It can be very overwhelming choosing the right college for classical guitar. There are so many colleges out there, and many of them have excellent music departments. Researching schools means spending many hours on the internet, and visiting schools can mean many hours spent on the road, on campus, and in hotel rooms. Just like any big decision making process, it’s important to have a checklist of factors you are looking for before conducting your initial research. This way it is easier to rank schools based on what really matters to you.
The Disclaimer
I consider myself to be a good source for this information. I looked at a bunch of schools when I was a teenager and did a whole bunch of auditions. After all of this, I decided to go to The College of New Jersey and was happy with my decision. Throughout the entire four years of my schooling, I was always thinking about how I could have done the audition process better. I’m not getting a do-over (I currently have no plans of going to grad school) so this is my way of sharing what I learned.
If you came across this post, please do not let it be the only source of information about choosing the school you go with. This is a very big decision and big decisions require a lot of research. Be sure to talk to musicians who are in college or have graduated college and talk with your teacher(s) at length about it. Collecting initial information about how to look for schools is one of the most important parts of the process.
Picking the Right Schools
There are many, many factors that are involved with picking a school that is right with you. These can be financial, such as tuition and financial aid, or logistical, like distance, room and board, meal plan, etc. For the sake of simplicity (and to avoid wandering out of my area of expertise) I will stick to those that are strictly musical. Be sure to do plenty of research on these non-musical factors as well.
As a prospective music major, you have the extra level of having to audition as part of the application process. It’s very tempting to go straight to the audition requirements to make sure you can meet them. If you have enough time to prepare for those auditions, make sure you really look at the big picture. If you are cutting it down to the wire, you want to be sure you will be able to meet those audition requirements. There are two important things you need to consider – does the school offer what you are looking for, and do you want to study with the classical guitar teacher there?
Does the School offer what I am looking for?
If you are looking to be a music educator, does the school have a really good Music Education program? (The school I went to, The College of New Jersey, is known for their Music Education program) If you are looking to be a performer, you may want to look at schools that are more performance based. Schools with great education programs will still have great performance programs and vice versa, you just have to do your research. If you are trying to audition as a classical guitarist at a school that isn’t so classically oriented, you may find you are out of place. Your best bet is to visit the school and talk to the faculty (and some students as well) to find out if you’d get the education you were looking for.
Another thing to consider is whether or not you would like to receive a Liberal Arts education. Going to a conservatory can mean only music, all the time. This may sound like heaven to you, or it may sound super intense and intimidating. If you go to a Liberal Arts school, you will have a number of liberal learning requirements to fulfill, such as math, science, gender studies, etc. I went to a liberal arts school and was happy to be able to pursue a foreign language as a minor. I became close to fluent in German and got to study classical guitar in Frankfurt for a semester. If you have an interest outside of music such as my interest in becoming fluent in a language, a liberal arts education is the way to go. For more about this topic, check out this article from PlaybillEDU.
Bachelor of Music (B.M.) or Bachelor of Arts in Music (B.A.)?
Schools with a music department will offer a Bachelor of Music degree. This is a very set track with a little bit of wiggle room as far as the courses you want to go with, but for the most part you are sticking very close to a pre-determined degree. If you are looking to strictly go to school to become a concert level classical guitarist, a music educator in a school, a composer, a musicologist, etc. this is the degree you want to go with.
Many schools have started to offer a Bachelor of Arts in Music Degree (B.A.) which allows you to combine your music education with a particular aspect of liberal learning to “create your own degree” so to speak. (Sadly, my school started offering this a year or two after I graduated. Otherwise, I would have totally combined guitar performance with ethnomusicology.) According to The Bienen School of Music at Northwestern’s description of a B.A., some options are “cross-cultural musicology, music and film, or web design and technology for music.”
One Bachelor of Arts in Music track to consider: combining your music studies with business. I found I graduated knowing an enormous amount about music and how to play it, but very little about how to actually make a living as a musician. I have an article about this coming soon.
Do I want to Study with the Classical Guitar Teacher at this School?
With this, research is everything. Look up the teacher’s website, CV, YouTube, or any other resource you can find. If the school isn’t too far away, see if you can make an appointment to meet with the teacher. You have to remember, this will be your teacher for 4 (or more) years. You have to feel that you will be both challenged and inspired. It’s also important to know how connected the teacher is with the classical guitar community. These connections can turn out to be as important as your education, if not more. Through my guitar instructor, Dr. James Day, I was able to participate in multiple competitions and master classes (Manuel Barrueco, David Leisner, and Duo Fresco). It was also because of his connections that I was able to study in Frankfurt, Germany.
It is very helpful to know about the size and skill level of the guitar studio (the other students who are studying classical guitar at that school). While it may sound stressful, you want to be surrounded by players who are on your level or better than you. This will inspire you to constantly do your best in order to keep up with the other students. A great way to meet both students and guitar faculty is to attend a studio concert. You will get the opportunity to hear all of the current students (and maybe even the guitar chair) play, you will be able to meet the guitar chair or other guitar faculty, and you will be able to talk to other students about how they like the school/teacher. That’s a great way to do your research!
Proximity to a Metropolitan Area
As a music major you want as many opportunities to start your career rolling before you graduate as possible. This is especially true if you are studying performance. Many of the best concerts, festivals, competitions, workshops, conventions, gigs, etc. are located in and around metropolitan areas. The best thing is you will be a student and you will get a student discount at most events you go to.
It’s crucial to do as many “extra curricular” music activities as possible while you’re at school. Your teacher can be a great resource for this, and given the proximity of your school to a city, you will get more opportunities. I do not mean the school has to be in a city. That can get pretty expensive. Being a manageable distance from a metropolitan area is great. My school was a 1 hour drive from Philadelphia and 1.5 hours from New York. On a Saturday, I could pop down to Philadelphia for a masterclass and be back to home in time to get a full day of practice in (but let’s be honest, I usually just stayed in Philly and had some fun).
Please go on and find more information about choosing the right college for Classical Guitar!
This is part of a series that I will be publishing over the next couple days!