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Is it worth studying music in college as a guitarist?

  • 02-08-2014 2:21am
    #1
    Seanf999
    Registered Users Posts: 369 ✭✭


    I'm 17 been playing guitar for years.. Anyway I was thinking of studying music in college (my parents insist I get a degree so might as well make it one I'll enjoy!)

    Anyways from doing music in school all We did was piano theory and classical music, guitar was like a foreign object in that class!
    I'm wondering will it be like that in college?

    Are there any music courses for guitar like there are in Berklee in America? (I know because john mayer studied it)

    I mean obviously not just for guitar but are more guitar orientated, rather then classical piano based?

    No problem doing some theory but I don't want a degree in writing classical pieces...

    So is it worth studying music in college as a guitarist?


Comments

  • #2
    IrishGrimReaper
    Registered Users Posts: 1,025 ✭✭✭IrishGrimReaper


    I've no experience with the actual courses or college but it seems like it's what you're looking for. I'm going to try go there in about a year or 2.

    http://www.bimm.co.uk/dublin


  • #3
    partyatmygaff
    Registered Users Posts: 10,992 ✭✭✭✭partyatmygaff


    Every course will be different, look at the course prospectus and if available lectures and exam papers to see how it differs to LC Music.

    http://www.tcd.ie/Local/Exam_Papers/annual_search.cgi?Course=41&Standing=1&acyear=2012&annual_search.cgi=Search

    It all depends on what you want to get out of it. A degree for the sake of study, fair enough. A guitarist with a degree in music won't have much in the way of job opportunities however outside of academia or teaching. You don't need a degree to write and perform but i'm sure you know that already.


  • #4
    Minjor
    Closed Accounts Posts: 231 ✭✭Minjor


    BIMM would be a good option for you as mentioned.

    You mentioned John Mayer and Berklee, remember Berklee is at its core a jazz school, don't let any marketing of it as a pop/rock school fool you ;) Although its graduates are successful in every genre of contemporary music.

    Newpark in Blackrock actually has a link with Berklee, it's a private jazz college with higher tuition fees than BIMM which is under the regular CAO fees system.
    It takes a lot of skill to become a good jazz musician as you probably know already so Newpark could be a great option if you want to knuckle down and really improve on the instrument.


  • #5
    HandsomeDan
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 843 ✭✭✭HandsomeDan


    Do it has a hobby. Study computer science in college.

    With all the money you make you can have all the guitars amps lesson etc you ever want.

    You'll thank me later


  • #6
    Garyjh126
    Registered Users Posts: 6 ✭Garyjh126


    Try give a look at DT501 Music in DIT. The music is more classically oriented than in BIMM. There is also greater emphasis put into reading sheet music so if you get an interview there make sure you can read music and play. I didn't know how to read and play at the same time when I went for the interview but I got in anyway. I was lucky. If you're passionate about it then consider it. The Royal Irish Academy of Music should probably be your first choice if you are serious about it. If you are considering Trinity, think long and hard. As a guitar player you might find yourself easily bored as you won't get to play your instrument until third year and until then will have to play mainly keyboard. Only do music if you have nothing else you want to do or if you have something very particular in mind regarding a career in music. If you have another thing you want, do it.


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  • #7
    il gatto
    Registered Users Posts: 3,021 ✭✭✭il gatto


    I'm a theory luddite, so take this with a pinch of salt, but I know people who have done jazz college etc. and the weight of knowledge seems to have killed their feel for music. They can talk for hours about mixolydian and dorian and strange time signatures and they can widdle for hours without the semblance of a melody repeating but that's about it. It's like "look, look what I'm doing. Admire my vast knowledge of music compared to your paltry understanding. Pah! Pentatonic. You imbecile. I haven't played a straight pentatonic scale for years!". O.k. that's a little over the top, but often not by much. In theory, the depth of knowledge should be wonderful, but I think it takes something special to actually really make use of it. So unless you're a bit Mozart, you might be better off studying music in your own time. I think if I'd done it in college, it might have become a chore and "ruined" it for me.
    I'm sure someone will come on and out me as the spoofer I am, but it's just my take on it :)


  • #8
    Tec Diver
    Registered Users Posts: 407 ✭✭Tec Diver


    Back when I were a lad...I was travelling around Oz and was offered a place on a Classical Guitar degree programme in the Australian Institute of Music in Sydney (the full story is a LOT longer). In some ways it would have been great to have the experience of going through the degree, but I've no idea what I would have done with it. As it is, I spent 25+ years working in IT, got a degree (not music) in my spare time and still play classical guitar in whatever spare time I have. No regrets.



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