Will your student get a good music education in college? (Random Access).

No doubt, many readers of this column are working hard to prepare high school students for upcoming college applications and auditions. This extensive ritual involves clarifying educational goals, carefully selecting possible schools that will appropriately nurture the maturing musician, preparing audition materials and assembling recommendations.

Most of us who have made a career teaching precollege students tend to get quite excited when any of our students contemplate college music study, and we usually are eager to assist in any way we can.

One of the best things we can do for our students is help them choose a good school. But what does that actually mean? For example, if a particular school turns out very fine performers, does that mean it is a good school? Or is that school very selective in its choice of students--or both?

Perhaps the better question to ask is whether a particular school is good for your student?

Obviously, defining what makes a good school is a tricky proposition that is related to the issue of just how well the resources of the school match the needs of the student. A school that is outstanding for one student may not be outstanding for another.

Most schools with a music major offer a pretty standard set of courses covering music history, music theory, composition, musicianship and performance. Specialized programs, such as those that offer a music education degree, usually offer additional courses that--on the surface--also appear to be fairly standard from school to school.

But are these courses really so standard? Will the students actually learn the same things at any school?

A Hypothetical Comparison

Let's compare two, fictitious schools: University A and University B. Both schools are well known for the quality of their student orchestras and offer similar courses. The music major at both schools is considered to be fun yet rigorous. However, there are some interesting differences.

Upon further examination, we find out the following about University A:

* The flute teacher only teaches the wooden, keyless flute.

* The tympani teacher restricts his students to the use of hand-tuned tympani (i.e. no pedals).

* The horn teacher works exclusively with the natural, valve-less horn.

* The piano teacher gives all lessons on an early fortepiano that has a knee lever for operating the damper mechanism.

Would you consider that University A has a good music program? Will University A properly prepare your student for a fulfilling and remunerative career in music?

Please don't leap to the conclusion that I think University A has a bad program. Remember that the music program at University A has a reputation for being both rigorous and fun. Furthermore, the students who attend University A typically play very well.

Based on the information we have, it is clear the program at University A is restricted to pre-nineteenth century music. If that is what your student needs, then University A is probably a great school for your student.

I am willing to wager that you were rather startled by the idea that a college music program might ignore 200 years of technological innovation in the music field. Indeed, if such a program both ignored the last 200 years of technological innovation and claimed to be a competitive, twenty-first century music program, most of us would think the program was highly overrated--or worse!

Fortunately, most music programs do not completely ignore the last 200 years of technological innovation. However, the last twenty years has seen at least as much technological innovation as the previous 180 years, and it is clear that many programs do ignore the last twenty years!

Let's continue our hypothetical comparison of University A and University B by considering how technological changes of the last twenty years may have--and probably should have--affected their "standard" course offerings.

Music History

A comprehensive course in music history examines the music of a particular period or country, the relationship of that music to the surrounding culture and the influences of one musical style or epoch on another.

During such a course of study, students need to develop analytical listening skills and should learn to integrate their newly found historical perspective into the way they learn and perform music of the period studied.

In the traditional music history class, students receive information by listening to music, listening to lectures and participating in discussions. Evidence that students have achieved the desired level of understanding is usually acquired in the form of written papers and written responses on tests.

However, as I have indicated above, music history truly is a multidimensional field of study, linking intellectual concepts with music composition, the visual arts and many other elements of a given culture. Why, then, would we expect students to demonstrate their understanding in a one-dimensional fashion?

Multimedia software tools make it possible for students to express their understanding in a way that is just as rich as the subject matter itself. For example, by rendering the traditional, music history paper in the form of a PowerPoint presentation, students undertake a process of manipulating text, graphics and sound in order to show evidence of their understanding. Thus, students have the opportunity to immerse themselves more fully in all dimensions of their subject matter.

Does your student's prospective school encourage or require the use of multidimensional forms of expression?

Music Theory

Music theory is essentially the study of how music is put together. The so-called rules of music theory constitute a retrospective set of principles that describe what various composers have done in the past.

The study of music theory generally involves compositional exercises that simulate the compositional techniques of earlier composers and analytical tasks that demonstrate an understanding of important musical concepts. One hopes that the student will develop a strong connection between theoretical concepts represented on staff paper and those same concepts represented in sound.

Making the connections between the mind, the eye and the ear can be a tricky process. Music workstations that include a MIDI keyboard, computer and notational software provide a powerful environment for making these connections. The basic reason is pretty simple: These workstations can provide immediate aural and visual feedback at any moment during the learning process. No longer does a student need to spend long periods of time writing out exercises without knowing what they sound like.

Has your student's prospective school adopted these tools as standard equipment?

Composition

During the last twenty years, revolutionary, new, computerized tools have been placed at the fingertips of composers. These tools have affected the way many people compose music, the demands composers place on performers, and the way many composers distribute and earn royalties from their music.

The traditional school teaches a student how to apply two basic tools to their compositional activities: pencil and staff paper. The modern tools, however, are the equivalent of pencil, staff paper, music engraving system, copy assistant, rehearsal orchestra, recording studio and music distribution center.

Does your student's prospective school provide fundamental training in the use of these tools?

Musicianship

Sight singing, ear training, conducting and rhythm drills constitute the typical fodder for musicianship classes. Rigorous, in-class drills are commonly used to improve the skills of the young musician.

One of the traditional challenges for music students has been figuring out how to prepare for each class. As you do your homework, who plays the ear-training examples for you? Who corrects your rhythm? Who tells you that your singing is modulating unintentionally?

The computer can be a very patient and effective tutor for the young musician. Software programs exist that provide nearly unlimited amounts of graded material. These programs typically will let you tap out rhythms on the spacebar of the computer keyboard, choose pitches and play melodies on a MIDI keyboard, and sing into a microphone connected to the computer's soundcard. Most importantly, these programs are capable of giving immediate feedback to the student.

Does your student's prospective college offer these learning resources?

Performance

Clearly, there has been a great deal of experimentation during the last twenty years in the area of music instrument design. This is especially true with regard to electronic instruments and electronic extensions to acoustic instruments (known, in the lingo of the MIT Media Lab, as hyperinstruments).

Although it is not at all clear which of these new instruments will be considered standard in ten or twenty years, it is interesting to note that nearly every traditional, acoustic instrument now has an electronic equivalent or has electronic accessories available for it. MIDI features, for example, are available for acoustic pianos, bowed strings and guitars. Purely electronic, MIDI versions of wind and percussion instruments also are available. In all cases, these MIDI features make it possible to interact directly with a computer and to control synthesized sounds as you play.

At this point in time, there is very little pedagogy that has been developed explicitly for teaching these instruments. However, it is worth asking whether your student's prospective school offers any hands-on exposure to these instruments.

Preparing for Yesterday or Tomorrow?

In this day of rapid change, it is important that we continually ask ourselves whether we are preparing our students for the challenges we faced many years ago or the challenges our students will face tomorrow. The question also is appropriate to ask as we guide our students toward a good college music program.

--George Litterst, Rehoboth, Massachusetts