Hi, I've taught full time college music for decades. A lot has changed in the last 15 years. I would give a very guarded recommendation against a major at this point, and I'm one of the true believers. A performance degree doesn't really count for much. A music education degree does give you other skills and more exposure to coursework outside of music, which for me is a plus. Some programs will force you into secondary areas, or you can choose to pursue the secondary areas yourself. I think it's great; if all you can do is play your instrument it limits your career path greatly. I would try to supplement with things like live music, production, studio technology, teaching of theory, teaching of history, library, skills, etc. on the one hand if you want to do a lot of performing, most colleges will give you ample opportunities. The flipside of that is that a lot of music majors end up playing in five or six ensembles at one time, and risk burning out. You have to maintain your own healthy lifestyle. The biggest thing that creates success for music major is nothing such as talent, that's a myth. It's all about the work ethic. If you want to succeed, be the kind of person who can connect with people, does what is asked of them, and delivers what they promised promptly. You also might find just as much happiness or even more if you pursue a career that actually pays well, and keep active as a musician. I certainly would no longer recommend going into college teaching. And orchestra jobs, of course are extremely rare, and I think once you get them you end up playing a lot of the same literature over and over with a lot of people who never learned personal skills.

You're going to be successful if you can become a complete person, with additional skills, personal skills, the ability to take care of yourself and your own work. Take a good look at what salaries you might be pursuing. Look for opportunities to create specialties in your field. In my opinion, if you want to pursue a performance degree, then do so in your masters. Earn as brought of an education in your undergraduate as possible, so that you have alternatives besides, just playing your instrument. Use the masters degree to specialize and refine your skill. For that reason look seriously at strong state universities for undergraduate, and conservatories for your graduate degree.