Degree Streams and Me

Emily Diehl is at a crossroads between a degree in music performance and an honours degree.

I am in a university program that has three degree streams. This means that after my first year of classes, I will have to decide on my specialization, much like a major, which will determine my next three years of classes.

I am taking a Bachelor’s of Music degree, and my choices of specialization: a Bachelor’s of Music in Performance, in Education, or a Bachelor’s of Music Honours degree.

Which do I choose? How much of my choice should be based on personal preference, and how much of it should be based on rationale? I still have not actually made this choice, so this article will detail my thoughts on various questions relating to it.

Where am I most likely to get a career? If I stay in music, the most stable and reliable career path is a career in music education. However, careers in music education tend to be less lucrative than one might like, and besides, my personality is not very well-suited to education, and I have known that for a long time. So, while I could very well go into music education, I would rather not. I do not feel called to it, nor do I think that it would be a smart choice for long-term job satisfaction.

So my remaining options at the moment are a degree in performance, and an honours degree. A performance degree would be something I would love, but it is not always a viable option – unless you are right up at the top of your field, it is hard to make a living. Honours, on the other hand, is a very open degree stream which gives me a lot of freedom to choose electives: I could go into music psychology, music theory, musicology, music therapy… the list goes on and on. Do I want that many options? Would I perhaps feel paralyzed by so much choice?

The next logical question is, “Where am I likely to get a career I want?” The answer seems rather simple right at the moment: performance. I want to be on stage – I want to challenge people, to show people the beauty of the world, to sing, to act. But on the other hand, I want to be able to live. Honours would be an easier route to take there, simply in terms of supporting myself with a steady job.

In the end, what is this degree actually going to net me? Not much other than training. Not much street cred. If I can manage it in the next four years, doing this degree could get me exposure to the musical community, and maybe lay the foundations of a career – especially if I do performance (it’s never too early to start).

To state the question a little differently, and more personally: what am I expecting from my university career? Easy: training. Education. Practice. Shared knowledge. Mentors. There’s nothing quite like a good university for solid mentorship.

Do I need this degree to get me anywhere else? In a word, no… the degree itself isn’t quite as important as the training and learning that come along with it. It’s not the paper that counts, oddly enough.

Do I need what I’m getting from this degree to get into grad school? Absolutely – especially if I get a performance degree or an honours degree. I could go right into teaching music if I took a music education degree. Granted, it wouldn’t be very high on the totem pole, and I could go get graduate degrees in music ed., but as I’ve already established that music education isn’t high on my list of personal passions… let’s move on.

The nitty-gritty of life, unfortunately, often comes down to the money. What do I want to spend my money on? I want to spend that money on quality education. I want one-on-one time with my instructors. I want a strong student base to challenge me and support me. I want resources. I want training, and critique. I want this to be four years I will appreciate, rather than look back on and cringe at how much money it cost me. This needs to be an investment, not a squandering. What I want from it will determine largely what I get from it.

If money were no object, what would my final question be? I think it would be, “What do I want to spend my time on?” In other words, what do I want to do? I want to learn. I want to hone my talents. I want to gather knowledge from those wiser than I – and then I want to learn how to use it.

Does any of that help me to choose a degree? Nope, not really. I’m no farther than I was before.

I’m at a crossroads between a degree in music performance and an honours degree in music.

I’m still unsure as to which path to take. Do I go the route that seems safer, steadier, more even-tempered (honours) or do I go the route that takes my talent and passion at its root and nurtures it (performance)?

Well darn it all, I want to do performance, and I guess the trouble is that I don’t know if it’s a smart thing to do!

Looks like I have more nights of restless thinking ahead of me…