Advice on graduate performance study and university teaching careers

ByBret Pimentel

My university students are mostly undergraduate music education majors, but many at some point inquire about graduate school, including a performance degree path and eventual university teaching. Here are some things you should know about graduate performance studies if you’re an undergraduate music major.

  • Graduate performance degrees are best suited to students who practice a lot. Undergraduates who are squeaking by on as little practicing as they can get away with are not good candidates. Self-motivation is key, and it’s not something you’re likely to spontaneously develop once graduate school starts.
  • It is definitely possible to transition from, say, an undergraduate music education degree to a graduate performance degree, as long as your playing is very strong. There might be some logistical speed bumps, like audition season happening during your student teaching internship semester.
  • Get advice from your applied lessons teacher on good places to apply. Look into the teachers at those schools—for a performance degree, the teacher of your instrument is going to be a very large factor in your graduate school experience. Check out their recordings, writings, accomplishments, etc. and start narrowing down the ones you would like to study with. Some may be available to spend time with you if you visit their campus, and maybe even offer you a lesson.
  • At least a year ahead of your prospective enrollment, find out about audition and application deadlines and requirements. If you have any questions, that’s a great excuse to send the professor of your instrument an email and make some preliminary contact.
  • Consider some “dream” schools, but also some more practical choices. Your state or a neighboring one probably has a flagship public university with a top-flight faculty, ensembles, facilities, and opportunities. Often the sought-after, name-brand schools turn away huge numbers of incredibly talented applicants because there just isn’t space. A “backup” school can turn out to be just as good an experience, or better.
  • Be aware that the market for university teaching jobs is glutted with qualified candidates. Graduate degrees take a lot of time and money, and a job at the other end isn’t guaranteed. Even if you’re the cream of the crop, there might not be any openings that year that are a fit. Know the risks.
  • Teaching experience is huge in getting hired for many university teaching jobs. A graduate assistantship can sometimes provide the teaching experience to get your foot in the door for a job interview. In that way, assistantships (essentially part-time jobs with usually some tuition reduction/waiver and/or a small paycheck) are incredibly valuable, and an assistantship offer should play a large part in your graduate school decision.

Good luck!

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    I was a very committed college music major. I had picked music as a career years earlier. Being a music student felt like a central aspect of who I was. While I did struggle at times, and had other (perhaps more widely marketable) skills I could have fallen back on, quitting the music-major track never seemed like a real option.

    For me, it turned out well. I was successful in my studies and now have a job that is a good fit and more or less pays the bills. But in my role as an educator and advisor, sometimes I encounter students who are considering changing directions. Here’s what I have to say to those students:

    • You don’t have to be a music major. Even if you’re good at it. Even if you really do love music. Even if friends or teachers think it’s the right choice for you. Even if you have already invested time, money, and effort into it.
    • There are other ways to make music a part of your life. In many cases you can continue to be in college ensembles, take music courses as electives, and maybe continue to receive music scholarships. (Check with your music department.) Beyond college, there are probably opportunities to make music in community ensembles, garage bands, churches, theater productions, lesson studios, volunteer efforts, and more. Even if you never play or sing again, your background in music opens up richer possibilities for you as a listener and patron.
    • There’s time to try something else. Music degrees are intensive and usually thrust you right into lots of major-specific courses right from your first semester. That can feel like a trap, like if you change majors you are wasting semesters you already completed and starting over as a freshman. But in the scheme of things, isn’t it worth extra years and dollars to graduate in a field that feels right to you?
    • This is your decision. People might try to talk you out of switching majors. Being a music major can feel like kind of a club or fraternity/sorority or cult, but it isn’t really. You aren’t betraying or disappointing anyone by doing what’s right for you. Be aware that in some cases professors or fellow students may be thinking about how your decision will affect them or their classes or ensembles. They probably don’t really mean to put their own interests above yours. Good teachers and friends, in the long run, want what’s best for you, even if it isn’t a music degree.
    • But you don’t have to rush into a decision. If music has been your life for years and now you’re having second thoughts, it’s worthwhile to figure out whether you’re dealing with a real change of heart or just some temporary frustration. Sometimes I have seen students transfer out of the music department, only to transfer back in later, now a little behind. If you need to dabble in something else for a while to find out whether music is your thing after all, then go for it. But minimize the flailing if you can. Before making a decision, give yourself time to think things through with a long-term view. Consult with people who know and love you, plus your music professors, plus people in whatever alternative fields you might be considering.

    Music is great but it’s not the right career for everyone. Make your life choices carefully and honestly.

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    Groups should be appropriately challenged with the quantity and difficulty of repertoire performed, just like they are in their solo repertoire and their large ensembles. I think the ideal is for each mature chamber group to put on its own full-length, well-balanced recital at least once each semester. (We aren’t currently requiring that at my small, regional university.)

    Groups should get regular coaching from faculty, but time rehearsing on their own is crucial to the experience. And by “rehearsing” I don’t mean just run-throughs: students should be spending rehearsal time discussing musical decisions together. (Depending on the group’s maturity, some of these decisions may need to be ratified in subsequent coaching sessions.)

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