[moshmosh]

Oh, music majors in particular are a really good comparison. Though at least music instruction is available in most US school systems over a span of several years, as an ordinary during-school-hours class. Then again if that's the only instruction you've had, you're probably still starting out (maybe hopelessly) behind those who had private lessons outside of school, who are likely the real intended candidates of such programs, and you might not even be able to get into a good program.

[EDIT] incidentally, the arts are also infamous for being dominated, at a professional level, by kids with artist parents and kids with rich parents (who can bankroll years of private lessons and then years of little-to-no income while paying for access to career-makers) so... there's that.

[mgkimsal]

My freshman year of college I took a music course - 'music 101' or something like that. I'd played sax, then guitar and piano, for ... 5-6 years, could read music, write a bit (notation, etc) - took a music theory class in high school - wanted to dive in more.

Of the 22 people in the class, 21 of them were singers - everyone except me. Much of the class was around singing - singing scales, etc. I saw nothing in the syllabus that required singing, but... you had to learn to sing stuff by sight reading, and... I'm not a singer. It was embarrassing for me (and probably for others). I think I managed to drop out before losing all my money on that, but... frustrating. Could also tell most of these people had had voice lessons for years, and were all taking this class as a way of getting in to theater work, not... to play an instrument.