Music School Survival Guide: 5 Tips for a Successful Journey

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Are you dreaming of a career in music and thinking about enrolling in music school?

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Or perhaps you've already secured a spot at one of the top institutions for the

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fall. I want to share with you five things I wish I knew before I

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went to music school. What's up, y'all? I'm Travis Fence, a Grammy nominated recording engineer

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in Mixer. And on this channel, I've set out to help industry newcomers and

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veterans alike create the career they've always wanted and

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hopefully skip some of the mistakes I've made along the way. Going to college

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is big deal if you're in the process of making that decision right now.

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I feel your pain. I know it can be daunting. I've been there. It was

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like 20 years ago, but I was there. Ultimately, I decided to go to

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Berkeley College Music and study music production and engineering. I spent four years there

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before moving to Los Angeles and starting my career at Capital Studios. When I reflect

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back on my experience, there are definitely some things that I think are invaluable to

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know before you step into one of these top music schools. And I guarantee you

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they are not in the admissions brochure and they are not on the website. So

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here we go. Number one, you're not going to be the best, and that's okay.

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If you're watching this, it's likely you're a high school student considering college. It's also

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highly likely that you are the best musician in your school or even your

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town. This is no longer going to be the case when you land at one

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of these top schools. So take this reality check to heart now so you're not

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blindsided by it later. When I went to Berkeley, I was immediately hit by the

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fact that pretty much everybody there was a better musician than me in one way

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or another. A lot of these top schools have extremely high first year dropout rates,

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and I think that's due to the fact that a lot of people can't cope

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with no longer being the best at their craft. There's always going to be somebody

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better than you. Don't get discouraged by it. Instead, be inspired to get better.

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Number two, music school is the beginning of your education, not

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the end of it. A lot of people leave these prestigious universities thinking they have

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everything they need to have a successful career, and this couldn't be any more

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wrong. College will give you a baseline set of skills and knowledge that you then

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have to take to the real world to apply and develop. And remember, these educational

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institutions, as good as they are, can only simulate the real world to a certain

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extent, because how the music industry actually works is not always going to align

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with the best way to train you for it. So if you want to have

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a long career in this industry, you have got to commit to being a lifelong

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learner. Number three, you will get out of music school what you put in. Now,

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I know that sounds cliche, but there's really no better way to put it. My

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experience is that it is not that hard to graduate a music school with a

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high GPA. And if you're currently a high school student, your educational experience has

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put a hefty weight on your actual grades. Unfortunately, once you go to

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college, especially in art school, grades are going to give you zero bearing on whether

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you actually learned anything. I'm not telling you to fail. What I'm telling you is

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that what you learn in music school is significantly influenced by

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how immersed in the community and the experience you are. You got to be jamming

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with other students, writing songs, going to shows, and taking advantage

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of all the access to technology and guest lectures. Music is not

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something you can just memorize and recite. Music is something that needs to be

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experienced. Next up, attending music school is as much about the

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people as it is about the knowledge. If you're going to attend a college where

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you're going to be surrounded by like minded individuals with similar career aspirations,

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you would be doing yourself a huge injustice by not starting to build your

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network. Now, I'll use myself as an example. All of my closest friends and my

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core group of fellow engineers here in Los Angeles are all people I went to

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Berkeley with. I got my job at Capital Studios because of somebody I met at

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Berkeley, and a surprising number of people I run into on gigs are people that

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I've either met or known of because of my time at school. The importance of

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your network has come up on every single interview I've done for the podcast,

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regardless of what part of the industry the guest is from. So do not waste

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this opportunity to start your network at school. Plus, it

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may or may not involve some partying last up on the list, but maybe the

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most important. Music is your passion, but it's about to become your

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job. When your livelihood is based on something, it can be easy to start feeling

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the pressure, and it can go from being very fun to very workLIKE.

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And this is an unfortunate reality that everybody in the music industry has to deal

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with eventually. So remember to always set aside time to keep that passion

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alive. Make some music for yourself or explore some new sounds. Whatever it

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is that makes music fun for you, be sure that you're doing that. If you

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want to get more of a jump start in your career, then check out this

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video about how to turn your mistakes into opportunities for growth. Also, don't forget to

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check out the progression success of the Music Industry podcast, available here on this