Mandolin in college

[seanonabutton]

right now i am a sophomore in high school and its time to start thinking about where i want to go because i have to visit it, then apply, then audition and whatnot. this is my list right now:
1) Belmont
2) Berklee
3)Vanderbilt

any info would be much helpful

[DryBones]

first thing, stop using the term whatnot. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Bob Paul]

You might want to check out the bluegrass, old time and country music program at East Tennessee State University.

http://www.etsu.edu/cass/bluegrass/

[olgraypat]

As someone with kids with similar interests, just a little older than you, I would comment: Talk anyway you dang well please, and it looks like that's the list of choices as far as I know. One of my sons went to Belmont and loved it. I could never in good conscience recommend anyone attend Vandy (UT prejudice).

[mandocrucian]

What's your rationale for the question?

Are you asking because you want schooled training to become
a) a mandolinist?
b) a musician?
c) a working musician?
d) other (music therapist, teacher, ASCAP thug....)

How many instruments do you currently play, besides mando? What genre(s) and how adamant/loyal are you to the genre(s).

Will you be paying for it yourself (student loans) or are will your parents be putting up the dough?

If you aren't already independently wealthy, these may things to seriously consider with cost/benefit analysis. (e.g. - lots of debt vs. "hundreds of dollars" playing BG mando)

Go to a music store - look what they have in the way of mandolins (or even LH mandos) as opposed to guitars, basses, and other instruments. OK, that's what you are going to encounter for your educational options (for mando), and probably overly optomistic, as opposed to what's available to people who play other instruments, and at what caost, and how far you'd have to travel to avail yourself of it.

You might start thinking (now) about learning two or three of the following: bass, guitar, keyboards, drums, vocals.

Niles H

[cooper4205]

I could never in good conscience recommend anyone attend Vandy (UT prejudice).
tell 'em Pat http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

if you're interested in BG, then ETSU would definately be worth checking out- but you're young enough where there is no rush at all to decide yet. just visit the places you'd like to check out, and go with the best fit for you.

[tango_grass]

Are you asking because you want schooled training to become

d) other (music therapist, teacher, ASCAP thug....)


ASCAP thug..Nice.

[jmcgann]

I hear Berklee has a good mandolin program http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[cooper4205]

I hear Berklee has a good mandolin program http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif
but they have all those snobs http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[cooper4205]

just kidding above there


here are some guys that are in the ETSU program now. it's a side band they have, but they all came up through the program. the mando player is Jordan Ramsey, i think he's been at it 5 or 6 years

Clear Liquor Pickers (http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=69678176)

[seanonabutton]

as of right now i also play guitar but despise it and i sing (take voice lessons) but my main instrument is mandolin and i am considering violin. it's just that there are, like niles said, so many other instruments that are popular that i like mandolin for the reason that it is something unique to me. i would like to be a mandolin player... as my job. teaching, playing, it doesnt matter that much. money isn't a huge issue. it would be very nice to get decent scholarships to help with the cost of something like belmont or berklee. thanks for the help ;)

[JeanM]

FWIW: #I don't have experience with mandolin in college, but I do have a daughter who has a degree in guitar performance. #She's been out of school for 2 years. #She does some teaching and some gig'ing. #However, her main source of income comes from working 35 hours a week at a sandwich shop. #It may not turn out that way for everyone, but for everyone who she went to school with, it's pretty much the same situation. #All are very talented musicians, but it's hard to make a living as a musician/teacher (not impossible, just hard). #Fortunately, she doesn't have any college loans to pay back (nor do her parents). #

Best of luck to you as you are making your college decision. #This is a very exciting time -- and it was wonderful to "go along for the ride" as my kids made their decisions.

[jmcgann]

it's hard to make a living as a musician/teacher (not impossible, just hard).

It's probably harder in some ways (spiritually) to be making great money doing something else if you are meant to be a musician/teacher, though. It is a really tough choice!

In other words- it's good to be realistic that fame and fortune in a music career are less than guaranteed,to say the least, but as John Lennon pointed out, there's more to life than "a stack of gold teeth in the bank". (Easy for him to say, maybe!)

Being a struggling musician is no doubt easier in the first ten years after college rather than the last 60 http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/coffee.gif

[Red Englemann]

Talk anyway you dang well please,

This is bad advice. Develop good writing and oral communication skills. Wait on tables. Learn to get along with people. There is a measure of success that comes from good people skills, i.e. the busiest doctors are the friendly ones.

red

[August Watters]

All are very talented musicians, but it's hard to make a living as a musician/teacher (not impossible, just hard).

Don't underestimate those music school graduates working elsewhere - it could take a few years to settle on a career path. When I graduated I paid the bills with typing for a few years, before I had enough work in music. It's helpful to have something part-time to fall back on for awhile, that won't take all your career-planning energies.

It's important to realize there are many ways musicians make a living. Most are not highly visible. If you think that performing and teaching are your only options, read up on what musicians do for a living. And visit some music schools to get a taste of the environment. I visited Berklee 25 years ago as a prospective student, and was completely sold on the concept. These days there are more good options, but with any school a campus visit can go a long way toward helping you understand whether it's right for you.

August W