That, Dear Horatio, is the Question
Whether 'tis nobler to pursue the lofty heights of Academia
Or, to slug through the maze of streets that is self education
When one hits a wall, when the doors to understanding
are too many to choose, perchance the halls of wisdom
provide opportunities one should not lose.
So, having joined the Composers forum, I realize that I am significantly outclassed. There are some remarkable compositions over here, and the general level of education very high. You speak a language I just don't understand.
It scares the crap out of me.
It made me look at my music a little more closely. I believe I have potential as a composer, but at the moment my stuff is very immature. I don't mean childlike, I mean lacking formal structure.
My friend Janet over at the Cakewalk Song forum has been kind enough to help me with some theory and knows how weak I am. Struggling through that, and then seeing how far I had to go, I realized I needed to formalize my method of music self-education. I need to go back to the basics, and begin to create a plan of development that will let me communicate with the composers here with both competence and understanding.
Yesterday, while thinking on this, I was weighing other options, like a formal education in music. I thought to myself, "I am to old to go back to school. Do I really want to spend 4 years in school for this?". By the time I had finished thought, I had concluded, "no".
This morning, for reasons I can only guess at (God works in mysterious ways), my wife, Sophie, calls from work. She wanted a recipe we have for "power balls" (homemade energy snacks) to give to a friend. While I was scanning it she started talking about music classes at the University (she works on campus for a GO that has an office there) ... and it dawned on me, maybe school is the right place for me.
As this season has already started, I will be looking at next year, which might be a good as, being a University degree, they will have a certain expectation of basic education I am sure, so I can spend the year preparing.
Of course, the practical reality is this will cost me about 20grand in tuition alone. It would put a lot of plans on hold.
So, I must admit, while the idea of getting a BMus is really exciting (not because of the degree but because of what I will have learned), I am not sure about the time and cost.
Am I being silly? Should I just bite the bullet and do it?
That is the question.
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