By Clive Mono Mukundu

Why Would I Enrol At A Music Institution To Learn Guitar: The streets covered that already.

I have noticed that there is a section of music fans & practitioners in Zimbabwe who hate music institutions with a passion. And they are totally misinformed about what music institutions offer. There is also this widespread belief that has zero facts, which states that attending a music institution dilutes one’s talent.

In December 2021 I posted a clip where a radio presenter named Sokostina asked me why at this age I enrolled for a music degree with Midlands State University in a WhatsApp group. Immediately there was a huge backlash from some group members, I was mocked simply for enrolling for a music degree. They started listing musicians & music producers who have made it without knowledge of music theory, or without any music degree. They made it sound as if I implied that attending college was the only requirement for one to make it in the music business, which is way too far from what I meant. The ignorance displayed was shocking. In 2019 I wrote an article on the same matter again after I was attacked from all angles for the same reasons, the article was also published in The Herald newspaper. In the article, I listed professionals from different art fields around the world who had graduated, enrolled at colleges simply to equip themselves mentally, people like Steven Spielberg, Rapper Lil Wayne,& basketball legend Michael Jordan, to name a few. Besides, there are doors that papers can open which the streets cannot.

There is also a serious lack of information as to what music institutions teach. There is a wide variety of subjects that are also part of a music degree. I wouldn’t waste my time enrolling at music institutions if all they taught was how to play instruments. I learned how to play guitar in the streets, by the time I enrolled I had been playing guitar full-time for more than 30 years nonstop, I was already featured on over a thousand albums, and I had toured around the world, played at some of the most prestigious stages in the world. Honestly speaking, with all due respect, how many lecturers do we have in Zimbabwe who have such knowledge as to sit me down to teach me new things on guitar playing? This alone shows you that there is something else that I am looking for. My reasons for enrolment are areas that the streets cannot offer which are as follows:

•Musicology, which is the scholarly, or scientific study of music, as in historical research, musical theory, or the physical nature of sound.
•Copyright law & contract literacy. (How many stories have we heard of musicians who signed very stupid but very binding contracts?)
•The business side of music, etc.

It is true that you can make it as a musician without a college degree, but at the same time you cannot get what a college degree offers without attending college. And remember that our paths in life differ. For whatever is pursued in life, there is a devil at every level, don’t be the shamed defeated devil in someone’s victory speech testimony.


The goal is not to be financially rewarded because of the degree, but there are many benefits that can be opened up by education, especially for us on the African continent, for example:

1: The music industry is a gamble, it is wise to have a backup plan to cushion yourself & education can provide that backup plan since you can use the qualifications in academia too.2018 I was invited to Michigan university to lecture on Jiti music, the fact that I passed through Zimbabwe college of music equipped me on how to academically explain what I needed to explain and I got more invitations and offers that I failed to fulfill due to certain private family commitments, which clearly showed me that a combination of my experience in the music industry and a good academic qualification can open hidden doors for me. Right now we have music academics, who are not experienced musicians, and we have musicians who are not academically qualified, if someone manages to bridge that gap doors will open.

2; The majority of our music history documentation & academic papers were written by foreigners, some of the material is accurate, some of it is not, it’s high time we write our own story.

3: There is a lot of research that needs to be done in the arts & a university degree will equip you mentally to do that effectively.

4: There is a lot of ignorance amongst artists concerning crucial legislation concerning the arts, as a result, many artists including American RnB singer R. Kelly have been taken advantage of on a massive scale.

5: I love musicology, musicology is the academic study of music & @MSU they teach it so well, so far I have just completed one semester only and in just that one semester I have learned quite a lot, definitely my interviews will improve a lot, as you might know, I do a lot of interviews & I’m invited a lot to give talks too.


Music Majors Are Not For Non-Musicians:

A number of people wrote that they had relatives who attended music institutions, but they did not benefit anything because they cannot play any instrument, or sing.

Well, around the world there is no music institution that accepts anyone to come study for music if one is not a musician already. You actually go through rigorous entrance auditions so that they make sure that you are a musician already. The reason is that a music certificate, diploma, or degree is there to better musicians, not to teach no musicians to become musicians. Therefore if you are not a musician, and you enroll at a music institution for a music major what will happen is that the college will waste your time & stress you for nothing, & on the other hand, you will waste their time and stress them too. Giving certain music info to someone who is not a musician is a waste of time because they will not even know what is being said, it’s like listening to someone praying in tongues. Therefore if one is not a musician already he/she is not supposed to enroll in a music program at an institution. Besides, there is too much work for one to be able to learn an instrument from zero.

If one wants to learn basics, most colleges offer music appreciation courses, as well as individual lessons. You do not enroll for a college music degree, certificate, or diploma to learn the basics. Therefore the above-mentioned relative could be someone who enrolled for a music qualification when they were not musically gifted.