The skills I learned at music school were very valuable to me. My high school and college music professors gave me tools, inspiration, and encouragement when I needed them most. But, simply going to school will not make someone a professional musician. It can get you going in the right direction. Beyond being schooled, though, it is important to have the discipline to push yourself past the academics. You have to get out there in the world and play with working musicians. I think the best schooling one can have is the opportunity to go out every night of the week, by either watching or playing gigs with different musicians, clumsily discover what it is that works and doesn’t work in real-life settings. Patterns in textbooks don’t always work on a stage. There are many people who have never gone to a music school, but have risen to become very successful musicians. And there are others who have spent countless precious hours and dollars in schools, and have done nothing with their music degrees. I like to think of my experience in high school and at the University of Miami as my bachelors degree, and all the experience gathered since then as my post-graduate degree!