For those of you who have kids majoring in music...

[LuvingLife]

...or maybe even if you have, what can you do with a music major/minor? I want to major in music or minor in it and there are so many types of majors out there that it has my head spinning. I play the violin, and I would like to start piano and vocal training soon as well. Music therapy has been my top pick since I volunteer a lot of my time working with autisitic kids and I love music so I thought combining both of these together would be a great idea! But there's another problem, the program at the college I would like to attend is in Kentucky, and I am in tiny RI which is pretty far away. I also won't be able to get the scholarship that I need to attend that program, so music therapy has gone from my future career to not gonna happen. But there is a school all the way in California that would offer me the aid I need to attend but they don't have a music therapy program. :tongue_smilie:

 

There are so many types of music majors and minors out there that I would love to know about since music therapy might not be an option anymore or at least right now. I like photography, history, and writing, is there a way to combine those into a music degree?

 

Thanks!:bigear:

[FaithManor]

Don't give up on music therapy just yet. How many colleges have you applied to and received financial aid responses from?

 

Temple University, Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Ohio University, NYU, East Caroline University (Greenville, North Carolina), Charleston Southern University, Illinois State, Purdue, University of Evansville (Indiana), Anna Maria College (Massachusetts), Lesley University (Cambridge, MA), Montclair University (New Jersey), Appalachian State University (Hayes School of Music - North Carolina), Radford and Shenandoah Universities (Virginia), and several schools in Pennsylvania all have Music Therapy B.A.'s. So, maybe you should expand your search. I know it is expensive to pay application fees, but it can pay off in the end for finding that just right program that thinks you would add to the diversity of their student body and therefore cough up some good merit money.

 

Additionally, you could major in special ed and minor in music. This should qualify you for the Music Therapy certification program through Arizona State which allows education or medical undergraduate who have associated music degrees to go through a crash course music therapy cert program.

 

Faith - Keep your chin up and don't give up on the dream!

[LuvingLife]

Wow! I had no clue that there were so many schools that offered music therapy it's actually surprising, and some are in mass! That is really neat, thank you Faith, you have really helped me out and I will be checking these schools out asap!:)

[FaithManor]

I tried to list mostly eastern seaboard and mid-western schools but I couldn't list them all. So, if you google the American Association of Music Therapists (I think that's what it is called) and wade through their website, you'll find a full list of universities. I think Florida State was even on that list.

 

Keep pressing on!

Faith

[LuvingLife]

I tried to list mostly eastern seaboard and mid-western schools but I couldn't list them all. So, if you google the American Association of Music Therapists (I think that's what it is called) and wade through their website, you'll find a full list of universities. I think Florida State was even on that list.

 

Keep pressing on!

Faith

 

Thank you so much! You have been a great help and I can't thank you enough, this is going to be a fun journey!:D

[tabmtbc]

I majored in music therapy in college and graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in music therapy. You might want to google "educational common market." If there is not a music therapy degree program in your state, my understanding is that you can be an out of state student going to school for in-state rates if your state doesn't have that major. Also check out the American Music Therapy Association http://www.musictherapy.org for a total list of schools who offer programs in music therapy that are affiliated with our professional organization. go to the University of Alabama website at http://bama.ua.edu and look up Carol Prickett and Andrea Cevasco. Andrea is the Director of the Music Therapy program and Dr. Prickett is her co-chair. She is also head of the department of Music Education. Dr. Prickett was the director of the Music Therapy Program when I was at Bama and still is VERY much a part of the music therapy program. They deal with these issues daily and would be able to tell you directly what needs to be done.

 

The degree program is so full that you don't even have the hours left over to pursue a minor. Like I said on the other thread, the most difficult thing about majoring in music for me was not the degree, it was finding a job afterward. The career center on campus didn't know what to do with me/other music majors at the time so much as they did more "typical" majors. The accountants and business people and engineers yes, but musicians not so much.

 

My daughter may be majoring in music (course I have 5 more years with her) and if she does, I'm going to advise a double major so she can pursue her music degree and get a job in her second major while she looks for the real music job she really WANTS to do.

Edited June 13, 2011 by tabmtbc

[tabmtbc]

I tried to list mostly eastern seaboard and mid-western schools but I couldn't list them all. So, if you google the American Association of Music Therapists (I think that's what it is called) and wade through their website, you'll find a full list of universities. I think Florida State was even on that list.

 

Keep pressing on!

Faith

It's the American Music Therapy Association http://musictherapy.org and yes Florida State is on that list. I did my internship in Tallahassee.

[LuvingLife]

I majored in music therapy in college and graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in music therapy. You might want to google "educational common market." If there is not a music therapy degree program in your state, my understanding is that you can be an out of state student going to school for in-state rates if your state doesn't have that major. Also check out the American Music Therapy Association http://www.musictherapy.org for a total list of schools who offer programs in music therapy that are affiliated with our professional organization. go to the University of Alabama website at http://bama.ua.edu and look up Carol Prickett and Andrea Cevasco. Andrea is the Director of the Music Therapy program and Dr. Prickett is her co-chair. She is also head of the department of Music Education. Dr. Prickett was the director of the Music Therapy Program when I was at Bama and still is VERY much a part of the music therapy program. They deal with these issues daily and would be able to tell you directly what needs to be done.

 

The degree program is so full that you don't even have the hours left over to pursue a minor. Like I said on the other thread, the most difficult thing about majoring in music for me was not the degree, it was finding a job afterward. The career center on campus didn't know what to do with me/other music majors at the time so much as they did more "typical" majors. The accountants and business people and engineers yes, but musicians not so much.

 

My daughter may be majoring in music (course I have 5 more years with her) and if she does, I'm going to advise a double major so she can pursue her music degree and get a job in her second major while she looks for the real music job she really WANTS to do.

 

I didn't realize that there were so many schools offering music therapy as a degree. One of my violin teachers is majoring in music therapy and has gone on to graduate school to finish it up, and she has said that it's difficult but a very fulfilling career option. She also teaches on the side, so she has fun.

 

Now here is my question, did you major in piano or vocal, or both for music therapy? I want to do guitar, but that is not an option for me right now, violin is definitely one option and I have a friend who is going to be teaching me piano soon. I hope this makes sense, I have a cold so nothing is making sense to me today.

 

I agree though if you want to major in music, do a double major just in case things don't pull through for your daughter or for anyone. That's what I was considering if things didn't take off for me.

 

Thank you!:)

[tabmtbc]

I didn't realize that there were so many schools offering music therapy as a degree. One of my violin teachers is majoring in music therapy and has gone on to graduate school to finish it up, and she has said that it's difficult but a very fulfilling career option. She also teaches on the side, so she has fun.

 

Now here is my question, did you major in piano or vocal, or both for music therapy? I want to do guitar, but that is not an option for me right now, violin is definitely one option and I have a friend who is going to be teaching me piano soon. I hope this makes sense, I have a cold so nothing is making sense to me today.

 

I agree though if you want to major in music, do a double major just in case things don't pull through for your daughter or for anyone. That's what I was considering if things didn't take off for me.

 

Thank you!:)

My principal instrument was voice. That's the one I gave my recital on and I had 2 one hour lessons a week. My secondary was piano and I had ONE one hour lesson a week. But also I had to pass proficiencies on guitar, omnichord, autoharp, and a "working knowledge" proficiency for at least one instrument in each orchestra family.

 

If you aren't taking private lessons on an instrument NOW and never have, you ARE GOING TO HAVE A HARD TIME MAJORING IN MUSIC ANYTHING. I don't know if that's your situation but I have posted that here for others who may be reading this thread. I had ten years of private piano and six years of private voice with choir before I was in college and it was STILL hard.

 

Everyone must have a principal and a secondary instrument when majoring in music therapy. And if one of those isn't piano, you have to have class piano until you can pass the required piano proficiency exam. And everyone (except majors whose principal instrument is piano) has to pass a piano proficiency exam before graduation. You can't graduate without it.

[LuvingLife]

My principal instrument was voice. That's the one I gave my recital on and I had 2 one hour lessons a week. My secondary was piano and I had ONE one hour lesson a week. But also I had to pass proficiencies on guitar, omnichord, autoharp, and a "working knowledge" proficiency for at least one instrument in each orchestra family.

 

If you aren't taking private lessons on an instrument NOW and never have, you ARE GOING TO HAVE A HARD TIME MAJORING IN MUSIC ANYTHING. I don't know if that's your situation but I have posted that here for others who may be reading this thread. I had ten years of private piano and six years of private voice with choir before I was in college and it was STILL hard.

 

Everyone must have a principal and a secondary instrument when majoring in music therapy. And if one of those isn't piano, you have to have class piano until you can pass the required piano proficiency exam. And everyone (except majors whose principal instrument is piano) has to pass a piano proficiency exam before graduation. You can't graduate without it.

 

So my teacher has told me lol. She hates piano and had to have a piano proficiency exam, she had to retake it a few times but she passed it. MY teacher is more of a violin kind of person, and I love violin, guitar, piano, and voice. Another reason why I have been so skeptical lately is because of the fact that I have only been playing an instrument for a little while. So this is why I have been thinking about looking into another major just in case.