A Guide for Undergrad Singers
Grad school is for three things:
- To help you refine your vocal technique;
- To help you define yourself as an artist; and
- To take some time to get really good & confident.
Finding your place in the professional music world can be intimidating. Graduate school can give you a leg up if you use it well. Remember, graduate school is not a requirement for a career as a singer. The requirements for a professional career are to understand your own instrument and what you have to offer on the stage and to be really good. You can achieve these goals in a variety of ways; graduate school can be one of those ways, but it can also take you away from this goal if you are not careful.
I have seen it many times: the singer gets into a good grad school and then lets the curriculum and teachers form her goals for her. When she is finished with grad school she has been groomed to become something, but not necessarily what she wanted to become. Worse, she has lost her confidence because she is a puppet of someone else’s idea. Don’t let this happen to you. Take charge of this process. Grad school is expensive and you need to be able to get the most out of it that you possibly can.
To get the most out of grad school, you first have to know what you want to get out of it. What do you need? Does the school provide it? Can you get in? Can you afford it?
What do you need?
Each singer will want something different from grad school. Don’t begin to look for schools before you look at your own goals, skills, and finances. Contrary to popular belief, just going to a famous school will not open the doors for you; you have to open doors with your talent! The bottom line is your performing ability. No one really cares from where you got an academic degree if you can knock the judge’s socks off at the audition.
Complete the following two worksheets to assess your goals and skills.
Assessment of Priorities/Goals Worksheet
What do I want to do with my singing?
What types of audiences do I want to sing for?
Who in the professional world is doing what I want to do?
What is my mission for singing?
Assessment of Skills
What are my strengths as a singer? Be specific.
What do I wish I could do as a singer? Be specific.
What are my strengths at performing classical repertoire? Be Specific
What do I wish I could do better when performing?
Congratulations for being lovingly honest with yourself on your skill levels and what you actually want to know. Now two more things: 1) take a big breath and email or like on Facebook or tweet to one of your idols and ask advice; and 2) make an appointment to perform your best two pieces for a respected teacher, director, or conductor and ask for an assessment.
After this process, you’ll not only have a better idea of what you want but also of where you are right now!
OK, you’ve decided what you want to attain and that grad school is the best place to attain it. Now it’s time to assess the schools in question.
Does the school provide it?
Once you figure out what you need from a school then see which schools specifically offer what you are looking for. Don’t waste time on a school that specializes in foreign languages if you are already fluent in other languages.
Also, you want to make sure they’ll actually let you out. Sometimes getting in is easy but graduation is tough. For grad school you only want to be required to take the courses that you want to take. If the program is heavy with requirements that you cannot test out of (e.g. theory and analysis, history and criticism, choir requirements) then run away! You’ll never get what you actually need and you’ll never get out!
Once you’ve decided what you want to attain, look for schools that have graduates that are doing what you want to do or are singing like you want to sing. Most likely, a great voice teacher will be your highest priority. Contrary to popular belief, it is not wise to look for a famous teacher thinking that he or she will give you contacts in the field. This is a BAD criterion for choosing a teacher. Your only concern should be whether or not the teacher can help YOU SING better. Then, whether or not the teacher is famous is irrelevant.
How to Find the Perfect Voice Teacher
Have a good idea of what the problems are that you want to have fixed before the initial consultation or voice lesson. I would recommend a voice teacher who will listen to you perform, vocalize you and then give you an honest assessment. Ask how the teacher might proceed in fixing one or more of your problems. Be crystal clear before the lesson what your intentions are. Too many students are just happy when a teacher likes them and that is not what you want. You want a teacher who will help you to achieve your goals. Check out the post on this site called “How to find a Great Voice Teacher.” It gives you ten things to beware of and ten things to trust when encountering a new voice teacher!
Meanwhile, evaluate your sample lesson with the list below.
Sample lesson checklist:
- I feel comfortable in a room alone with this teacher.
- I feel welcome and free to sing.
- I feel the teacher understands my goals.
- I feel the teacher understands my voice.
- I feel the teacher gave me good advice to improve my technique.
- I feel I have gotten an idea of new things to try to improve my technique.
- I feel the teacher is knowledgeable about the voice.
- I feel the teacher likes my voice.
- I’m glad I came.
- 10. I look forward to coming back.
If you can check seven out of ten, then keep this school on your short list. If not, walk away and don’t look back.
If you don’t need to refine your vocal technique or if you already have the best voice teacher ever, then there is not really a need to spend the time and money to go to grad school unless you are planning to teach at a college or university someday. You can get your other skills outside of academia and get started performing for money much sooner that way. However, if you are simply not able to win any auditions, you cannot hit the high notes consistently, or do not sound how you want to sound, then, go to grad school and study with a great teacher.
If you need acting or diction or movement: check to see if these classes are actually offered. In this day and age of budget cuts, often courses are listed in the course catalog that haven’t been taught in years and won’t be taught anytime soon.
Ask your soon-to-be-new voice teacher about these classes and also about the specific requirements for your performance major. Some requirement are not actually noted in the catalog but rather are delineated in the student handbook published by the music department. Make sure to get a hold of one of those too.
Don’t forget that you can also take classes in other disciplines if needed. Acting and movement classes are usually offered in the theater department. Foreign languages are offered in a different department too. Check out everything that is offered at that university.
When you visit campus to take your sample lesson, make sure to talk with other voice students there. If you can attend a master class, that would be best. Ask the students your good questions: Do they share your goals? Do people really graduate? Are there good resources for voice students?
Read the fine print (in handbook, catalog, current student experiences)
- Do you need to be in residence for a period of time?
- Will you have all the pre-requisites?
- What are the audition/scholarship requirements?
- Will you have to pay for your own accompanist?
- Other extra fees: practice room, recital hall, costumes/make up
Making Your Short List
You’ve taken your sample lesson and decided on three to five places to audition. Now get ready for each audition!
Once you decide where to audition:
- Get advice from the teacher you took a lesson with to see the best approach
- Best dates
- Best rep
- Best materials
- Get all the university information and deadlines as they may differ from the music department forms and deadlines.
- Get all the music department information and deadlines
- Get all the scholarship information and deadlines – a different office altogether – usually the right hand does not speak with the left
There is just as much or more paperwork than there is singing required to get in, to be successful and to graduate from grad school. If you are not good a paperwork, don’t go to grad school. I mean it.
Prepare well, get your confidence to a high level, and make sure your body is healthy and energized and then: Have a great audition! Remember that you are a whole person, speak eloquently, be nice to everyone, and have good conversations. Also remember that you are auditioning them too! Ask good questions. Remember that you have lots of options. If you don’t get in there, then you don’t want to go there. There’s another path. You’ll just have to find it.
Once you hear from the schools, hopefully you’ll have a couple of choices. Given equal benefits, perhaps financial considerations will tip the scale in one direction or another.
Financial Considerations
You’ll have applied to the university, to the scholarship office, and to the music department. The audition is only about the music department. If you get in, hoorah!! You still have to be accepted by the university and that letter will come under separate cover. If you get in to the university, hoorah!!!
Now you’ll have to wait for any scholarship awards to be announced. Sometimes scholarships are offered by the university; sometimes by the music department and sometimes by other places like the university foundation. Hopefully you’ve applied to all of the above and now you’ll have to make sure to check with them about awards before you make your final decision.
Out-of-state tuition is usually more than twice the tuition of in-state students. Many students actually move to the state one-year before entering school to establish residency in that state before matriculating as a student. This can save you thousands of dollars.
Other geographical considerations include how much you have to pay to live. If you can live with a relative, that’s all the better. Most masters programs require one year of residency. If you can live cheaply during that year of residency, or if your scholarship money can pay living expenses, then that’s all the better.
Finally, it is more expensive than you might expect to go to grad school. Hidden expenses include: competition fees, scores, books, recording devices, computer maintenance, car maintenance, audition fees, extra lesson fees, course fees, etc. For singers, the payoff can be great or horrible. One thing is for sure: grad school will not get you a job. Great performing will get you jobs. Make your grad school experience help you become a great performer.