of them have had little formal training. They have spent long hours practicing, playing gigs in nasty little bars and putting in a lot of time. But it's what they love, so it's worth it to them. It all depends on your goals, I guess.

Good luck!
 
I think JS, unico, Canadiens & sula ALL have good ideas, things to think about BEB!

As one of the "elders" :)shifty: 50 plus and NO I'm NOT an AARP member :wink: ) #cough# in Interland, and one who has moved, {sometimes careened :huh:] between the Visual Arts-
B & W and Color Drawing/ some Painting {realistic-representational and abstract} most of this for love/fun/ and no money..... and, oh, i have a Bachelors of FIne Arts nd special arts classes in (USA) Public Schools (in better days)
/ Abstract Sculpture (some money)
/ Graphic Design/paste-ups and mechanicals <the oldfashion way > and some Illustration// photostylist/ I made good to quite good money most of the time....and did lots of illustration more in {non-music} fandom, for fun and illoing stories practice.

and [often BORING] Office work { luckily mostly with NICE co-workers & bosses}...........
...my situation is more "not the usual" now..........
there might come a time when i am pressured to resume office work....I sure hope NOT! :madspit:
......but until then {and even if I am doing Ofcwerk again BLAH} I'm going to be trying really hard {not that I haven't been trying hard alot of the time, there are certain obsticles in the way} --- I'm really going to try #unless there is some devasting emergency# ( :pray: NOT!!!!!)
EXTRA in 2008 to truely re-ignite my artistic endeavors!!!!!:hyper:

for which i say- BEB- try to keep some practicallity AND :yes: somehow go for your dreams too!!!

I happen to be thinking hard about this for a bit TODAY while strolling the aisles of Target ( a Big Chain Store - but nice imho) while looking for good bargins on Science Fiction DVD's.

.....and I was thinking IF i only have one life....

...and i really thot...i'll be damned to be told "what to do" at this stage of my life when it comes to the Light in My Life which is Beauty/ Wonder in Nature and Human Creativity { and my very much loved friends & family}
{and good stuff happening in the the world}.


I will/have listened to & sometimes taken advice....:D


SO go for it as much as you can.......and if it's a zig-zaggy path.....so be it.


BTW I found "Independence Day" in DVD (had 2/3 rd's of it that i taped s ome years back). while not what i was actaully looking for it was on my list of "to get" with in a few months.
I was looking for HP: golden goblet <NOT EASY to find in reg DVD even so far in used Dvd's- which how i buy most of mine UNless i can get a really good sale!>

me thinking THIS topic today/ finding unexpectedly & uying Independence Day/ and then finding you thread here tonight (actually very early morning) some would say is Not a coincidence......

i dunno...maybe not .... : )


I know...a way long post....but i haved lived a lot of life...and hope :pray: and a lot more to go~~~ in style!

and GOOD LUCK!!!

keep us posted!
 
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I would spend some time on Google researching US schools with decent music programs, and then reading through their Faculty of Music admission requirements.

That way, you can get an idea of what you would need to do as far as auditions, visiting the schools, and general admission procedures and such.

Glad I could be of some help; my dad was on the admissions committee for the McGill faculty of music for ten years, so I'm slightly familiar with such things. :up:
 
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