Colleges for drum set players

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Diegoro

Member
I'm going to be off to college to study music soon, and Im going for a degree in performance. It took me a while to choose, but I've decided that I want to major in drum set performance instead of classical percussion (mallets, timpani etc..) I will not neglect CP, I'll always be working on my mallets, but I really do enjoy and I'm more comfortable in a drum set setting, I want to master that aspect of percussion more than anything else. My first choice is Berklee, it is my dream school, been dreaming of it since I was 14, especially because of the Jazz aspect ( I want to be as versatile as possible). what other good schools offer drum set though? Berklee is extremely expensive and I might have to choose another school if I don't have the money.
 
Eastman School of Music. Amazing place.

North Texas State.
 
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If you're going to become a better player or to build chops or to network, then I think you should nix music school and go for something that offers more opportunity career wise. If your going to drum school to become a music teacher or instructor or something with a career path, then maybe you can pull it off.
Perhaps consider going to a traditional school with a great music program that will allow you to minor in music while majoring in something else? This way you can earn a degree, learn and grow musically and have more opportunity for career after graduating.

Will you have to take out loans for school? What specifically do you want to study in terms of music?
 
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I went to the New England Conservatory of Music which is pretty close to Berklee in Boston. Many professors taught at both Berklee and NEC.

Berklee is really focused on the music business and other careers associated with music. They still have performance programs, but that's no longer their flagship. Also, since jazz really isn't in vogue anymore, Berklee is focusing more on pop/rock as graduates are more likely to find careers in rock, pop, or hip-hop than jazz.

One of the constant criticisms of NEC is that many of their programs focus on performance and not the music business. NEC is mostly a classical school, but they do have a very strong jazz department. If you are looking into jazz performance, NEC would be a great choice! I really enjoyed my time at NEC, and found the teachers to be very hands-on and easy to connect with. Berklee is so big now that you really don't have a chance to connect with your teachers.

Pretty much any music school will help you grow as a player and as a musician, but if you're looking for a performace program in jazz, I wouldn't look at Berklee today (15 years ago I would have). Getting a degree in performance is a great career path; I know many people who wen throrugh school for performance and we're all spread out accross the world now, playing music for a living. To me it's the most satisfying career I could imagine. You can always minor in music business or production which will only provide more opportunities as you're building your career.
 
tcspears said:
I went to the New England Conservatory of Music which is pretty close to Berklee in Boston. Many professors taught at both Berklee and NEC.

Berklee is really focused on the music business and other careers associated with music. They still have performance programs, but that's no longer their flagship. Also, since jazz really isn't in vogue anymore, Berklee is focusing more on pop/rock as graduates are more likely to find careers in rock, pop, or hip-hop than jazz.

One of the constant criticisms of NEC is that many of their programs focus on performance and not the music business. NEC is mostly a classical school, but they do have a very strong jazz department. If you are looking into jazz performance, NEC would be a great choice! I really enjoyed my time at NEC, and found the teachers to be very hands-on and easy to connect with. Berklee is so big now that you really don't have a chance to connect with your teachers.

Pretty much any music school will help you grow as a player and as a musician, but if you're looking for a performace program in jazz, I wouldn't look at Berklee today (15 years ago I would have). Getting a degree in performance is a great career path; I know many people who wen throrugh school for performance and we're all spread out accross the world now, playing music for a living. To me it's the most satisfying career I could imagine. You can always minor in music business or production which will only provide more opportunities as you're building your career.
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If I go to NEC will I have to major in classical percussion or is drum set alone an option? Another big reason I was looking at berklee was because of that, most
colleges only offer classical percusssion majors.
 
Diegoro said:
If I go to NEC will I have to major in classical percussion or is drum set alone an option? Another big reason I was looking at berklee was because of that, most
colleges only offer classical percusssion majors.
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NEC does offer degrees in Jazz studies. Although, I don't know how much curriculum is drums focused vs. history, ear training...that kind of stuff.
 
Diegoro said:
If I go to NEC will I have to major in classical percussion or is drum set alone an option? Another big reason I was looking at berklee was because of that, most
colleges only offer classical percusssion majors.
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NEC's jazz program was all drum set driven. There were also a few times when we had to play a melodic instrument (piano, et cetera) in some classes.

In addition to the drum set, all the jazz students will take foundational courses, like ear training, history, jazz theory, and arranging... They break the jazz program into two parts:

1. Performance on your primary instrument (brass, piano, percussion, whatever)
2. General jazz studies
 
Check out university of the Arts in Philly. The Dean of the School of Music is a drummer, Marc Diccianni. He's a great jazz drummer, and it's my understanding they were one of the first schools to recognize drum set as an instrument.
 
Diegoro said:
I'm going to be off to college to study music soon, and Im going for a degree in performance. It took me a while to choose, but I've decided that I want to major in drum set performance instead of classical percussion (mallets, timpani etc..) I will not neglect CP, I'll always be working on my mallets, but I really do enjoy and I'm more comfortable in a drum set setting, I want to master that aspect of percussion more than anything else. My first choice is Berklee, it is my dream school, been dreaming of it since I was 14, especially because of the Jazz aspect ( I want to be as versatile as possible). what other good schools offer drum set though? Berklee is extremely expensive and I might have to choose another school if I don't have the money.
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Which state are you in?
Plenty of good state schools with great teachers,but the difference between these and places like Berklee and PIT, is auditions ,test scores and grades.
 
dmacc said:
North Texas State.
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Doesn't exit anymore. It is the University of North Texas now.

University of Central Oklahoma is supposed to have a good percussion program. Not sure if it is 100% drum set though, I think you can if your a jazz major.
 
incrementalg said:
If you have a pulse and a set of sticks, you can get into Berklee. Oh and the $56k to $60k a year helps too.
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Same with PIT.
But Hollywood is a fun place to hang and it doesn't snow like in Boston.
Cal State Northridge has some pretty good instructors and there are the tops of the tops for private instruction in the LA area.
 
incrementalg said:
If you have a pulse and a set of sticks, you can get into Berklee. Oh and the $56k to $60k a year helps too.
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I don't get this. Who has $56-60k a year (and rising)? That is hard to recoup even if you graduate to a 'real job'. I can't imagine how stressful it is to get a music degree, walk out with a couple hundy-K in debt, and try to have a career in music.
 
I have to say, my son goes to one of those big ticket price schools listed above. He doesn't pay the price listed. No one he goes to school with does. It is worth it. The education he is receiving is amazing. The opportunities he has are amazing. He is a classical percussion major who also plays drumset. His future is very bright as are his classmates.
 
I was lucky enough to be gigging before I went to school, and NEC had some flexible payment terms, plus I lived in the area, so I didn't need room and board.

I was paying a little less than $5000 a month, which is a good chunk of what I make gigging. (probably most of it back then) Also, that's about what you'd need to pay to rent a small studio apartment in Boston, so I ended up living in basically a closet in someone's house for my time there. Looking back it was worth it as I didn't have any debt when I graduated, and some of the tuition was tax deduxtible, so I'd get decent tax refunds, but there were times where I wanted to just take a loan and live large like all of the other students... Also, all the Berklee kids I knew told me that Berklee was considerably more than NEC...

Berklee estimates the cost for one year in a degree program as $38,000 for just the tuition, but at the end of the day most students are paying $65,000 for on-campus, and $61,000 for off-campus. https://www.berklee.edu/paying-for-your-education/cost-attendance

NEC estimates one year in a degree program as $42,000, plus another $13,000 if you want to live there. (which is pretty cheap for Boston. If you live in a four person apartment, you're looking at about $2000/month each, plus utilities). http://necmusic.edu/tuition-fees

I will say that school provided me with tremendous opportunities, and gave me the tools to stregnthen my craft. Nevermind the built-in networking that comes with school. Most people that I knew have gone on to pursue great careers playing music all over the world... in the end, if you want to pursue a career in music, it's worth the struggle!
 
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