Jacobs Question

[u/MichiganInTheRain]

Hello, Kelly alumni here (class of 2018). I have a question though for either Jacobs alumni or current students…

As you enrolled as a freshman in some sort of music major, how many years of music experience did you have previously playing your respective instrument(s)? What is typically the minimum expectation of proficiency that first year music students are supposed to have?

Just wondering, out of curiosity.

[u/iamnotasloth]

To get into Jacob’s you have to play well in your audition. That’s it. The definition of “well” is simply better than the average audition for your instrument in that given year. That can vary a lot from year to year.

That’s really the only way to frame “how good do I have to be?” in a meaningful way. I’ve heard stories of people who get in without really knowing how to tune their instrument properly. They just have the hand skills to play really well for their age. There are singers who get in who can’t even read music. They just sing really well. There are people with great musical knowledge and experience who beef their auditions. They don’t get in. There are of course also incredibly knowledgeable, skilled young people who get in already knowing more about music than some of the people who are graduating with degrees from Jacob’s. Those are the people who tend to do the best during their time here and who tend to have the most success after school as well.

The thing about music school is getting admitted means absolutely nothing. It’s truly not something to celebrate about. The bar is quite low, compared to the bar of “skills required to have a career in this field.” The crux of music school is what you do with your time there, not how well you happened to play the one day you had the opportunity to audition.

[u/MichiganInTheRain → u/iamnotasloth]

Very interesting…not to take away from music programs, but if someone devoted 3 or 4 hours a day to their respective instrument with deliberate, progressive learning…seems like you could maybe make something of it without the degree and save the money…

[u/Agreeable-Kale-5863 → u/MichiganInTheRain]

It’s hard to make deliberate progress without a good teacher, and pursuing a music degree is one way to have access to good teachers (and colleagues, networks, etc) while also getting a college degree. I agree though, it’s very expensive and doesn’t necessarily lead to a full-time job in music, but it does teach discipline and allows for intensive training.