Should I go to a school just for music?

Question

I am going into 9th grade. My mom wants me to go to a music school when I go into 10th grade. I really want to go because I am really good at playing the oboe and music is something I know I want to make a career out of. There is one problem though. Friends. What will I do without them. I am really connected to the older girls in my section that are already at the high school. If I leave, I won't get to be in band with them when I get to high school. I really want to go to this school cuz it focuses mainly on music but I don't want to miss out on real high school either. It's just not the same. Plus they don't even have a marching band at this school. I have until January to decide but ever since my mom brought it up, it has been bothering me. I have a hard time going to sleep at night cuz that is all I think about. What would you do if you were in my position. PLEASE HELP ME!!!

I play clarinet also for marching season.

Answer 1

Let me tell you, the High School experience isn't really that great anyway. If music is something you are really passionate about, then go; there would be many people who would want to in your stead and who would've liked a similar opportunity. I wish I had such an opportunity. Then again, if you aren't really sure you want music to be the focus of your life's work, then don't go. If you still practice hard, learn about music, and listen to good forms of music, then you can still make music the focus of it. If it's friends you are worried about at the new school, how is it that you had friends at your old school anyway? and what would prevent you from making friends in the same manner? Most importantly, seek the advice of good, close friends and family. They know you better than the random strangers you will get answers from here on Yahoo!, no matter how much experience any of us has. The truth is, we don't know you, and so seek help from those who you know will.

Answer 2

Go to a university or conservatory after you've graduated from high school. I went to a public high school and then a major music school (eventually got a doctorate in music) and there were other students I met in college who had gone to a performing arts high school. They were no more prepared for college classes than I was and didn't have a "leg up" on anyone. Most complained that they had missed out on "normal" life by having to practice 6 or more hours a day and hanging out only with people of similar interests.

Your private oboe teacher is most important at this time. Find a youth symphony to join - yes, stay in the school groups, but look for something that you need to audition to get into. If you're in the Chicago area, for example, there are orhestras all over. If you're in a smaller town, you may have to travel a little (my sister took the train an hour each way). Go to summer camps to be with all those other musicians and get taught by other professionals.

Your hesitance should tell you what you need to know, and although going to Interlochen or wherever sounds prestigious, it's really HOW you play, not where you studied in the long run that will make a difference - and no one will care once you hit about 24 and hope for a professional career.

Answer 3

Please read this article and show it to your mother:
"The Juilliard Effect: Ten Years Later," from the New York Times,
December 12, 2004.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/12/arts/music/12waki.html?ei=5088&en=32e995fbd9080073&ex=1260853200&partner=rssnyt&pagewanted=all&position=

It's never a good idea for parents to push their kids in the arts because that is such a losing formula. It is so hard to establish a long-lasting career in the arts that you should only be pursuing it at a more intense level if this is something YOU are dying to do. A life in the arts already requires so many sacrifices that it doesn't make sense to ask you to sacrifice more than you're willing to give eagerly for your art.

Despite what others have said about friends and being able to make new friends, I think they don't know (or have forgotten) that friendships in performing arts schools don't always work like they do in regular schools. There is more jealousy, favoritism and politics at work in performing arts schools. This is just one of the drawbacks of being a performing artist, but it's something that performers just deal with if they are passionate about their art. There really isn't room for doubt when a performer's life is hard enough as it is.

I'm the mother of a dancer and I would really hope you do what makes YOU happy, not necessarily what your mother wants you to do.

Answer 4

wow. Well, you can't be in marching band if you play the oboe LOL but learn another instrument, and you could! What this really is, is a decision between your friends and your high school music. If you know that your love of music and your desire to make it your profession won't go away, no matter what high school you go to, then I suggest you go to the regular high school. You'll be able to be in the bands there, you'll be with your friends, and you can always go to a music school for college, yanno? If you want to go to this school because you like playing your instrument and not because of the school's music program, then you're not really going for the right reasons, are you? But remember, no matter which school you choose, you'll make friends. Good luck!

Answer 5

I understand you have your friends in the school you are attending now, and if they are really good friends, then they will be happy to know that you are following your dream to be a professional musician in the Future.

If you go to that Music School think of this: You will be more prepared to do the audition and get a high percent in the admission tests to attend a good Conservatory of Music. Music School has a lot of things you can do: Chamber Music, band, Orchestra, Choir... You will enjoy it. And you will make new friends and experience new musical activities. So, My advice to you is: Go to the Music School, you will enjoy it!

Answer 6

You can make new friends. If your music is really important to you, you should take this opportunity.

But examine your feelings carefully. Is music really the center of your life, so much so that you'll change schools and undoubtedly lose some connections with your friends for it? It won't be worth the pain and the loss if you aren't serious about your commitment.

Know your feelings before you make a final decision.

Best wishes and God bless.

Answer 7

I do music too, I live for music,Ioooove it!!!
I totally understand where your coming from!
I had the choice to go to a music school this year and I'm only in year 7!
Mum said she wasn't quite ready to loose me...so we put it off until year 9 or 10.
You should look at the big picture...being in a school band isn't going to get you an occupation-going to a school just for music is!
And in three years you and your friends are going to take seperate paths in life in any case!
This is a one in a life time chance...Take it.
And good luck!

Answer 8

You should absolutely follow your dreams! Try to keep in touch with your old friends whenever you can. Maybe once a month you can make sure to get together and keep track of each other. You can still chat with them on messenger. This music school will let you meet some pretty awesome new people too. I'm excited for you!

Answer 9

Make a list of the + and - of going to the music school. Then look them over and see what it shows you: more + = go, more - = don't go. But above all, trust in your gut feeling.

Good Luck!

Answer 10

If you wake up in the morning and all you can think about is music then you are meant to be in music.. that goes for anything sports, singing, writing....