Most music school have prerequisites that students must fulfill before being accepted into the school. Students generally must have a high school diploma and musical talent, and they must meet the school's age requirement and pass a musical audition. Some schools accept students without a high school diploma if they are highly gifted in their musical skill. Music schools such as Julliard do not have an age standard or minimum age requirement, but most music schools do have an age limit. Music schools also require prospective students to audition in their chosen musical skill and the admission officials determine whether the student is gifted enough for the school or mature enough in their chosen musical talent.
Music schools encompass a host of different types of music, such as band music, chorus music, singing, instruments and the non-performing side of music like music production. Some music schools concentrate on one type of music such as guitar courses or singing, while other music schools have courses in every music discipline. For example, Julliard has a music school that focuses on orchestral musicians who play stringed, woodwind and percussion instruments.
A variety of music degrees are available to students in music schools. The Music Institute offers an associate of arts, bachelor of music and certificates in music, and Julliard offers degrees in liberal arts for undergraduates, bachelor of music, master of music and doctorate of music arts degrees. Students can decide on their own how far they want to continue their education at a music school. Many of these schools require a minimum degree, such as an associate's degree, before a student is eligible to move to the next degree level.
Some music schools also offer training in music production, such as The Recording Connection, which concentrates on teaching the student only music production and engineering. Music production encompasses the equipment used in a recording studio, theory of music, audio production and music design. Many of these music production schools concentrate more than half of their courses on practical applications of music production. Students train in a fully equipped recording studio and learn music production by actually producing music.