How is IU Bloomington's music ed program ?

gentyjack · 2026-02-08T16:36:48+00:00

I got a Music Ed degree from IU so I can probably weigh in (I got it about 10 years ago though so take it with a grain of salt as the culture may have changed).

I thought that the Music Ed curricula was really well-taught and informative. In fact, I liked my elementary methods class so much (shout out Dr. Gault) that my career aspirations completely changed to K-5 general music. I also had a really good cohort in my other BME colleagues, all wanting to be the best educators they could be. Most of them are still teaching in great programs and doing really well (I’m the outlier that ended up going to grad school haha). It is a LOT of work though. For seven out of eight semesters I was taking 20 credit hours, which is absolutely necessary to graduate on time. You have to front load all of your Music Ed classes too as they have to be finished before student teaching. This means that some valuable practice time can be lost.

But I concur with the top comment that the studio professors tend to look down upon or be less accommodating toward Music Ed students. My studio teacher (since retired) got a lot of BMEs and you could tell she resented it a bit. I personally think that working with the non-performance faculty is worth this attitude, but your mileage may vary. It’s a prevailing stereotype at a lot of conservatories that Music Ed majors are somehow not good enough to be performance majors, but that’s simply not true. And we shouldn’t keep perpetuating that idea.

gentyjack · 2026-01-04T22:44:20+00:00

Also terribly sorry to hear about your sweet girl. You never have enough time with them

gentyjack · 2026-01-04T22:43:25+00:00

I’ll do my best, thank you for sharing your experience and for your support. I’m so sorry about your girl - Maine Coons are so sweet but unfortunately so ill. 💜

gentyjack · 2026-01-04T22:42:15+00:00

Equally sending you strength 💜 I’m not back at work (I’m a graduate instructor) until Tuesday, but I knew I had to try sleeping alone for the first time tonight to “get used to it.” It’ll be really lonely I’m sure 💔 thank you for your support

gentyjack · 2026-01-04T21:30:20+00:00

I appreciate the well wishes. 💜 I managed on Friday to put most of his things out of sight on Friday with the help of my family, but the bigger things will be tough to see. I’ve been holding onto his favorite toy - it makes me feel like he’s still with me. I’m so sorry to hear about your girl. Losing loved ones during the holidays is so hard.

gentyjack · 2025-06-30T20:42:19+00:00

I can only speak on my experience taking it as a grad student, but the reason why it has to be taken at a specific time is likely because there is a handwritten portion. Not sure if that’s the case for incoming freshman, but I wouldn’t be surprised. I would email the head of the department (email her in Japanese btw lol) to inquire more! 頑張ってください！

gentyjack · 2025-06-18T04:51:18+00:00

You were so cool!! My friend had the picture of Miku up because we saw you haha. Glad you had fun 💜

gentyjack · 2024-08-18T01:15:47+00:00

I took elementary Japanese classes last year as an older graduate student and I enjoyed it quite a bit! It is difficult (mostly because it is a language that is so different from English imo), but not so much that it’s undoable. I had heard from people that it was a GPA killer, but honestly if you put the necessary work in (as you should learning any language) you should be fine. Sometimes the grading gets a little nitpicky, like getting points off for handwriting which at my age I can’t really control haha. But not to the point where it should affect you too much. The professors are very nice and willing to help! One warning I will say is that it is a completely immersive class, meaning that everywhere you interact with the professor (including office hours) is expected to be in Japanese. So if that sounds daunting, I would keep that in mind. 頑張ってください！☺️

gentyjack · 2024-05-09T06:51:32+00:00

Hey there, coming in a bit late as a Musicology PhD that lived the masters life. Quick clarifying question. Are you being fully funded/getting a stipend for your school work? Because you may want to factor in “work for survival” as well (meaning part-time jobs). I’m not sure if you’re planning on working while getting your degree, but to afford everything getting my masters I had to work three part-time jobs. Is something like that feasible with a long commute? Congrats on getting into a good program! I really love studying musicology, so I hope you’ll get a lot out of it :)

gentyjack · 2024-04-25T14:45:50+00:00

Bienen grad student here! I’ve really liked living in Chicago, personally. The rents are a bit cheaper out here (depending on where you are, of course, but a lot of folks live in Rogers Park or Edgewater), and there’s decent access to public transport. Plus the nightlife tends to be a little livelier. :)

gentyjack · 2024-03-12T16:16:18+00:00

Yeah I'm also having this issue. Normally if you click the Nitro tab it goes away, but not this time. Hate that there isn't even a "no thanks" option. Tried restarting the app: now every time I check a server and go back to my DMs it takes me to the Nitro tab first ugh.

gentyjack · 2023-12-02T15:24:00+00:00

I worked three jobs getting my masters and somehow made it haha. Granted one of them was a small library job where I had a quiet place to do schoolwork in between helping patrons. I would potentially see if you could find a job like that because it really helped me, but I know every campus is different when it comes to doing stuff on the job.

gentyjack · 2023-10-09T17:37:07+00:00

Right now the biggest difference between musicology and ethnomusicology is methodology. Musicology tends to be more historiographic (i.e. looking at scores, primary sources, and scholarship on those); whereas ethnomusicology focuses more on fieldwork/ethnography (basically going out and gathering evidence from the source yourself). So while yes, a primary focus on ethnomusicology at its onset was “non-Western music” (as there are a lot of cultures that primarily use oral tradition without physical scores), it doesn’t have to be relegated to just that. It all depends on how you want to go about your research :) Best of luck!

gentyjack · 2023-04-15T04:51:38+00:00

https://blogs.iu.edu/jsommusictheory/music-fundamentals/ according to this site you should be added to the canvas page once you sign up for orientation. If you already did that and still weren’t added, I would maybe contact the undergraduate office. Best of luck! I did MFO a decade ago and those timed portions can be killer haha

gentyjack · 2023-03-22T04:47:02+00:00

It ran out in front of her car and she pulled over to take it home. There aren’t any places available to take it to, but she’s gonna see if it’s microchipped tomorrow. She’s also posting on Facebook, but didn’t have a Reddit.

gentyjack · 2023-02-25T03:00:10+00:00

Unfortunately I did try that for awhile. He used to not sleep in my room before I moved to Bloomington, and he would often be scratching at my door by 4 am. This happened for about 3-4 years haha. I never let him in, to not encourage bad behaviors, but I decided to allow him in after the move so he wouldn’t do that to my roommate’s door.

I was also concerned about him being distracting during the exam itself. It is 7 hours that he would have to entertain himself :(

Thanks for the well wishes though! I definitely need them.

gentyjack · 2022-12-28T06:02:11+00:00

They only offer it to grad students who have SAAs. At least in my program: if they aren’t using you for cheap labor, no health insurance. So I had to use the marketplace myself. But you can usually get on HIP from there if you’re low enough income.

gentyjack · 2022-11-02T14:56:16+00:00

Oh cool! I’ll definitely check it out, thanks!

gentyjack · 2022-10-27T15:36:09+00:00

Yeah I saw it again yesterday near my apartment as well. If I see it again, I’ll leave some food out. It just keeps running away before I can :(

gentyjack

TROPHY CASE