[CAUT] music degree for cauts

[Porritt, David]

Brent:

It's great to hear from you and to learn that you have conquered some of the health problems that sidelined you for a while.  I hope things continue to improve for you and that your "second career" is even better than your first.

dave

David M. Porritt, RPT
dporritt at smu.edu


From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Brent Fischer
Sent: Sunday, August 15, 2010 3:22 PM
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: [CAUT] music degree for cauts


Dear list,

It's been some time since I have chimed in, however after
a four year medical hiatus and with an implant in my usually
empty brain, I now live with a tinnitus level so reduced that I
am back to work.  The question of a mandatory degree for cauts
has certainly raised a few voices here so I will tread with some
expectation of ambivalence.
I think it is crucial that one has college experience for a number
of rudimentary reasons but the necessity of it being a music
degree is invalid. My two year degree in forestry and wood
science has been more valuable to me than a composition
class could have ever been, however, a background
in higher education, no matter in what area, is what gives a
person some essential knowledge of collegiate expectations.
I think from seeing so many techs struggle to find middle
C that four years of piano during childhood would serve one the
best in our profession. A few centuries ago, when some were
taking 300 level music classes I was apprenticing, and while
at age twenty-two when many were renting their grad robes I was
graduating from the Newton Hunt school of PTG exams, to
become a registered craftsman. That path opened many doors
that a music degree would never have, so I say some college
should be required but no B.A. in Music. My two cents.
Incidentally, faculty is usually respectful and appreciative
of our own artistry, but don't kid yourself, they don't hang their
doctoral degrees on the wall for the janitors to look at.




-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/caut.php/attachments/20100815/c27612fe/attachment.htm>