Which degree is more useful/logical?

[cinnamon21]

Hi guys,

I've just graduated with Bachelor of Music in Performance last December.
Currently, I'm in 'sort of' gap year as I'm not sure of the best step to take next. 

My question is, which degree or step is more useful in the long run for a career in music?

1. Masters in piano performance and pedagogy from an average music program that I have been accepted into.

2. A gap year where I'll join piano festivals and prepare for audition to do Masters of Piano Performance degree at a more prestigious conservatory next year.

I've asked around and did tons of soul-searching but still, I get more confused. I'm contradicting myself all the time. I want to improve my piano playing but I know that mortals like me need to earn a living, but I've seen people with performance degree that has a lot of students. I want stability but I also long for adventures and exploring new possibilities. Currently I'm in Australia but I've always dreamed about studying in Europe.

I'm 20 at the moment.

Thank You

[visitor]

i'd say the piano ped. but it is dependent on what you do w/ the skill set. ie your playing will matter if you wish to teach in a university setting much more vs if you do a solo private studio.  the pure performance is a track that essentially sets you up to undertake a doctorate, then you'll be in position to go after a uni position, etc.

most practical would be some type of music master's in education, if you're in a country that requires a license/cert for teaching in public school, that would be most versatile and offer biggest return on investment. however it is difficult for straight piano so you may want to pair it w choral or symphonic or band conducting.

[Bob]

I'd say go for the better school, so probably the performance year and better school.  If you're accepted, you'll have that to impress future students and hopefully you'll play better.  People will hire you to teach for them or be your student based on your playing.

But why not both?  Better school and piano ped? 

Music ed would be a totally different track.  You're on piano performance.  Very different directions.  Piano ped would just be a few extra classes tacked onto the performance degree, not too much different than you're already doing probably, possibly more of a recognition/credentials thing to tack onto a resume.

That's pushing the performance direction.  After you graduate from all that, you'll have to earn money somehow though...

[fifthelegy]

I'm in quite a similar situation to you! I'm 20 living in Australia as well and going down a similar path that you described in number 2.
And so without a doubt I would say for you also the second choice. I'm not sure about what your ultimate goal is but I think with most paths in music, the wisest idea would be to be keep up a performing career as long as you can, to keep building your reputation, experience and knowledge. In turn you will also be more equipped to teach at a higher level.
I've always been told that the standard of music education here in Australia is at a lower standard compared to overseas, so if you really want to be good and put yourself out there then you must go overseas. 20 is still quite early to think about settling down already and as you've already finished a bachelor's you are already ahead! What you can do in addition to attending festivals/master classes is to enter competitions and eisteddfods, and also teach privately at home.
This is exactly what I'm doing at the moment - I'm taking a 'gap year' this year (I did 2 years of a bachelor of music but have dropped out of that because my experience there left something to be desired...) and hoping to join as many festivals and competitions as I can in preparation for an audition in November for overseas conservatories. We're in this together ! hehe

At this age we are still young, push yourself and get out there while you still can! (assuming that you will have financial support during this). If you want to do music I think your goal should be to improve yourself as much as possible before you start to settle down and think about earning a living. It's the same for other careers as well - you gotta finish your education and study well before you start transitioning to full-time paid work.

Would love to know what you eventually decide to go with though, will be following this thread since we are in similar situations

[cinnamon21]

I'm in quite a similar situation to you! I'm 20 living in Australia as well and going down a similar path that you described in number 2.
And so without a doubt I would say for you also the second choice. I'm not sure about what your ultimate goal is but I think with most paths in music, the wisest idea would be to be keep up a performing career as long as you can, to keep building your reputation, experience and knowledge. In turn you will also be more equipped to teach at a higher level.
I've always been told that the standard of music education here in Australia is at a lower standard compared to overseas, so if you really want to be good and put yourself out there then you must go overseas. 20 is still quite early to think about settling down already and as you've already finished a bachelor's you are already ahead! What you can do in addition to attending festivals/master classes is to enter competitions and eisteddfods, and also teach privately at home.
This is exactly what I'm doing at the moment - I'm taking a 'gap year' this year (I did 2 years of a bachelor of music but have dropped out of that because my experience there left something to be desired...) and hoping to join as many festivals and competitions as I can in preparation for an audition in November for overseas conservatories. We're in this together ! hehe

At this age we are still young, push yourself and get out there while you still can! (assuming that you will have financial support during this). If you want to do music I think your goal should be to improve yourself as much as possible before you start to settle down and think about earning a living. It's the same for other careers as well - you gotta finish your education and study well before you start transitioning to full-time paid work.

Would love to know what you eventually decide to go with though, will be following this thread since we are in similar situations

Hi Fifthelegy!

Good to know that someone is in the same boat as me If I may know and if you don't mind telling me, what happened during your years at the con that made you drop out? To be honest, my time at the con wasn't that great either...That's why I'm taking a gap year (or even 2) to refresh my mind, learn more about myself and music, and perform and travel as much as I can so that I'll do better in Masters. I agree with you about improving ourselves as much as possible before settling down. It's just that I have some people (the other piano students) telling me that the time for 'fun' is over, now it's time to do 'what you have to do'. Some even said 'You know we can't be concert pianists anyway...what's the point" - which I didn't agree with at first, but still...constantly hearing those negativity depresses me a lot, as there are so many 'naysayers' around me (ironically they're my friends. My piano friends). So thanks for your viewpoints!

[fifthelegy]

It's amazing how much peer pressure can affect us aye.. I'm curious what your own parents think? Because at the end of the day I guess they would have the most influence on our decision other than ourselves.
The piano students at your con seem to be aiming very low and have a limited view on what a career in music can and should be. Yes it is reasonable to say that the chance of us becoming concert pianists is low, it is a very difficult profession after all. But who said that the ultimate goal of a musician is to be a concert pianist anyway? I myself do want to have a performing career for as long as possible and I know that I may not be able to keep this up always. But I've noticed that most of the reputable, highly regarded teachers around the world had a strong performing career in their early days. The great composers Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, Liszt, etc were all very good performers themselves.
Really glad you chose to take a gap year! I think here in Australia we don't have as many opportunities but there is still some good stuff out there. If you are willing to fly overseas there are some really great festivals, people tell me the ones in Cochem, Banff and Spain are great although the level of playing is high.

The reason I dropped out of the music degree I was in was because of the way it was taught and the things we were being taught (I won't mention which institution it was). It was split into 3 different components during the semester: harmony, performance, and history. It was all taught by different teachers though so there was just no cohesion between the subjects. What one teacher taught us would contradict another's, a small example would be that our history teacher insisted us to use Australian terminology for notes (crochets, minims, etc) while our harmony teacher used American terminology (half notes, quarter notes) so when it came to exam time, what were we supposed to use??
The things we were taught were very basic, the pre-requisite for the degree was to have at least AMEB 4th grade theory/musicianship yet we were learning about simple rhythms, clapping, time signatures, etc. In our assessments, we would have marks deducted for messy handwriting and not using a ruler to draw barlines and even stems.
And to think that this is the education offered at a tertiary level. Unbelievable.
Also the students were not hard-working, they were happy to receive a pass grade (50%) for their courses and I felt uncomfortable being surrounded by people who did not take pride or put effort into doing something which is supposed to be their future and career.
So I came to the conclusion I would rather take a few extra years to do the very best I can in music, than have a sub-par education but take fewer years.
Apologies for the rant, it's been a year and I still can't get over it