If I were to tell you that Dave Babbitt, B.P.E., B.Ed., designed the Lord Selkirk Bridge, would you put your family in the car and drive across it?

I highly doubt it. No one would take that risk with loved ones. Those letters after my name should tell you that I’m completely unqualified to design a bridge.

However, if I told you that Rebecca Rynsoever, P.Eng., or John Wysman, P.Eng., (both members of our band by the way) designed the bridge, you’d no-doubt trust the bridge’s design.

Those letters after their names indicate that they are professional engineers. In the world of designing a bridge, those letters hold weight.

The same thing applies in the world of music. Do you know what the letters ARCT, BMus, MMus, or RCCO stand for? These are only a few of many possibilities that can indicate one’s musical qualifications.

ARCT indicates one is an associate (of the) Royal Conservatory (of the University of) Toronto.

First, a conservatory is simply a school of music. I won’t delve into the history of the Royal Conservatory of Music, but many readers will be familiar with what it is.

The Conservatory has created a systematic curriculum of theoretical and practical skills one needs to master to earn qualifications on a wide variety of instruments.

We most commonly associate it with piano studies but there is a syllabus for many different instruments, each requiring one to develop the skills unique to that specific instrument.

We’ve all heard someone say, “I’ve got my Grade 8 Conservatory” or something similar, but what does that mean?

In the simplest of terms, it indicates many years of study, a specific........

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