How To Choose A Cello School

Choosing a cello school or program for learning cello can be a difficult and time-consuming choice. At first you will need to make many decisions: whether you wish to pursue a degree, diploma or certificate; study on a full-time or part-time basis.

Once you have decided on these, you will still need to undertake a significant exploration and consultation to focus your interests and choice of a cello school.

Here is a step-by-step process to help you evaluate each school or program:

• Visit the school's website.

Most music schools provide detailed information about their programs - degrees/diplomas/certificates offered, amount of tuition and fees, admission requirements,  performance opportunities for students and more!

It is always important to know more about the school that you are interested to join, so that you will have more confidence and believe that the time you spend there will not be in vain.

Do some background research on the school and how long it has been established? This will be an indication of its stability and also its reputation and standing in the industry.

• Check out the connections that the school has in the music industry

This depends on the focus of the cello school in Singapore question. Some cello schools focus more on developing the next big prodigy, and so they would have more connections with recording studios too.

These are also probably the cello schools with their own music publishing house or if not, they would at least have connections with big publishing houses in the industry. Other schools focus more on developing performers, and they would have more connections with performance venues like cafes, concert halls, theatres or even prestigious arts venues in the country.

This will allow the school to be able to organise concerts and shows for their student performers, to give them more exposure and build up their confidence onstage!

• Speak with school administration: they have a thorough knowledge of the curriculum and study programs that can lend a perspective to your decisions, and sometimes lead you in new directions.

• Research other sources of information. There is a wealth of things that you can do here: If you know past graduates of the school, talk with them about their experiences while they were still a cello student.

• Find out what kind of courses the cello school in Singapore offers, and who are the instructors teaching the courses.

Knowing what courses the cello school offers will give you a good idea of the strengths of that school. For example, some music schools offer more courses in singing, whereas other schools offer more programmes in song writing and more.

Of course, once you have found out the strengths of the cello schools you are considering, you would want to choose the cello school in Singapore that is able to offer you the course that you want, and is also known to be strong in that aspect of the music industry.

Ok, hope these tips are useful to you when you are deciding which cello school to join. Once you have decided, it is best to stay at the school for at least 6 months to 1 year, in order to fully experience what the school can offer you, and also to get a fuller learning experience in music and in mastering the cello.