OliverBlackman Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 I've been on a degree course at ACM for 6 months now having completed the HnD last year. And iv got to say the Degree is not what i was expecting. It seems that 50% of my time is having to be devoted to writing assignments. I know it has to be part of the course to validate it as a degree but i would rather spend my time getting good on my instrument and learning about music rather than writing an essay on how i go about transcribing a song. Surely theres no right or wrong way to transcribe as long as you get the right end result anyway? But the thing is if i spent all this time just playing bass i would be twice as good as i am now. I just completed all my Coursework and handed it in 6 weeks ago, it took about 4 weeks to complete. Now i have been given the briefs for the next batch of assignments which are supposed to be in soon. The worst part is i know people at ICMP and Birmingham Conservatoire and their going through the same thing. So anybody thinking of taking up a Music Degree think hard about it because i am starting to see why people like Janek Gwizdala left theirs before they completed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mykesbass Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 [quote name='blackmn90' post='1113189' date='Feb 2 2011, 10:59 PM']But the thing is if i spent all this time just playing bass i would be twice as good as i am now.[/quote] But is this the sole reason for doing the degree course? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
risingson Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 (edited) The facts are that you don't just go to music college to learn how to play your instrument better, and if you have then I think you've done it for the wrong reasons. You go to college to give you a good footing in later life and to learn about the industry because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter how well you can play your instrument, if you have no idea about the industry and how it works then you've basically fallen at the first hurdle. If people just hired musicians on the premise that they can play their instruments and not at all on their work ethic or business acumen then there would be a lot more musicians in work right now, I guarantee it. The degree means much less than you'd think as well, a musician with a degree isn't going to get picked over someone without. You go to music college to network and learn valuable lessons for later life. You need to know what lessons to take away from these kinds of institutions. I went to a reputable place near me and I ended up dropping out early because I considered many of my lecturers to be unqualified to offer their opinions on certain matters, but for all the crap I had to listen to from some of them, every so often a valuable and important lesson could be learned from the good lecturers. I don't regret dropping out, but I would recommend keeping at it and just remembering what you should and shouldn't be taking away from all of this work you're currently doing. It's all about networking and making sure you're the best man for every job that gets thrown out there, as well as learning about the environment you wish to hammer out a vocation in the future. Edited February 3, 2011 by risingson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OliverBlackman Posted February 3, 2011 Author Share Posted February 3, 2011 obviously yes learning contacts through these kinds of places is invaluable and i've been playing with some great players which is a lot of fun. My thing is, if the assignments wern't there students would devote more time on socializing, gigging, and gaining the skills that would be used in the industry. From what iv learnt, writing 5000 words on crap isn't going to get me a gig as a performing musician Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
risingson Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 (edited) [quote name='blackmn90' post='1113325' date='Feb 3 2011, 12:38 AM']From what iv learnt, writing 5000 words on crap isn't going to get me a gig as a performing musician[/quote] Not directly it isn't. What's the paper on? EDIT just seen it was on transcribing. We used to get arranging assignments at my place. The lecturer who was teaching this part of the course was nothing short of a genius with an encyclopedic knowledge of music, I really do think he is one of the most brilliant people I've ever met. Anyway, I remember one lesson we got talking about James Jamerson and my whole class (50-60 of us at the time) had to sit for an hour's worth of lecture whilst we discussed Motown and also Carol Kaye's involvement in the re-creation of the electric bass in not just modern pop music but also in film scores as well during that time. It was people like him that made me get out of bed every day just to go to his lectures, I left feeling enriched by his vast knowledge and confident I'd learned a lot by the end of the day. He wasn't a good lecturer... more often than not he'd have a break during two hour lectures, go down to the bar, have a few pints of guinness and then drive home straight after we'd finished, but he was a friendly and brilliant tutor, and I'll remember a lot of what he had to tell me for the rest of my life. Sometimes it's not really worth getting too angry about work that you might not see the benefits or end results of. All I know is that if ACM is a good place to be for you then you'll probably find that you'll be learning valuable lessons a lot of the time, and it's the little stuff you'll end up taking away from all of this. Edited February 3, 2011 by risingson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OliverBlackman Posted February 3, 2011 Author Share Posted February 3, 2011 you are mostly likely correct and my inexperience is why i dont value it as much, but in my mind the standard of students that complete a degree in music performance could be higher if it wasn't for the educational system. Having said all this, assignments are only 50%, and the other 50% is fantastic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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