Source: Page 38 of White Noise Keywords: "walks," "reason," "another," "business"

From: Todd Tipton <todd@toddtipton.com> Subject: Re: Stupid Rant from a Stupid Jerk Date: 12 May 2004 Newsgroups: alt.music.classical.guitar

Childbloom wrote: > > I am of the opinion that, these days, a DMA in guitar performance is a > high-risk endeavor and commits one solely to the vagueries of academia demand > in order for it to pay off (since there is no other demand for it)...Many Guitar > performance DMA candidates pursue that degree to put off paying the student loans > accumulated getting MA degrees (which is a now a requirement of > NASM certification) and DMA candidates often receive modest stipends to study, > with no career options after graduation... The only value to pursueing a DMA may > be providing a secure environment for another couple of years of practice but > IMO this is an incredibly stupid thing to do - a ponzi scheme at best - it will > pay off artistically or economically for only a very few. I am afraid Mr. Moran > is not missing anything.... As you can see, I have highly snipped your post Kevin. Keep in mind that I am not trying to -refute- anything you are saying. I am merely ranting as well but from a couple of different persectives. What I am about to say is probably a cliche, but an education is just that: an education. School is not a job factory. In my opinion, such a superfocial imortance is put on college in all walks of life that nearly everyone goes to school now. I believe the purpose has been lost to many. I have studied music because I can't see myself doing anything else. A former teacher of mine has told me that if one wants to -teach- they will have -no- -problem- getting students. During my undergrad ears, I found this to be very true; even in a small town. I found that during my graduate study, students fell into my lap as well. In fairness though, I have recruited myself very little because of a lack of a need at the time. What I did find is an overall clientel of very intellegent people from all walks of life who wanted to study the guitar for one reason or another. I have found that my competence and confidence (all fueled by my education) have worked well to sell my self. Students feel a security and sincerity that they are getting something from me that they have been missing before. Throughout my school years I have often heard from students and faculty alike that there are no jobs. There are no jobs in guitar, theory, musicology, etc. Well, perhaps that may be true. As guitarists, I bet we can all see the trend that of how coveted an adjunct position is. Myself, I see another trend. Right or wrong, I see the trend of colleges and universities contacting the local "mother" school whenever a guitar position opens up. Out of the false perseption of desperation, such an act on the part of the school may yield them an interested candidate from graduate student at the "mother" school who may be interested in such an "insignificant" position. An adjunct position and a handful of private students is an attractive situation to someone who can not imagine doing anything else for a living. To the competant teacher inside the circle of the right "mother" school who has the ability to sell themselves well, this situation is a strong possibility. In fairness though, I can say that I have auditioned and interviewed for a few position. I haven't landed anything yet. Although not related to any argument, I can say with great dismay that I have never been asked an intellegent question in an interview. I have never had the perception that those responsible for hiring someone demonstrates an interest in hiring someone who knows what they are doing. One may take this anyway they like. All this abvove may be saying very little, but remember a premise: those who can not imagine doing anything else for a living. I am not trying to toot my own horn but I also want to make a completely different point. All to often I see mediocre people in all walks of life. They get the right degree (perhaps business, finance, economics, etc.), and get the right job. They start with an entry level position that is very close to what a professor would make, or more than normal people make that have been working their entire lives. It is part of that superficial element I have talked about. It is dismaying to see a higher value placed on mediocre people who don't study, party too much, and look down their noses at other people who are not just like them. Such a situation made me stop to think. Compared with other classical musicians, and folks in academia, my experiences may be very typical, average, etc. But compared with the average person walking down the street, most of what we all do is anything -but- typical. I soon realized that it was up to me to sell myself. If what I had to offer someone was so great, then it would be up to me to demonstate it. I have left music for a short time. I am glad I did! My brief stint away from music helped to show myself that music -is- where I belong. But I didn't know this at the time. Rather, I was a burned out student who needed some time off. The idea that I might not be as valuable to a company as some 22 year old kid showing up to work with beer breath and a frat t-shirt bleeding through his dress shirt -fueld- me! So I got out there and sold myself. I had confidence in my numerous atypical accomplishments (that are merely average in our circles), and education. I constructed my abilities into a language that the business world could understand and I got out there and sold myself. I sent hundreds of resumes. As with anyone else, it was a legthy prosess with few results at furst. But then, some folks eventually started paying attention. Of course there were setbacks. There were some who could not see how someone like me could offer anything of value. What a great shortcut. Why would someone want to work at a place like that anyway? Eventually though, I landed something. I asked the right questions. I answered the right questions. One interview led to another. And another. And another! Rather than being hired in a typical fashion, I suddenly found myself traveling to be interviewed and hired at the corporate level on a fast tract to district level management of a medium sized and very fast growing company. In fact, I ended up being one of three people hired in this fashion. The other two folks had MBA's from big ten schools and years of experience in the particular field. That alone says something. In spite of my wife being a VP in banking, in all honestly I would probably have become the bread winner sometime this year. That would have only been the -beginning- for me as I quickly moved through the ranks toward the -real- reason I was hired. I threw it all away because I just want to get back to Minneapolis, finish the DMA I started, and do whatever it takes to earn a living teaching the classical guitar. Anything else just isn't worth it to me. Again, I did not mention the above to toot my own horn. Contrary! As I have stated, in the education circle, I see myself as fairly typical. The only difference is, is that I placed a high value on those skills (unlike so many others), believed in them, got out there and sold the package. with kindest regards, Todd

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