Any school in Malaysia which recommended for music degree ??

[LesMiserables]

Hi! i would like to know which school is the best to persue music degree or any school of music which provide twinning programme in Malaysia? thanks

[debbie]

You're talking music as in ...? Piano music? Vocal? = )
Well, I've got a friend who's just done her licenshade..(spell-check) and she's pretty good. Better than I a bit. ^_^. She plans to do ICOM. Um.. International College of Music, i guess. Then she'll go to America. According to her, it's the next best thing to enrolling into RCL. And that's concert pianist status, she's vying.
Then again, I've got another friend who's in Australia doing different kind of music. Not classical but contemporary. He did 1 year in S'pore and 3 Down Under.
A lower level than that, let me see... Yamaha Scholarship. = )
Well, not entirely 100% off but... I really can't remember. Will find out if you want.
To your question, M'sia... classical music scene.. credibility? NIL.
Look at our MPO.. dominated by Europeans. So, get out of here.Do it some other place. Russia, America...England, if you can!! But in the meantime, ICOM should be something you should check out.

[gatecrasher]

check out sedaya college. they have twinning programmes with american, british, and australian unis. can't remember which. can check out for you though. the british is westminster or middlesex i think. if i'm not mistaken you can get your bachelor's locally.
sedaya's quite reputable i think. and compared to icom... i dunno, cos i know nuts about icom.
but the best, i guess, would be as debbie said. go to a good college abroad.

[debbie]

Don't wanna badmouth it but my ex-piano teacher said the Middlesex one isn't good. *shrugs* Tht's what i heard. She's Taiwanese by the way.

[jiinjoo]

really? what do you mean by "isn't good"? :)

ICOM then Berklee in Boston if you can afford it. Plenty of good teachers and "good" tuition fees too. Sedaya is new but they are very promising, good upbeat environment helps your learning process.

Many foreign schools give full/partial scholarship to outstanding musicians. You should definitely go look around, maybe online, for opportunities like that.

Singapore is setting up a new conservatoire for those pursuing performing arts - heard that the faculty will be really world class (plus the regulars in SSO) - definitely check that out.

Our local universities also have music degrees. In fact the kebudayaan ministry has a fairly large compound for quite long time already. It used to be next to padang merbuk a few years back, but I think they built something better and expanded their program in their new location near Jalan Pahang.

All in all, music education is fairly expensive for the average person. Depending on where you're headed to, sometimes just taking personal lessons from professionals will get you there (if orchestral instrument, maybe someone from MPO? They are awesome). Once you're in the circle, performing or writing or teaching regularly, you'll meet other opportunities that come your way. For now, try visiting some of the local colleges and ask to talk to their career counselor. You might find something that suits you.

[LesMiserables]

hmm... actually i am taking piano now~~ thinking of taking Bachelor of music or Music studies... so, is Sedaya better or ICOM ?? (no offense ^-^)

I ask this ques is mainly beacuse i heard that Sedaya is now a university college.. and they come out with their own cert. which i dun really look forward to.. u see, i would like to have a cert which is recognise worldwide beacuse music is stuff which need recognition. I am not saying that sedaya's cert is not recognise worldwide, is just that i dont feel quite safe bout it...

anywayz, i am 18 now... it is too late for me to take second instrument?? oh ya, how am i going to apply scholarships?? where ?? any recommended music U in S'pore?? i would like to know more about it too@<hidden>! thanks

[windy_city]

Maybe you should consider study music locally, and then come to the states to do graduate studies in music.

A Malaysian is doing graduate studies in music in my school. He did his undergrad in music in UKM if I am not mistaken, and he came here for the graduate studies.
This is an alternative too as it is easier to get a scholarship for graduate level studies than undergrad level studies.

If you want to contact him, I can give you his email address.

[debbie]

Wht i meant by "not good" was tht it's not as happening as RCL. The entire school is as big as 2 of our YMF branches combined. Besides it's not cheap and to qoute her, "not worth the money". Best... go JULLIARD.

[gatecrasher]

hmm... actually i am taking piano now~~ thinking of taking Bachelor of music or Music studies... so, is Sedaya better or ICOM ?? (no offense ^-^)
i can find out tomorrow if i remember :wink:

anywayz, i am 18 now... it is too late for me to take second instrument?? oh ya, how am i going to apply scholarships?? where ?? any recommended music U in S'pore?? i would like to know more about it too@<hidden>! thanks
you're 18, not 81. definitely not too late! as long as your fingers aren't stiff you should be able to learn something new. about scholarships, i don't know. go google la. all i know is that RCL and other conservatories give scholarships to exceptional musicians - that one i think no need to apply one. if you're good enough they'll find you! as for music uni in s'pore, jiinjoo did mention a new conservatory there.

[Reshmonurendaviousokinawa]

MUSIC IN MALAYSIA.. hmmmm MUSIC,degree.. learn music in university maybe not bad good for exprience something is not boring, NOT BAD if have degree ...learn music :lol: :P

[jacyn]

[lLesMiserables wrote:
anywayz, i am 18 now... it is too late for me to take second instrument??

oh.. it's definitely not too late. i plan to take up second instrument..after my spm. haha..well, i was told that, learning second instrument is always easier. oh.. you are interested in studying music? good though. what type of instrument are u learning right now?i'm learning piano. can't take my practical exam next year.. as i was selected for ns. sigh. wish me luck!! :lol: [/list]

[gatecrasher]

if you're still searching - i heard icom has serious admin problems

[jiinjoo]

About the cert thing - I must warn you that in the Music world, certs have limited meaning, coz you're judged all the time + your profile also counts. Say if you're playing an orchestra instrument and you want a full time position in say MPO - you still have to go through audition, regardless of where your music degree came from. If you're going to teach in a music college, you're still constantly being judged by your school and students because you interact directly wtih them day in day out. People look at your "output" a lot more than your "input". Your style, your interpretation, your tone and technical quality etc.

Since you major in piano, I highly encourage you to pick up a 2nd instrument that you like. It helps a lot in developing your musical character. 18 is not too old if you have the right teacher. e.g. one of my trombone idol Christian Lindberg started playing trombone at the age of 17 and by 19 he's number 1 on the list of professional soloist worldwide. How cool is that for a 2nd instrument? :)

[ChocoChris]

Hi all!!!! I am Chris from Penang!!New here!!

Hmmm...can I ask if taking music is worth it???/Can anyone tell me??because I wanted to take music as I have great interest in it, but my parents said that the future in this route is not very bright.......must be very good at it to find work. And I need to make a choce eventhought i still have a few years before I graduate because if i want to take music, i need to start studying theory now. :roll:

And by the way, can anybody tell me about NFA??Nanyang Academy Of Fine Arts in Singapore??I heard they are quite good.

Thanks!!

[jiinjoo]

Every reasonable parent will tell you that music is not a good career. Mine did, eventhough back in high school I looked a hell lot more promising to venture into music than any other field. In the end I still ended up with Computer Science. Doesn't mean I stop playing music, but am doing it as a hobby / side line.

If you're just "thinking of" doing music and you're not a few years, but a few month away from having to make that decision, then typically everyone is going to discourage you - what your parents say is true: that you can't just be an average musician in the typical Malaysian clout. You really have to be good at what you do.

But they didn't say that you can't go into studies to major in stuff that are related to music. Think sound engineering, concert hall acoustics, music score publishing, music event organizer etc. Many of these people came with some music degree eventhough they know they cannot compete directly as a performer, but they know they can cross their musical interest and knowledge with something else, a business acumen, a knack for engineering etc. to carve out a special field for themselves.

[ChocoChris]

I see, thanks for the info!!

[Thirdshifter]

ahh.. a guitarist.. for a live band at a disco makes about 5k ringgit a month.. thats if play at a really good club though... other than that joining an orchestra in malaysia is very unlikely considering its members never retire and even if they do you'll probably have another 1 million people waiting in line.. but the pay is good.. about 10K a month or even more?

[jiinjoo]

If you really want to compare "salary" (if there's such a thing) of free lancer type musicians, here're some that I know of. A band typically get RM300 to RM500 for a weekend gig, either playing for someone's wedding party or private occasion. In a regular bar (not those that thirshifter refered to) then you might be paid around RM50 per night.

But remember - you have to practise before your perform. So if you take 10 hours of practise = 1 hour of performance, you have to split your hourly income over 11 hours. Ask the person that sits next to you who take up an instrument for the sake of exam and ask them how many hours of practise = 3 pieces for 30 minutes of exam. Or checkout http://www.philharmonicwinds.org/philwinds_rehearsal.htm, a band I'm playing (for free) in currently - see how many combined rehearsals we have before a 1.5 hour concert, and that's excluding the practise we need to do on our own before we jam together. I played with an opera group before - 20 rehearsals and 10 performances (think 3 to 4 hours each) for 800SGD. Combine to see how many of these you can do to irk out a living.

You can always teach piano :) Your per hour income is around RM30 to RM80 depending on the grade of the student and whether you can take the higher grade ones. I also remember freelance teaching (brass instruments) at a church that pays RM20 per session, partially because it's semi charity. A school band instructor gets paid up to around RM1000 in big cities for 4 Saturdays of teaching and lots of prepatory work during the week.

So again, unless you find a high paying job - like a friend of mine who plays bongo and nothing else every night along bintang walk for RM4000 a month - you better be dead sure that you love music so much that you want to make it your career. But if you do, I wish you all the best (remember to publicize on recom when you have your final year recital ya...)


btw third, MPO members gets "fired" every two years btw, once their contract ends they are required for a reaudition, and if they fail that they get out. Very good practise for a renound orchestra to have. You're probably referring to NSO (National Symphony Orch) that's housed at the kebudayaan komplex...

[Thirdshifter]

Jinjoo, I was under the impression that most orchestras members are in a union, sort of like the actors guild. Even if they loose a job there's another one lined u somewhere

Anyways you are right, there is no such thing as a fix, flat-rated plus benefit salary for musicians.

Those that i know that play at clubs are from a close friend who runs an event management company that hire musicians to play at Clubs and hotel lounges.

The Event company gets about 15K for a weekend which includes the rent for the equipments (sound, lighthing a technician, etc) and the musicians plus the share the company gets to arrange all this.

If your in luck and get booked for all year long being a musician is almost a real job considering youll bring home about 1500 a weekend or maybe even more depending on how popular you are and how much the clubs are willing to pay more for just you.

All in all Jinjoo hit the nail right on the head.. do it if your only absolutely sure that this is going to work.

Music is cool but you need money to eat.

[ChocoChris]

Ya, $$$$$$$.
musician must be very good to get a good salary..hmm..must rethink my decision.. :D

[yunchuan]

why does the conductors of the orchestra are mostly male? im interested in taking music too(performance either in piano violin more interested in orchestra), but dunno whr to go n m having financial prob. taking STPM this year. any advice?

[jiinjoo]

Jinjoo, I was under the impression that most orchestras members are in a union, sort of like the actors guild. Even if they loose a job there's another one lined u somewhere
Not true. Like all industries, some would formalize their "union", but most of the time it's informal. Just like business school alumnis dominate jobs in Wall Street, musicians tend to pass gigs to only people they know and trust.

why are the conductors of the orchestra mostly male? i'm interested in taking music too (performance either in piano violin more interested in orchestra), but dunno where to go and i'm having financial prob.
your best bet (i'm assuming that you're really passionate about a music career) is to check out UPM (since you're doing STPM, since you say you're poor) music degree and work harder outside of the academic circle. As the music circle is kinda its own thing, you'll have to first get yourself into the circle, know people, hang out, do more gigs (sometimes at the expense of low pay) and hopefully meet someone who's impressed with you. Otherwise, if you work hard enough, you can apply for scholarships. One example would be Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts (HKAPA) that gives out generous scholarships to Asians, even if it is for just 1 year, for the person to get a diploma / degree so that the person can proceed in his or her career.

As why conductors are mostly male, that's a million dollar question :) Me no music historian. Why are most prime ministers, presidents, and dictators male?!?! hahaha

[jojyi]

Ya, $$$$$$$.
musician must be very good to get a good salary..

If only u r famous...haha..I would say ICOM is the best in Malaysia that provides music courses...USM too has music courses as our Malaysian Idol, Daniel was a student there...correct me if i'm wrong