Why You Shouldn't Go To Music School Explained 

Wow.... thank you for being so candid. I have never heard anyone being this direct and honest about their music school experience. Shocking about how support was taken away from the composition students

I'm almost in my mid 30's. Went to a top nationally recognized music school for my bachelors of music degree, got a full merit-based scholarship for grad school to continue classical music performance for a masters of music degree, and 1 year into grad school I came to the realization that I was unfulfilled doing specifically classical music, playing in orchestras, and that lifestyle, and I dropped out after the first year of grad school. I was 26 at that point and remember that because I put all my eggs in one basket with classical music since I was 11 years old, I knew nothing else and I felt lost; coasting, drifting, and giving up on myself. I became content living a life of mediocrity, working a job I hated, coming back and numbing my mind to mask the depression, rinse and repeat. 7 years later at 33 years old, I started experimenting with music production and discovered that music production has been the most passionate I have ever been with anything in my life. And now I am sacrificing all of my past distractions to make time for music production. I wish that it wouldn't have taken me this many years to discover that, but better now than never. It is important to have a mentor/coach in starting any new craft/endeavor, having a private teacher to help integrate best practices and avoid bad practices. The music theory and counterpoint classes were probably thee most useful knowledge I got from music school that overlaps into music production and definitely comes in handy, but there are also music classes that are also completely a waste of time like information in music history class. Some concepts they teach you in music school you will likely not ever use outside of school. You will have to take general education classes that are unrelated to music as a music major. And the credential you get of a 4 year music school degree is a very minor thing compared to your actual capabilities/what you can do, and the projects that you've created for your portfolio/catalog/discography.

I work at a university. There are a lot of fragile egos in academia. And a lot of bureaucracy. Unfortunately it all rolls downhill and students suffer. I loved seeing your collaboration with your professor playing the erhu wow she sounds like a true virtuoso. Thanks for sharing your experience and being open about the shortcomings of the higher ed system

This holds so true even outside of the US and different subjects completely. I quit Uni when I was actually very close to finishing it because I just couldn't stomach it anymore. Thankfully I was more than able to code and had the chance to prove it professionally even without a university degree, but it did require a lot of luck ending up where I am now, I could see a world where I'm not even offered the chance to show that I'm perfectly able to do my job just because I didn't get a piece of paper that you get by doing mostly completely unrelated things.

As a former music major, this hits home

Dude. You really let it all out on this post. What a great, eye opening and amazing video.

Really cool to hear your experience, thanks for sharing!

thank you for everything man words cant describe how impactful this video is, seriously

Great vid! I love that you shared this. It’s so nice to know your background. I’m sure this will help young people assess their schooling and skill needs. You should come back east and open your own school!!

Thank you for your honesty on this one! I think a lot of students going for creative careers get caught in the trap of thinking college is a silver bullet for skills, but it isn't going to give you that. All you really need is to know how to use the tools and then just hammer away at it relentlessly. And now we have a never ending stream of teachers available free or inexpensively at home, something that wasn't a thing 20 years ago.

Thanks so much for your honesty! Has someone that's super passionate about music, play several instruments and loves making electronic music, I'm glad this is just my passion and hobby and not something I'm trying to earn a living at. I never would have survived even one month of being forced to learn jazz or classical music!

Like you, i started college as music major because i love music and that’s what i did in high school. Like you i discovered that a music major wasn’t about love of music but of ego, competition and the like. I think the program i went to was more relevant with curriculum but that was just before digital music burst on the scene. I changed majors to psychology after one semester and now have a career as a PhD psychologist. but continued to participate in orchestra. Thanks for the candor. You are an EXCELLENT teacher you have helped me return to my roots in love of music as i’m moving towards retirement and now i’m making beats. I love the bio parts of this video too. Thanks Taetro.

Great video, amazing channel.

So are you gonna do a celebration of your 10 years on youtube? Loved to hear your story. There's so many ways to learn about music now a days besides the traditional school route.

Thank you for the insight. Very helpful and useful info. As someone who is going to school for music, I’m going for audio engineering instead of actual music. I want to learn how to piece music together and apply what little theory i have

BRAVO!!!....❤.

I have strong opinions about ANY art school... $11,000 for 5 classes, 1 term and a credential that doesn't matter. RU-vid has taught me more than any school could and it's free 🤷‍♀

I did a single semester at Columbia in Chicago for audio engineering, I immediately knew the “structure” was not something that made sense for me. Especially for the price

Great video! Pretty aware of the school you're alluding to.... Had a similar experience at one of the other schools in that system without naming names....though I will say out of those schools, UML seems to have embraced the contemporary path the most.

the "elitism" is a common HUGGGEE problem in a lot of places in the music world, I have seen in Facebook groups, forums or in or under youtube videos so many times where a person asks a simple question like "is a Harley Benton a good starter bass?" or "can I start making music on an Arturia minilab" and getting harshly criticised "no that is trash, it'll brake in a week, or it's sounds like crap, you'll regret getting such a cheap instrument"

The systemic problems you identified I think apply to many majors certainly did to mine. I hope this video circulates wildly because the truth of the matter is college isn’t very good investment anymore. There there are so many hidden costs and so much time involved that doesn’t really generate anything worthwhile. Technology is changing so fast that our ability to learn is no longer tied to colleges; and often better experiences could be had through targeted certificates or other more relevant and practical to our actual life pursuits. For the motivated learner, it is often more relevant to learn independently. Here, online learning helped me access classes that weren't available due to scheduling issues. I worked full-time while attending college. It took me nearly 6 years complete a bachelors degree, BGSU 2010. In the long run, I just had a lot of student loan debt. I enjoyed the learning and developing critical thinking skills; however, in the market it provided me nothing. Currently, I’m retired and still paying off student loan debt.

the advice I needed before entering the conservatory in 2005 😆

I really don’t need a second invitation to rant about this, but I’ll TRY to keep it brief (I have passionate feelings about this topic) - I went to a state university and got my Bachelor’s in Music Education. I had to pay a “music fee” and a “lessons fee” every semester but they weren't nearly as bad as the ones seen in this video. I was required to live on campus and have a meal plan my freshman year. I graduated a couple years ago with $15k in debt. Going into college, I was certain I wanted to be a high school band director, and I wanted to give back the knowledge that I had gained through my studies. I grew up in a small town and didn’t really have access to private lessons. All of the success I had on the euphonium came from me watching youtube tutorials, trying to emulate the sound of great players, and analyzing recordings of my own playing. Sound familiar? Two years into my degree I got burnt out of the whole “classical” thing, and I kept my sanity by listening to copious amounts of lofi. I’m not entirely sure where my obsession started, but it made me curious about making beats. I took a couple music technology electives and that’s how I learned Ableton. In my last year of school, I found rehearsing/teaching large ensembles to be rather unfulfilling. I was more fascinated by creativity and using music as an outlet of expression. I didn’t feel like teaching satisfied that itch. I slowly developed a new love for pop, edm, house, and so many other forms of electronic music. It’s the kind of music that is frowned upon by “traditional” musicians, and frankly it just isn’t talked about in music school (Bach is love Bach is life). I felt alienated by my love for popular music because I was surrounded by music educators who ironically didn’t really listen to music. (No, they had not heard any of the new albums). I am a firm believer that DAWs can be taught in the same setting as band, choir, and orchestra, but music educators aren’t ready for that conversation. The whole curriculum would probably need to be reworked, but maybe that's what SHOULD happen. Creativity needs to be fostered, and so do music careers outside of teaching. What if instead of just having another concert, ensembles performed original student compositions that demonstrated the power and versatility of DAWs (like what we saw in this video)? At the end of the day, it’s the same 12 notes, right? Music school is only worth it if you are truly passionate about music and you want to teach. Keep the costs as low as possible, and make sure you click with the professor who you will study with privately. Many professors are open to having little trial lessons during your application process. You just have to send emails and communicate with them. If you want to land a job in the music industry or you are more passionate about the creative aspect of music, you are better off playing in ensembles, taking private lessons, and majoring in basically anything else. If you want to study music production…… don’t? There are more internships and jobs in the music industry for people with journalism, electrical/software engineering, and business degrees than there are for people with music degrees. I did have the privilege of interning with a music technology company after graduating college, but it was a very lucky one-off thing. In my current day-to-day life, I am a barista and I teach private lessons and group lessons. I also have a few other random teaching gigs here and there. I am thankful for the opportunities I currently have, and I do love teaching lessons. However, there is an unfortunate divide between electronic and traditional musicians that simply doesn’t need to exist. DAWs are not the future, they are the present. Music education needs to catch up.

I feel you!! Fully had this experience the first time I attempted school. It was heinous. I will say that coming back almost 20 years later to do my music degree has changed a lot of the way that I view it. I'm not studying anything regarding teaching because that's not my bag, but I feel like I'm avoiding a lot of the pitfalls that happened to me the first time around. The experience of navigating the ghetto streets of adulthood and the music industry has made it way easier for me to be able to challenge the egos in academia, the bureaucracy, and business of it all. Still a massive undertaking that I don't understand why we thrust it on students just graduating high school, but I have been able to find value in the institution I chose as an adult.

having gone through audio engineering in an arts school this really hits home. The people I've met are not fun to be around, alot project a persona or facade in which personally I find exhausting. Not only that but the professors are always finding ways to rebute your points instead of understanding. For example, we were told to record and mix and show them. They did not even give constructive criticism on what could be better or what was wrong, it was more of this sounds bad, haven't we taught you this and that?. Can you imagine an audio engineering school not teaching any basics but be surprised when students don't know this or that mixing technique but tells us to not listen to RU-vid. All in all, the 3 years seemed like a bad dream.

Your observations and advice feel applicable to almost any liberal arts degree, speaking as a literature major

As a music major who goes to the university you went to: THANK YOU

Wow .. I know you’re not a huge RU-vidr . But I totally expected to take my phone off of horizontal mode and see this video reaching a mil views . You’re really well spoken taetro.

I send your video to my BM she is having a issue with her professor I was tell her this is a different view about professors, actions towards students

The same thing is true for CS .. I went to school from 95-99 and there was very little in classes that helped in the real world. The only saving grace was having co-op terms, so we did get experience in 3rd and 4th year that translated into getting hired afterwards.

We went to the same undergrad, I actually attended one of your talks at PWS. Always wondered why the composition major got axed, I basically had to scrounge together everything I wanted to learn. Sharing this with my other umass Dartmouth alums

I self taught myself for since high school. Now today there so many courses you can find without breaking the bank. Tonebase is awesome

I know one Could easily watch your videos and learn exceptionally well how to make music. But I suggest a course... for those of us who need hands on instruction whether it be live or pre-recorded. We who've bought MIDI keyboards but just haven't had the drive to learn how to use them... sincerely would appreciate a keyboard and software crash course... maybe MPC? Or ableton I know I think I've got both of those for free with my MPK. Which we would be happy to pay for.

Composers are the top of the hierarchy in the music business. No wonder they are so derided.

i think the reason to go to music school is to get a music ed degree then teach high school band for 9/10 music students. i did it. i had the same experience. i principled guitar and frenchhorn. it was a lot of elitism. people majored in music performance and they were trying to be in a big city orchestra. as a performance major i was told i could "get a job on a cruise ship" but i did get a free grey meanie arp 2600 from my guitar pro.i sold it and built my bands setup. so in a way music school built my first studio lol parents probably spent 100k. totally absurd.

As someone who went through the HE system (ARTS) and then worked in those institutions, I have witnessed to change from education to just a system of bums on seats. It is all about the finances now and how much can the institution get. There are less resources, less staff, less support, less education yet the student numbers have increased from a year group of 25 to a year group of 300 . In the end your question is very valid, and for me did I need an Masters, NO!

Watching this as I'm working on my bachelor's of art in voice performance at Berklee Online's program. Wish I can say I'm enjoying it but, it feels like my soul has been sucked out of me. I've loved music ever since I was in kindergarten now I'm not so sure anymore.

Love the really BASED Taetro I'm happy I studied my music theory, practice and composition in private. Public school in Italy has the same closed mentality in 80% of the case. Electronic music or sound engineer figure exists only from 2-3 years only. It's sad.

Wow, I feel as if we have lived an incredibly similar experience on opposite sides of the world. I went to school in Sydney & I remember my teacher telling me that I couldn’t use a sampler in a performance because it was cheating. She said “all you’re doing is pushing buttons”… But all the piano students are sort of just pushing buttons too right 🤔

My experience was very similar.. minus the cost.. here in india it isn't anywhere near as expensive as your costs.. but even then the experience of the class hours themselves were to put it mildly 'not cherishable'.. i don't think i regret it as i also can't see what better option I could have taken.. but also i wish music colleges and universities were better than what i experienced..

The new thumbnail is Lit

I’m a current music major and it has been nothing short of life changing for me. I’m currently at Berklee College of Music and I’ve seen tremendous growth for both my platform, and my musical ability/knowledge. It’s a shame that you put such a strict answer that it is almost never worth it as I’ve found it quite the opposite. The connections you make, the theory you learn, the history, the experience, it’s all amazing. I’m sure there that the school you choose to attend has a large impact on what you get out of it, but for example, Berklee offers “EDI” as an instrument option, to which I chose to be my principle instrument. I feel like I’m at the cusp of modern electronic music innovation with brand new knowledge being fed straight to me. Also, in terms of “I’ll never know what I’ll need a German 6 chord for” I studied counterpoint and tonal harmony and I like to think of those as history classes. Why do we study Christopher Columbus and colonization, and war in standard education? So that we can learn where things come from and innovate in it. Of course I also took modern harmony which changed my life, but that’s obvious. The one gripe I do have is the liberal arts classes or the “standard school classes”. It does feel like a waste of money to learn things we already spent time learning for the last 18 years of primary school, but nonetheless, I find it worth it. You’ve inspired me to make a video about my experience once I graduate, as I think it’s only fair that I wait out the full duration as you did. I wholeheartedly believe that your experience was not worth it, but someone on the edge of choosing a school like Berklee or Juilliard could be completely deterred by this video when they could truly experience something life changing. The answer is, it depends.

very interesting , i played piano 8 years and i left.. i can confirm a lot of money but i kept music as a passion that the most important thing

I went to two music schools and worked for the one school for almost ten years. So I've been around music education from view of student and staff. I went and worked at big name private music schools but was a student in a regular college for awhile. First this is don't go to music school to learn music you're wasting your money. You should go to music school to polish your skills, fill in some holes in your knowledge and most important to make contacts for future work. Also if you think going to music school and just doing the curriculum will make you better musician you are wrong. If you go to school do all the work and play in all the ensemble you will only come out a little better than you went in. You go to music school for the environment the resources available, to meet people you can jam and maybe gig with while in school, and to talk to experienced musician that teach. My time in music school the best learn went on in the "office hours" session with teacher not in the classrooms. The "office hours" gave you a chance to ask question about anything music, gave you a chance to play for and with experienced musicians a lot of knowledge is shared in those informal get together. Then music school have good resources libraries full of videos and recordings, practice room, classroom to get together and play with others, and places to just sit with other student to talk music. The most important this is when you're in music school you a living music 24/7 that is the real value is time to live a musicians life. Now music school is very expensive and in today's world it really isn't worth it especially if you're performance major on some instrument. You be better off taking that same money moving to a city know for it music scene, get private lessons with a good teacher, and then at night hit the clubs that have jam sessions to play. Also puts you in a place with other musicians in the same boat as you and you can play with them to make contacts and start building your network of musicians. Being part of a network of musician helps to find work, typical members of a network since they've played together a lot recommend each other for gigs. Now if you still want to go to a legit music school as I said don't be a instrument performance major you have to be very versatile in todays world to make enough to pay your bills and live. So take music business classes, composition classes, recording classes, technology classes to know how to use the internet to promote yourself. You need all those skills in other to keep a steady flow of money to live on. So music school isn't the answer most think it is, go to music school to use it's resources, build up your contacts, and trying to start working. The old saying about music school that is still true today.... If you graduated music school you weren't that good. The really good musicians that went to music schools usually quit school after about two years because they were already started getting gigs where the real education is.

The Ronnie's of the world really suck. Shout out to the network of friends and colleagues I met along the way in college, without them I'd have dropped out. Also shout out to Taetro -- very candid video!

In Mexico, "public university" means you pay a really low fee. Can go from cents of a dollar to like a 200 dollar mark. There are top public universities that have fierce competition, like tens of thousands of students competing for some hundreds spots (no kidding). I actually believe public universities in here should charge more for those who can. It would be a good way to support them. My area is medicine. I graduated from a public university and my education allowed me to go to top hospitals in here to do residency. There are no gaps between public and private once you are doing a speciality. Completely different scenario. Love your videos. Thanks for sharing your story.

This thumbnail slays LOL

I received a lot of information and I have a lot of knowledge, however I find myself stuck because I don't know how to apply all that "knowledge."

i wish i saw this video before music school, it was my worst life experience and despite i learned useful tools i regret it :(

An associates degree in business/entrepreneurship might be the more valuable degree for an aspiring professional musician, since we work as independent contractors and sole proprietors. Even the business degree isn't absolutely necessary, but it may save you from making some painful and expensive mistakes.

7:34 WAIT YOU WENT TO UMASS DARTMOUTH?! I forgot you were from Mass originally you almost had me fooled! My dad teaches chemistry over there.

Ol Ronnie Boy was playing the role of gatekeeper to the days of yore.

We have free public education system in my country, so we don't have to pay for music education at all. Although... I think that the environment is toxic. Private sympathies are more important than skills. I personally landed on composition studies and I really believed in my competences that I evaluate incredibly low now from the time perspective! That was all because I was liked by the specific professor. It distracted me from drilling skills that would be certainly way more useful for my musical identity. Also - what I hate about music school is the approach to interval-based ear training...

i went to school in Vancouver Canada, Dropped out half way. 600k monthly listensers. Make extra income from music. Figured it out myself. You don't need school. You need to learn to connect with other creatives.

Unfortunately, 100% of this resonates outside of music majors as well. Everything you outlined is what's wrong with the 4-year university formula in general. Unless you need a degree which requires access to high-tech equipment (science/medical labs, observatories, etc) there really isn't a solid case to be made for anyone to go to a 4-year university. Even in departments like business you'll find professors who have never successfully run a business and are just good at teaching the textbook material. My diploma was just an expensive participation certificate and the money would have been better spent literally anywhere else. Also a side note of where the money goes... the president of my university (Washington State University) makes almost $800k. Someone make sense out of why the president of one state school makes more than the president of the United States. 🤔

We should learn music

I would guess that they look down at anything other then jazz and classical is because if you develop a strong knowledge of jazz and classical. Everything else is Child's play so to speak. Tremendously easier. Not the opposite.

It's amazing how someone can go out of their way to make learning something you love feel like a prison sentence smh. I'd think that a music program would be just that, and allow you to fully immerse yourself into the various aspects of music.

So you went to music school because you wanted to be a musician. You did no prior research and initially wanted to major in trumpet for no reason other than you could play it. Then you switched to voice and were surprised that the only genres of focus at an academic institution are the ones that have areas of academic study established. The people who knew what they were getting into at music school were people interested in jazz and classical music, and when they didn't share your tastes, you felt yourself the victim of elitism. Following this you pursued the avenue of electronic music/composition. At this point you had your course of action in mind and the school had a leadership change, which I will admit is unfortunate, and I empathize with you here. I liked your piece, and I respect you for finding your footing at this point. To be honest with you, it sounds like you didn't take the college selection process and research process seriously. The advice that you give at the end of the video to "exhaust every option" is not advice that you followed. I find it hard to feel as though your struggles pre-ronnie were anyone's fault but yours, and the post-ronnie era was a sudden and unexpected twist that will not happen at most institutions over a four year time span. I think this is something you should acknowledge. Your experiences are a unique case and are likely a rarity, especially among your initial fellow trumpet majors. Understandably, music school was an experience that left you feeling burnt, but your telling of this story reflects that this is common but does not address your biases. i mean fuck it tho its your youtube channel tell your story the way you want to tell it. im a senior in high school planning to pursue music as a cello performance major at a university in a big city with a teacher that has connections to a major symphony orchestra. my focus will be classical music, since thats the music that speaks to me, and thats the knowledge I expect and want to get. if i remember i will respond to this comment in four years and let you know how it was.

This doesn't sound like Music school; this sounds like being a music major at a state university. Isn't there a difference?

Hey Taetro, thanks for the breakdown. I estimated £9,000 per 3 (or 4) year college degree. I am 53 and did basic music theory in junior high school 1985-1987 (forgive me, I don't recall the exact years) and during the 80s I primarily learned the drums and was inspired by Adam and the Ants, Duran Duran and other new wave / punk groups of the era, but in juniour high school, I learned the rudiments of music theory, chords, and keys. Throughout high school and beyond, I was constantly writing lyrics and composing stuff on my CASIO MT-100 keyboard, which later transformed into the Yamaha MK-100, which got me into teaching myself acoustic gutiar on a 3/4 length guitar based on the songsheets of the music in Live Aid from 1985. My college degree is in English with a minor in International Business, but my music prevails (ru-vid.com/show-UCLCv0sgJrTJBSudOJesGX3g)

I beat the music school with flying colors bro... still hate everything about it. Music theory is unnecessarily overcomplicated and the stuff they makes you play was kinda taxing... you know, a tall order everytime. Also... bureaucracy, egos, nepotism etc. All of this without any promises to you in the future. You play live in public concerts for free and don't you even dare to ask for a penny. And after you graduated they give you only two options - to continue this for at least five years more or get lost.

You are missing a bigger point I think... if you are going to music school at Joe Smith's public college in Lalaville, CA, then yeah... you might want to think about how this is going to benefit you. If you are GOOD ENOUGH to get into HARVARD, BERKELEE, etc... you'll do JUST FINE after college. Can't compare Berkelee student's to UC Irvine....

HUNDRED PERCENTO!! Also, same crap in the Art world for the Art majors.

this guy HAS NO CLUE. Having a diploma in hand when auditioning has always secured me the gig. Even over the better players that have no diploma. Despite the fact I really can't play drums well, that diploma says "I know what I'm doing!"

Your descritpion sounds like college in general, with two kids in just community college the fine print and things that they fee you to death on are hideous, I don't know if its because of the pipeline for the banks to get us under their thumb or what but it's changed a ton since the late 80s when I looked at college.

Ronnie has 24 hours to respond.

Great legendary musicians that didn't read/write music at all or not very well. 1. Paul McCartney 2. Irving Berlin 3. Eddie Vanhalen 4. John Lennon 5. Stevie Wonder (this one on the list is a little fucked up lol) 6. Hans Zimmer 7. Taylor Swift 8. Jimi Hendrix All of them were or are legendary musicians/composers and they are not the best at reading and writing music Heard that Irving Berlin would partner with or hire someone to write his music for him. He absolutely hated it.

No. There is nothing that you can learn in a music school that you can't learn on your own with a book/videos and some good old fashion hard work. Just keep at it. *10-thousand* *hour* *rule*

Ok how is it that high? Like my sister was able to get like 3 medical degrees for the low low price to her of zero between 2012-2024 because of the Florida pre paid program that was $8k to my grandpa in the 1990s... Like do I hate to say it but my dud you got day light robbed.

Every aspect of this sounds horrible... i have never felt better for not going to college. I've heard a lot of the same stories for visual & graphical arts.

Berklee Online can suck it. *$4,335* to learn Ableton Live

5:21 To be fair why did you go to a school teaching jazz and classical stuff when you wanted to do other things... Kinda like going to veterinary school then complaining you can't use that knowledge in heart surgey.

very informative..i was thinking the tuition to be around 50k..

🥇🏆

Academia's not elite! Prof Craig Wright (formerly Yale History of Music, now Head of Yale Genius School) holds Those who can, do: Those who can't teach (The Hidden Habits of Genius).

bros beefing with a college music department 😭🙏

Ronnie, shame shame shame.

Yeah, I’m gonna have to disagree still on the music school thing. I have terrible experiences with SCHOOL, but not because it was music school. Great insights here, I recommend getting a degree for every human being on this earth. Just plan out your path before starting, and REALLY be ready for shitty teachers, shitty financial aid, and shitty classmates. But the life experience, it’s unlikely you’ll get it anywhere else. There is SO many connections in college.

Ronny sucks