Music Courses in Freiburg, Germany

International Music College Freiburg:
At the International Music College Freiburg in Freiburg, on the edge of the Black Forest in southwest Germany we offer a three year program for aspiring jazz, rock, and funk musicians. Students receive instruction from professional musicians and are required to play in a different band with other students every semester. In addition to their music lessons and rehearsals, students are also required to take courses in subjects like Stage Presence, Music Business, Arrangement etc. Final year students must choose between Performance, Music Education, or Songwriting/Producing as the focal point of their studies. Our college offers a unique opportunity for music instruction. Styles of music for study range from jazz to rock to pop to funk. Training at IMCF is geared toward giving young musicians a good start in preparing for a career. A modern, practically-oriented and optimal curriculum, developed since the school’s founding in 1984, guarantees the basis for long-term success.

Main Program:
The Main Program is the training core of the International Music College Freiburg. This program lasts 3 years and is recognized by the state. The graduates of the Main Program have the title “Professional Musician of Rock/Pop and Jazz,” and in the 3rd year are trained, depending on their choice of emphasis, for the following career branches of the music field:

Study emphasis performance:
Live-music engagements or own projects as soloist or accompanist in bands, ensembles, or musical theater projects. Studio engagements for artistic or commercial productions in recording studios.

Study emphasis pedagogy:
Private teaching, workshops, or engagement at music schools as music teachers of individuals or groups, and as band coach, choir or ensemble leader.

Study emphasis songwriting/producing:
Commission work or own writing projects as composer, song writer, or arranger, e.g., for soloists, bands, choirs or advertising, film music, and music publishing productions.

All graduates, independent from study emphasis, will have received a practical, as well as theoretically diversified education that includes a solid basis on their main instrument. This is insured by a carefully constructed curriculum for the first two study years, individual lessons on the main instrument during the whole program duration, and by the main-instrument final exam in the 3rd year, which applies to all students. The 3 study areas of emphasis offer the students the important possibility to specialize where their interests and strengths lie, without the danger of being too narrowly educated.

Basic Program:
The Basic Program is the one- to two-year preparatory program for the Main Program of the International Music College Freiburg. Young music talent not yet able to qualify for the Main Program, but exhibiting a certain minimal niveau, receive the chance to be specifically trained and supported in working on the fundamentals necessary to pass the audition for the Main Program.

The curriculum of the Basic Program is practically-oriented. Intensive band work, practical groove, jam, sight reading and rhythm training, as well as individual lessons on the main instrument are emphasized. Moreover, the program is rounded off and completed by the extremely important subject music theory/ear training and a series of selected mandatory theory workshops.

The study year in the Basic Program ends with the audition for the Main Program. If this is passed, the student qualifies for the Main Program. If it is not passed, the Basic Program can be repeated for another year. In this case, the course load is somewhat varied and reduced, with the study fees being correspondently lower. Another possibility, also in this case, would be to prepare further for the Main Program as a part-time student.