Hello everybody, I'm doing a Bachelor of music with a major in musicology. I'm into my second year and I am seriously wanting to transfer to do an Arts/music degree. I can't see myself as a researcher or academic, I feel like I NEED PEOPLE and I don't want to be only amongst the elite ... I want to be teaching the masses. I want to switch over to do music education ... I'm 19 ... almost 20 so I know that I'm young and still allowed to change my mind. I love music, I love what I am doing ... but an arts degree is more appealing to me ... I want to study English literature and German. There are heaps of things I want to do ... one is to study vocal performance at post-grad level in Germany, another is to teach English at high school level. I can see how an arts degree is going to help with the future if I follow through with my plans. Having said that, everybody tells me that an arts degree seriously doesnt look as good as a music degree. Would everybody on the forum agree? Or are there any differences in opinion?

Honestly, it doesn't matter much on the bachelor level what your degree is in. The difference between a BA and a BM isn't much to bother most employers, they just want to see that you have that piece of paper. It's an easy way for them to weed out the overwhelming job applicants they get. But for you it sounds like it would be a huge difference based on what your interests are.

Why can't you take the classes you want to take under the BM degree? Will it take you longer to graduate if you switch now? Music education majors in the US often are 5 or 6 year degrees, so you may want to consider that. If you want to teach children in a public school setting, then you'll probably want the ed degree, but I know here just because you have a music ed degree doesn't mean you are certified to teach as well - that's additional schooling.

I wouldn't do that personally. It's more prestigious to have a Bachelor of Music. The pool of people capable of being accepted into an arts degree is far larger than those capable of being accepted into a B.Mus. In classes for an arts degree there might be 300-500 people, in B.Mus there are often under 10. It's a priveledge to have that opportunity.

You can always go back and do a post grad course in the arts, you're still very young! I have a bachelor of Creative Industries (an arts degree essentially) as well as a B.Mus. I'm far prouder of the latter. If I could redo it I'd have done the music degree first and then a masters in arts rather than just having 2 bachelor degrees. Less time consuming too - a lot of masters courses are only a year and a half full time. You can also do teaching degrees that are an extra 1-2 years if you have a GPA of 5 or more. I'd reccommend looking into your options before making any big decisions.

Thanks for the feedback. I've been reading a little more, I honestly think this crazy talk can wait till after the finals I'm probably saying all of this because of the amount of stress and frustration I'm in. Morodiene, I appreciate your views, it gives an insight I guess on a more global level ... B Mus or BM in Australia where I am is four years, B Mus/Arts is five years, and B Mus Ed. is four years. Tori, what you say is what everybody around me has said ... everybody says that B mus is very competitive and more prestigious ... only four people are doing a B mus in musicology in my year ... the thing is, I have other interests (German, English Lit), and I miss performing. I don;t know if I should consider transferring to performance, since I'll be in third year next year ... almost everybody tells me to do a masters in research and performing. I wish it was possible to major in performance and musicology but where I am it doesn't work like that.

I have an eclectic bunch of interests, I don't know what precise occupation I want, but I know it involves teaching ... and I know it also doesn't involve being an academic. I honestly feel a bit miserable where I am at the moment ... I don't hate it, I just feel really tired of it all, mind you it could just be because I've been in school for 15 years now ... and I probably just want to work. I don't know ... thanks for listening, I'm sorry if this sounds like a big vent.

I'd take the B Mus Ed if I was in your shoes. The reason I think that is you want to teach the masses.

Don't worry about prestige. Do what your heart says, and your pocketbook can afford.

Candywoman, I'm starting to feel that way too ... prestige really annoys me ... Where I am, I'm told that education studies is not very good, the staff and admin are apparently really annoying. Then again, students complain about everything.

Mind you, I don't hate what I'm doing, I'm really tired of it all, this crazy talk could be because I feel like giving up and probably is because of a mix of other things (everybody else is better than me - I'm not kidding, I've worked hard to get good marks and I never get what I aim for even though I feel like I've done the work ... and so now I really cant be bothered and just feel like giving up ... I miss performing like crazy ...).

I want to transfer also because I miss studying English and I studying German really appeals to me, I can speak a tiny bit of it and I love a lot of German lieder repertoire. Sorry, venting again.

Hi Nannerl Mozart,

I would also recommend the BMus Ed, judging from what you've said. Maybe start digging a little deeper about the Music Education staff/classes to get a better feel of whether or not the negative things you've heard are just general student moaning (because you're right...students complain about everything! haha)

Are you at Melbourne Uni? I'm pretty sure you can do a language diploma alongside any Bachelor if you are..it will extend the amount of time you'll be at uni by a fair bit, but if that's what you're passionate about then I'm sure that's not a bad thing. Perhaps your best option is to book in some time with a student advisor to really sit down and nut it out with someone who knows what your options are.

Best of luck!

Have you considered these options:

- Bachelor of Music + one year Graduate Diploma in Education
- Can you do a combined B.Mus/B.A.?

And I don't see much difference between a B.Mus and a B.A. if you are interested in Musicology - if I remember correctly my favourite Musicology lecturer at uni started out with a B.A. If you are contemplating trying to have some sort of performance career then the B.Mus is probably better obviously...

I'm in second year, I'll be in third year next year so transfering to do performance is a little tricky. Basically here is the story of my life after school, in a nutshell. I initially wanted to take a year off and work purely on vocal performance, by entering eisteddfods, doing exams, studying piano both on a solo and accompanying level, studying languages - German, French and Italian in TAFE, doing theory privately and attending as many masterclasses and concerts that I could. This was mainly because, I didn't make it through the first go (although I kind of predicted it), my technique wasn't developed enough and my voice wasn't mature yet - I was 17. Anyway, I got ill, really ill, had an offer for musicology and I wanted to do it at the time, it was perfect for me since my health wasn't optimum.

Did musicology, enjoyed research but missed performance, did an internship in music journalism and realised that I NEED PEOPLE ... I enjoy teaching, I love it and I don't know if I want to do it in a high school full time, I actually think I'd be miserable in that situation.

Now, I'm playing piano still and also studying voice, I'm hoping to do my A TCL next year I find it hard to balance though - my studies with extra curricular activities.

Where I am, yes, you can do B mus/B.A

And I have considered going down the B Mus, Dip Ed route and I guess it's not a bad idea. If I was to teach in a high school, I also would like to teach English and other subjects ... I don't know if renaissance people exist in our day, but I do believe in being well rounded ...

I can see myself doing post grad studies, but it has to involve performance ..

What is stopping you from performing? Simply because you're not in a degree that requires it doesn't mean you couldn't put on a concert somewhere. Set a date, find a place, and do it. Also, why can't you take the English and German courses you want to? Perhaps college is different in Oz, but here you can take pretty much any course you want to except if it is filled with majors in that course who need it for their degree. But you can still audit in that case.

As far as how you're feeling, take a break from school between your undergrad and masters degrees. Don't go right onto the masters program. Go out there and work. Perhaps do some teaching, or whatever. Most masters programs want to see that you have actually had some experience in the field you are wanting to study there.

As a private instrumental teacher going into my tenth year of teaching (!) with only the qualifications of a BA/BSc* I have read this thread with interest. I'm finding myself in the position of wanting a nice piece of paper that acknowledges all of my hard work and skills in music teaching as well (I'm also working on a PhD in an unrelated field, so I get the "interested in lots of things" aspect of it).

Nannerl, what did you end up deciding?


*Majors: Linguistics and Psychology, would-have-been-minors-except-my-uni-didn't-officially-call-them-that-back-then: German and Neuroscience

Thanks for asking Theme and Variations, I decided to take a year off from full time studies in music. I studied at the Sydney con for two years doing their Bachelor of Music course in Musicology, I also continued my voice and piano studies privately.

I've decided to do a few units at the con this semester, but it's only six units - hardly anything. I'm hoping to do my A mus A in voice this year and also continue with my piano studies.

Food is my other passion and love. My dream is to own a cozy cafe with books downstairs and a grand piano upstairs. I know that venues of this sort already exist but they generally play jazz in cafes, not classical. I missed performing like crazy and so this uni holiday, I decided to organise my own concert with food. To make the job lighter, I'm going to be joined with some friends that I studied with in the con. I also invited a few composers (three to be exact) to write works specially for this concert. The works are being composed as we speak.

I have decided to study hospitality at TAFE this year. At the end of the year, I'm going to go to Europe. I have already saved up enough for the ticket. When I go back to uni, I hope to do the Bachelor of music/bachelor of arts course.

I'm very happy with my decision. I love what I am studying in TAFE and I'm still very passionate about music.

Nannerl, this sounds WONDERFUL!!! Now if only you'd move to Lexington KY.

Best of luck, this sounds like a great idea!!

Thanks a lot Ann in Kentucky and Morodiene! And Morodiene, congrats on your decision to be an opera singer! I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun in that avenue. I probably should have explained a bit of the jargon/slang but you both seemed to have caught onto it. In case you are wondering:

Uni = short for university
Con = Short for conservatorium or conservatory or conservatoire
A mus A = Associate Diploma of music Australia (a diploma that says that you can sing or play your instrument at undergraduate level).
Thanks again for the support and inspiration, so far, although it might be too early to tell, I really love what I am doing. I'm not sure if I would have actually taken a year off if I didn't talk to people on this forum. It opened my mind greatly when I read the stories of what people did when they were studying. Morodiene, your story especially moved me to choose to actually take the year off. Your story also inspired me to perform again by hiring out a hall performing a program. Thanks a lot everybody!

Sounds fabulous! I'll have to come visit when your cafe opens.

P.S. In case anyone was wondering - conservatories were amalgamated with universities (often becoming "departments" of universities) in Australia in 1991. For example, the University of Melbourne has a Faculty of Music as well as a separate "Faculty of VCA and MCM" (VCA = Victorian College of the Arts; MCM = Melbourne Conservatorium of Music).