What does it take to study guitar in college?
Jeremy S asked:
I don’t know if I’m ready…or even good enough. But college is coming soon. I’m huge into music. I’ve been playing guitar for close to three years now, mostly electric. I can hold my own with most musicians out here and have played with rock bands, to jazz groups.
I don’t know if I’m ready…or even good enough. But college is coming soon. I’m huge into music. I’ve been playing guitar for close to three years now, mostly electric. I can hold my own with most musicians out here and have played with rock bands, to jazz groups.
I’m mainly self taught on guitar. I’ve learned a lot by ear.
I’m currently working on theory and during my last semester of high school, I’m taking more theory lessons and some more guitar instruction. My sight reading isn’t very good still…
But mainly, I’m afraid my style and what I play isn’t going to be what the college wants. I want so badly to get in and study my instrument…or at least study music theory and composition…I just don’t think I’m at the right level.
Am I getting there? Or is this too lofty a goal for someone with as poor credentials as I?
How to Sight Read Music
SpeedyMusicReading.com
I think you HAVE to be able to read music to go for a degree in it. It’s awesome that you have such an ear for music though. Maybe keep it as your hobby. I mean, what would you do with the degree anyway? Are there any high paying jobs that require that degree?
I think you should think about what you could do with the degree. How practical is it? If you feel that it would be practical than work hard to learn to read music and go for it. Just make sure you are doing the right thing because you will be paying for that education for most of your adult life (unless you are rich or get lots of scholarships).
What Top Musicians Know About Sight Reading Music
Business is business
Rock & pop musos can earn far more than hi-brow but boring classical
I was a solo pro singer/guitarist/songwriter & my reading of music is not what ya call instant
Guitar hero Carlos Santana never had a lesson in his life: many play by ear && have more feel for the music than mere automatons do
Today’s gizmos are a great help
Also there are many guitar tutorials, of every style, free @
Recall 3-times guitarist of the year, Bryn Howarth?
Ya dad will tell ya he was on The Old Grey Whistle Test more than anyone
He still takes guitar lessons to be as good as he can be
That is your attitude & lecturers/tutors @ college love keenness
Learning to Sight Read Music
You have to be able to sight read music well. You also have to have some skills and learn some challenging songs to impress the teacher. (Berklee, M.I. and Juliard have auditions before they let anyone in.) You MUST know how to improvise. Whether it be jazz, rock, or blues they are going to want you to jam out over some chords so be prepared for an spontaneous jam session. Also , learn your rhythms. One of the test they give you is over rhythms. The instructor will clap some rhythms and you must be able to write it down.
That’s all I could think of.