Five good reasons to "go back" to college

Five good reasons to “go back” to college

As Part-Time Musicians (PTMs), our lives are already busy. Between work, family, pets, extended family, volunteer organizations, and our music, we’re lucky to squeeze in a few hours’ sleep at times. Why in the world would a PTM decide to return to college?

Going Back To College

This article points out the direct and collateral learning that resulted from a “seasoned adult” signing up for a college music appreciation course…just for fun. The author apparently isn’t a singer or instrumentalist, but her experience is enlightening for all of us.

Let’s get back to our earlier question: why would a PTM decide to return to college? Here are five good reasons to at least give it some thought.

1. Expertise

There are many, many fine PTMs teaching in college and university music departments. From their perspective, teaching provides a steady, often flexible job with financial stability…and allows them opportunities to really explore their areas of expertise and share those discoveries with others. Unless they’re in a major music school, though, students usually show much less enthusiasm for their subject than they do…which results in many missed learning opportunities.

As an older student, you are able to absorb that expertise and more readily find ways to apply it to your world. This starts an incredibly productive “growth cycle”, as the instructor sees someone genuinely interested and eagerly shares more of their expertise. This kind of learning is impossible to obtain without the personal interaction such as one receives in a class.

2. Convenience

If you had to locate someone with comparable expertise, then find the equipment that instructor recommended, contract with the instructor, buy the equipment, and configure it prior to beginning your chosen course, it might never happen! Yet your local college or university does all of that; all you have to do is scan their catalog, often from your computer, and enroll in the class. All of the underlying tasks are done for you, and you can concentrate on the object of your desire: learning. Why waste time on all of the prep-work if someone else is willing to do it for you?

3. Collateral learning

Classes bring people of differing backgrounds and viewpoints together in one place to consider a common topic. These various perspectives add a richness to any discussion that often leads to collateral learning, or learning about things that aren’t directly related to the subject matter. To be quite honest, this added knowledge is useless in many cases; however, there are other instances in which some unrelated nugget of knowledge is dropped that overshadows the primary topic of the evening. You’ll know it when it happens, and you’ll be very glad you didn’t miss that class.

4. Low cost

You might be surprised to learn how little it costs to attend a college class. Whether taking it for a grade or “auditing” it solely for the knowledge, a class at a public university or community college can offer a lot of “bang for the buck”. Compare a music appreciation, music theory, introductory performance, or ensemble class with the cost of an instrument, then think about this: which will make you a better person and musician over your lifetime, another class or another axe? Be honest, now.

5. Personal growth

This ties directly to the previous point and drives right to the core of the matter. A new instrument (or accessory) is a fine thing, but an investment in your knowledge and musical ability will give more back to you over a longer period of time than any thing ever could. I’ve learned over the years that upgrading your skills carries you much further than upgrading your hardware. Not only do you play better, you feel better, too, which makes you play better, which…well, you get the idea.

The bottom line

Every one of us should take every opportuntity we can to invest in ourselves and our music. Colleges and universities are another great option that might surprise you with their value to you as a PTM. Check them out!

Keep playing,
Mark