Step Two: Okay, you’re interested in being a music major at college. Let’s go over what being a music major could look like…

First off, there are several different pathways you can take in being a music major. Here are a few…

Other potential, music-related degrees: expressive arts therapies, arts administration, entrepreneurship, accompanying, church/sacred music, music pedagogy, musical theater, musicology (history).

Music majors are amongst the only degrees in which you have to audition and are expected to be fairly skilled in your craft prior to being accepted! It takes a lot of dedication, prior to and during your college career, to complete an entire music degree, so this is the first preliminary way that music departments weed out who is truly serious about their craft. However, we are here to help and the sooner you tell us, the better we can prepare you!

Finally, you do not have to be a music major to have music in your life/college career! You can participate in non-major ensembles, have a music minor, audition for ensembles or shows, and more.

Still have no idea what you are interested in? Start by doing some research!

The best way to get an idea of what you’d want to study in college is to look up local colleges/colleges you know and see what they have to offer.

• What does their music degree look like?

• Look up the curriculums for these degrees - do the classes sound interesting to you?

• Look up the job options for these kinds of degrees - does that seem appealing to you?

• Are you interested in a conservatory-type institute or liberal arts?

  • Conservatories focus heavily on their specific programming, while liberal arts colleges give you a broader spectrum of educational options. It’s much more difficult to switch majors (usually transferring is necessary) if you change your mind at a conservatory.

• Can you look up school reviews from students/alumni and does it get good reviews?

  • Note: this is a good tip for looking at the school as a whole, not just the music department

• Look up the audition requirements - is this program realistic for you to go for? (more details in Step 3 about auditions)