My Future

Malkav

So...I now have only six months left before I finish my diploma in marketing and retail management which will hopefully be helpful etc, though it has felt like the biggest chore in my life ??? anyway they made me study computer sciences and I'll be getting this thing called an international computer drivers license (basically meaning I know where the on button is) also I did computer studies, accounting, management communication, sales management, business management, marketting and personel management...

So I've decided that after almost three years of this crap I think that the least I can do is reason with my parents that now that I've been through what they wanted me to do I'd like to study what I'd like to study, music, however I'm probably not good enough to attend any formal music education facility such as U.C.T seeing as my sight reading is awful and i'm not sure what they require but I probably don't have it...plus realistically I wouldn't be able to afford university fees so it's kinda a no go in that case anyway.

So I've decided I'd really love to do a music related course of some form, realistically I can't afford university fees and would most likely not be eligible for a bursary or anything like that so I'm looking for somewhere to study that has a yearly fee of around R15 000 and offers something fun and musical ?

I've been thinking of sound engineering (yes I know a dead end job but this is a second qualification and one I'd like to enjoy doing) because it's really the only other option I'm aware of, plus my mind set is that if you get stuck doing something you hate you'll hate life (love your job and never work another day kinda thing)

So my request/question is that if anyone knows anything else I can study that's related to music please tell me ? and tell me where and how much it'll cost, if you know the answers to those questions ?.

Input would be most appreciated ?

Bob-Dubery

You could do a BMus through UNISA. Not cheap (once you factor in books) but way more affordable than going to UCT, Wits, Rhodes etc.

AlanRatcliffe

Well, congrats on getting close to the end of your management course (you can always go into retail store management now ?). I'd never be able to sit through that - not enough guitars involved. ?

Something that strikes me about your post is you don't say what you want, what your goals are. Without goals to give you a clear idea of where you want to be in X number of years, you cannot really plan the steps of getting there and you are more likely to go off on a tangent and end up somewhere else entirely. Figure out what you want to achieve and plan the steps needed to get there.

Are you serious about a music-related career? If so, my sympathies. ? I don't think there is any music-related degree or course that will let you walk into a job in the industry, but they do help if you are serious about it. You should look at any course as being more of a personal improvement thing - sound engineering may not land you a job at Abbey Road, but will help you as a musician on stage or in studio.

One thing about music-related careers is that they tend to stifle your playing. After a day of selling or fixing musical instruments or recording bands (whatever), you're less inclined to pick one up at the end of the day to practice or play. You've probably noticed this already, but now imagine that magnified by 5 or 6 full days a week.

My biggest regret is never studying music. If you want to be a serious player, study music. No two ways about it. Learn to read, composition, harmony and learn to play your instrument. If you can't do the full-time university thing, work during the day and do it part-time. Aside from UNISA, I think Berklee and others now have online courses (which are relatively inexpensive too) - and the nice thing about them is they cover things like working in the music industry and the business side as much as they do the playing, preparing you for the real world, as it were.

Malkav

As things stand what I'd like to do is anything relating to music, whether it be session playing, clinicianing or whatever. Session playing would be my main interest so I'd like to do something to improve my theory knowledge, however I think engineering would be helpful to prepare for the environment I'll be dealing with...

Unfortunately no though dealing with this kind of thing at my normal job, even when I work full time over my holidays, does not make me want to get home and ignore my own guitars, in fact the opposite I get excited about the fact that after fiddling with so many other guitars that just don't feel right I'll be going home to my babies ? which play like a dream to me and sound just as good ?...

Plus after listening to nothing but MTV all day long as I'm sure you've noticed they subject us to it just makes me want to get my own ideas out even more but alas I don't have recording facilities and probably wouldn't know how to use them if I did ?

So my goal is uncertain, I would like to land up doing some good session work and doing my own personal endeavours on the side lines however in the real world I can't guarantee that this is where I'll end up. I think that a better understanding of theory would be nice to attain however if I can do a course online it means I can do it during my free time rather so maybe sound engineering would be a good call as a full time study ?

nick_D01

hi chad

something you might find interesting- rockschool. available in sa. get a 'proper' music qualification while rocking out to muse, steve vai, yngwie, ac-cd. dont know 'bout anybody else but to me, that sounds just awsome. bothners are the local agents for running it here btw. click also on www.music-and-musicians.com.

not to knock anyone but i would'nt consider the unisa ba. if you love rock, metal, blues, sitting down and studying unisa grades feels for all intents like maths class or accounting!

also, alan mentioned 'goals' above and i agree with him 100 %. basically comes down to what do you wanna do with you life? big question, but if you've got only 1 life too live, then sieze the day man.

nick_D01

sorry meant ac/dc :?

Malkav

I saw the Rock School stuff, it's a little bit too basic for my liking I'm trying to get into higher musical education and I like everything from Rock to jazz in fact I think I'd prefer to do something that offers a musical education where I'm forced to play outside of my comfort zone for the sake of really learning something new ?

Another issue is that I wanna study something full-time not part-time cause otherwise I won't have enough to do and I'll have way too much free time during the day and that'll drive me insane, and I wouldn't want a full time job during this period because I'd like to give whatever I study my full attention.

I'd like to do session work mainly so I would want a very broad experience in terms of what i learn to play but at the same time I'm not a very good sight reader so something that gives me baby steps in sight reading would be radical ?

arjunmenon

+1 with Alan. Berklee has got some excellent online courses. Also, Berklee uses the online courses as prep for people who would be interested in going to berklee as a full/part time student. The online application is quite easy, but the full time/part time student application (where you get to choose your majors and secondary instrument etc) is about 16 -18 pages (that was 6 years ago when my younger brother applied, don't know if its changed now). Only 4 - 5 pages are filled in by the applicant and the rest has to be filled in by your music teacher, etc etc (and here's where you attach you berklee online course completion certificates etc. Then, you have the option of travelling to boston to audition or sending them audio+video material. 6 years ago, the tuition fee alone was around US$ 14000 ++ for a year (thats approx. 1 & 1/2 - 2 semesters). My brother managed to get a 12% bursary and 10% scholarship from Blue Note records (the catch was that he had to work for them for the final 2 years of the course) and he had to apply for a student load as well. He's still paying that off.

Hope i have given you some useful info to work with.

Riaan

My biggest regret is never studying music. If you want to be a serious player, study music. No two ways about it. Learn to read, composition, harmony and learn to play your instrument.

Very true, and also my biggest regret even though my involvement in music is purely as a hobby. All the sports I played at school is of absolutely no consequence now, but knowledge of music theory would have helped me a lot. It's so much harder to learn these things later in life when you haven't got much free time and all sorts of other responsibilities and worries.

Byron

The music industry scares me . Very. Much

Malkav

Dude...I would love to actually attend a place like berklee or ACM but it sounds quite grooling to even get looked at by them plus unfortunately I am not nor are my parents in a position where they can fork out like R200 000 on demand. I realise things like student loans are applicable but I'd hate to get that in debt when I know my chosen profession will most likely not pay very well ?

Wizard

I'm going to sound old, boring and lecturing here ... but I'll do it anyway.

None of us are properly equipped to make the really big decisions in life.
i.e. careers and marriage

Make the best decision you can based on the information at the time ...
... then make it the correct decision by putting your FULL weight behind it and doing everything you can to make it a success.
And then ... have no regrets.

--> do the best you can, go full blast, have no regrets.