It came to me this morning. I have a huge love for music and play both violin and piano. I am perhaps better naturally applied, only marginally though, to English and History, which I study at A/S Level, along with German and Religious Studies - no music.

I have had it in my mind that I want to become a journalist, and I still do, but then I thought (while listening to Andrew Manze on Radio 3) what a fantastic occupation a Music Historian would be for me. I love reading about the history of music, I am more enthusiastic about its history than anyone doing A/S level music in my school (so I've been told) and am regularly enthralled when uncovering little details about the development of music through the ages, or nuances about the personalities of different composers - the most intriguing of which I undoubtedly find to be Beethoven.

I am not good enough a pianist or violinist IMO to be a concert performer, but I may teach the instruments one day if I so desire. However, if I could combine my love for English, History and Music, I would be more than content!

My only worry is that I don't know if one would need a university degree in music or even an A-level in it to become a music historian. From what I know, I believe the history/research side of it is paramount, but with a strong understanding of music, technicalities etc. - my question therefore is, do you need an A-level or a degree in music, and if not - would grade 8 practical achievements and grade 8 theory achievements supplement the technical/practical knowledge required for this job?

Thank you!

Sounds like a really interesting career - good luck with it. Hopefully someone will be able to give you advice, but in the meantime here's a website that look helpful:

http://www.unt.edu/pais/insert/umuhl.htm

Also, try doing a Google search for:

"music historian" career

Finally, have you got a careers office at school/college you could visit and do some research?

Best wishes,
Carys

Chris, what you're talking about is technically called a musicologist. (I know, I am one.)

QUOTE

My only worry is that I don't know if one would need a university degree in music or even an A-level in it to become a music historian. From what I know, I believe the history/research side of it is paramount, but with a strong understanding of music, technicalities etc. - my question therefore is, do you need an A-level or a degree in music, and if not - would grade 8 practical achievements and grade 8 theory achievements supplement the technical/practical knowledge required for this job?

Sorry to bring bad news, but not even a degree in music is enough!! As for just having some grade 8's, forget it...

Career progression, if you want to spend your life researching music history and writing books, is usually as follows: do A-level music; do a music degree (at a university, not a conservatoire); do a Masters (1 or 2 years); do a PhD (this is at least 3 years of your life, usually more like 5); probably spend several years scratching around with not much money doing bits of teaching and writing here and there; if you're lucky, get a job as a lecturer at a university. Someone might then think about giving you a publishing contract, if you're good enough.

You can't live *just* being a historian, you have to combine it with a 'real' job. For most people that means lecturing, although some people have other 'real' jobs (music related or not), and do their historical research on the side.

If you want to write anything decent, that other people aren't just going to laugh at, you need a degree in music *at the very least*, and I would say you need a PhD as well.

There might be some people out there who have managed to publish music history having never had a musical / musicological education, but 1) they will know the 'right people' (it's a mystery to me how they manage that!), and 2) they will still have put an awful lot of hours in, digging around in archives and reading very obscure books.

Sorry if that all sounds negative, but it is not an easy career option. There are an awful lot of people out there with the same idea, and you will be at least in your late 20s (if not later) before you get an income. Oh, and I didn't yet mention that it's next to impossible to get a grant for postgraduate study, so you will need to either have rich relatives or will have to work part-time.

So it needs as much dedication as other musical careers, like performing.