• There's a music college for every type of music.guitar guitarist music musical instrument image by david hughes from Fotolia.com
  
  A degree in music can help you hone your skills or prepare you for a career in recording or performance. You can either take courses in the music department of an established university or seek out a specialty music school that can train you for particular music careers. Music degrees exist at every level from Associate to Ph.D, and you can combine them with teaching certificates or other professional credentials.
  
  

Stanford University

• Stanford University in California offers a Bachelor of Arts in Music. Stanford's School of Music was founded in 1947, but the university has had a tradition of holding concerts since its beginning. The school offers degree programs at both the undergraduate and graduate level, along with opportunities to join ensembles and take private lessons. The Music Library has more than 110,000 pieces of music, and the school gives over 150 performances per year. Stanford also has research facilities such as the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics.
  
  Students study foundation courses in history, practice and theory and also take performance and proficiency assessments. The major requires 66 units in Music, with the rest of your units taken in general and related fields. Students can specialize in one of several concentrations: Conducting; Performance; History and Theory; or Music, Science, and Technology. An Applied element is required, which consists of private instruction in voice or an instrument and participation in a group or ensemble. Stanford gives you the opportunity to study overseas.
  
  Department of Music,
  Stanford University
  541 Lasuen Mall
  Stanford, CA 94305
  650-723-3811
  stanford.edu
  
  

Berklee College of Music

• Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts, formed by Lawrence Berk, an MIT engineer and musician, takes the non-traditional approach of teaching music appreciation and skills through studying modern, not classical, music. The college, which has approximately 4,100 students as of 2010, offers an international student body and a wide variety of majors. It gives 1,000 performances a year, and the school exposes students to a wide range of music styles and instruments. Students can study music at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
  
  Music majors at Berklee include Film Scoring, Jazz Composition and Music Therapy, among others. The total number of credits for a degree is 120. For the Film Scoring major, students take 22 units of core music courses and 30 for the concentration. Also required are 14 credits of traditional topics like music history and 30 liberal arts credits that include College Writing and History.
  
  Berklee College of Music
  1140 Boylston Street
  Boston, MA 02215 USA
  617-266-1400
  berklee.edu
  
  

McNally Smith College of Music

• Jack McNally founded the McNally Smith College of Music to address the lack of training for pop and rock musicians. The school started with private student lessons but grew into an accredited college. Students attend McNally to learn the business of music or to perform in a non-classical setting. As an example of its style, one course offering is called Hip-Hop Studies.
  
  The college offers both Associate and Bachelor's degrees. The Associate of Applied Science degree allows for specializations in performance, the music business, music production and recording technology. In the latter, students work with industry professionals to get hands-on studio experience. By the end of the degree students will have worked up from analog to 5.1 surround sound and will know how to use a wide range of recording equipment.
  
  McNally Smith College of Music
  19 Exchange Street East
  St. Paul, MN 55101
  800-594-9500
  mcnallysmith.edu