Going to music school for percussion performance vs strictly drum set performance

I'm pretty old school "liberal arts" education so it isn't so much about the degree as exposure for a varied education. Most people say an art, music, philosophy (and psychology since so many opt for that major) degree is a waste of time. If you stop there it could be a waste of time but most often people use that degree as a jump start for another career. In fact many go on to medical schools since schools look for more diversity now (you have to take the science courses-my wife was an education major for example yet number on in her med class) , education, business, etc. I always encourage people to follow their passion-you'll either succeed or modify your passions. I'd give it a go.
 
I can't recommend college, I almost wish it weren't free for me so I would have figured out something else to do. However, a degree in music would have to be more fun than my tech degree, which I feel has very little value. Consider this. It took me nine years and two stints in graduate school *after* I received my bachelors to find a job in my field. Any skills that I learned that got me a job, I taught myself, and I am having to reinvent myself again, and again … still reinventing myself.

That being said its taken me a while to realize that all of those high paying tech jobs out in California, that I was so envious of, were actually paying less than what I was making elsewhere after you take into account cost of living, you can work 60hrs/week and make $150K/year out there and still not afford a house. When you step back and say hey, but what if I don't need all of that specialized training to get a decent job somewhere in the mid west. There are plenty of places with low traffic decent farmers markets etc.

I guess that is part of the point here, that Berklee school of music degree is mostly going towards the price of houses in the Bay Area. Its hard to wrap your head around, bigger dollar number, but actually poorer. Like multimillion dollar house that is 1200 sq. ft., you really have to like the weather.

I would look at travel, cruise ship drumming, etc. Maybe a trade school of some sort.
 
I would not ONLY major in music. At least get a music ed degree with it, or a double major in computer science, and/or some other practical field. I majored in music performance, and still regret not getting a double major in that plus computer science. I like what I do most days (I’m a telephone/internet lineman in a rural area), but there were a loooot of wasted years where the only jobs I could get with a music degree were entry-level crap.
 
Everything you learn is applicable. I play my drums to a wide variety of music in my studio. Even classical and opera. Gives me the opportunity to approach different forms of music with new ideas.
 
I agree with don't bother looking at "presitigious" schools because that means squat-it's always what you do with any degree. You pay more but don't get more at prestigious schools. And if you pick a famous mentor the odds are you'll never see them but just another of their senior grad students or research scientists. I always tried to pick mentors in areas with promising new research-so I was in several labs during their seminal work that was a major contribution and brought them much success afterwards. I'd consider a dual degree maybe in sound engineering because you play music, work in studios, or even join cybersecurity now. I have a jazz bassist music degree friend, who is also sound engineer and works at big cybersecurity center here.
 
A side note, my boss, a violin maker, has a masters from Eastman in bass performance, and got a job with the Rochester Phil. out of college. His diplomas are hanging in his office, and under them is the first two checks he got from the RPO, both of them under a dollar. :D
 
Lots of great thoughts here already. I'll add my 0.02:

Playing music for a living is a job and, like all jobs, you need to know what skills and credentials get you through the door. When I decided to try to freelance for a living we had just moved to a medium-sized city. I came onto the scene and immediately gobbled up a lot of the gigs even though I had one year of music school under my belt. But I'd taken a lot of private lessons and I'd gigged a lot previously, so I knew these things:

1. How to tune my drums and choose other gear to get a great sound for the show.
2. How to read music.
3. How to do the social hang-- be nice, talk to people, be humble and flexible
4. How to prepare for a rehearsal-- listening to cast recordings, shedding the music ahead of time, arriving early with rehearsal pencils, etc.
5. How to work with an artist/musical director: Working to realize that person's vision, asking good but not irritating questions, being wide open to feedback, etc.
6. How to play enough percussion stuff to get through shows, which is, honestly, usually not THAT much.
7. How to put the right energy into a show, even and maybe especially when I didn't really dig the show.

As it turns out, these skills-- none of which I really learned in music school-- made the difference in me getting gigs and, in many instances, taking gigs from salty guys with advanced percussion degrees. I'm sorry if that sounds cocky, but I can't really think of another way to put it. I'm just saying that so much depends on YOU and what you bring to the table. The credential may help if you're hard-working and professional but won't help much if you're lazy or a jerk.

I still think of my Berklee year as a really great, cool time in my life. But a lot of the prep for being a successful musician has happened outside that environment. I think the 80/20 Drummer video kinda nails it. If I were 18 now, I'm not sure if I'd go to music school unless I needed to develop certain particular skills and credentials to make it doing what I wanted to do.
 
When read an old post like this, it makes you wonder what happened to the OP? But it's a great topic, and many musicians have to make these choices.

When I was 18, wanting to be a music major, most suggested I go the music education route. Seems like good advice, but I did performance and got a minor in Spanish. I did (and still do) enjoy teaching drums, percussion, and piano privately but you don't get benefits, like heath insurance and paid vacation like public school teachers get. Eventually I did an alternative teacher certification program, and got certified in music and Spanish.

I got lots of job offers in both areas, but I chose Spanish, mainly because teaching music would take too much of my time (football games, competition, concerts.... ) I still have time to teach a few drum, percussion, and piano students, take gigs, and my Spanish teaching provides a steady paycheck and benefits. I really enjoy both fields very much so it all worked out well. I am actually eligible to retire now, but I feel why too young and I love my "day job"!

I guess I am saying you can still teach with a performance degree you but you'll need to do an alternative education program after you graduate in performance. But you won't have the knowledge of wind, brass , strings or choir like a music education will have, so that could be an issue. But here in Texas many high schools/middle schools have full time percussion directors but you need to well versed in marching percussion, mallets and timpani too.

A good friend of mine graduated from UNT as a jazz studies major (Guitar) He did alternative certification, and taught elementary general music for many years. Now he teachers "modern band" ( mostly rock) at a high school. It's also a full time position and he has done really well, training his students in guitar, bass, keys, drums and vocals. He's very dedicated teaching and manages to keep active performing jazz guitar too.

So there you go!
 
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