hi, im going on exchange to america next year. At the moment i live in Australia, and i go to a selective, gifted and talented music school. I was wondering what happens with music students in america? what happens with lessons? at the moment mine are in normal school classes, i just get taken out of one class a week to do a horn lesson instead. My lessons are private, and we dont have to pay for them. i hire a horn for about $70 through the government, like most people. we do music for four periods a week (aural class, choral class, Lit class and theory class) and we have written and prac exams at the end of every term. my school has four wind bands, three orchestras, about 7 voice ensembles and a whole bunch of smaller bands and ensembles (string quartet etc) we are expected to practice every night, for at least 20 minutes. whats music like in the US? someone said its really uncool to do music, is that true? will my school have a good program? how often will i do music? will my lessons be private? do i have to buy a horn or is one provided? what kind of things will i be doing in class? do thy use solfa and the same techniques as us? do they have the same ensembles we do? im currently in year 10, year 11 next year, but i was thinking of skipping a year just for music, because im obviously going to be ahead in music (because it was an extension school, my current school works a year ahead of most)
Studying Abroad - 1 Answers
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First, many American schools handle this differently. In some, music is "cool" -- especially if you play in some of the upper level jazz/rock/etc. bands. They are in our school. We have a lot of athletes also play in the band for example. In other schools, music is totally NOT cool. It all depends upon where you land. The same will go with most of your other questions. However, in general there is a "band" class. It's a marching (fall) and concert (spring) band. Then there are usually some upper level bands you can participate in ... depending upon the size of your school. Very few schools will offer private lessons -- you'll have to arrange those on your own and they would not be free. As to the level of the programs -- some schools have excellent programs (like ours) others are pretty bad. It will totally depend on where you go. Most will NOT have anything the level you are probably used to unless you end up in a "magnet" school that specializes in music and the arts. There are not many of those around. There will probably be places available for you to rent an instrument. Sometimes you can rent through a school; sometimes you have to go through a private store. If you want a decent one, the store is the way to go. You should have your host family contact the band director of the school you will attend and ask for some of the music they play. I did that when I had a "musical" foreign exchange student. There are some songs that your school band will play at football games, etc. every year that you can work on ahead of time. Good luck!
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