Why being a music major is just as hard as any other major...And other fun facts about life!

There is a common misconception that pursuing music is easy and isn't a real career.  This post is not to bash on other majors, nor is it to complain about being a music major.  It's to explain to some of my non believing friends that being a music major isn't as easy as you might think.  Simply to say being a music major doesn't mean taking the easy way out. 

Most of our classes are one credit classes which means they should be easy right? Wrong.  One of my one credit classes was 6 hours a week.  Another was 4.  Both of these included additional practice time outside the class plus at least 3 concerts a semester.  My violin lessons, which is also one credit, is 2 set hours a week, plus a requirement of at least 12 practice hours outside of that.  There is even a zero credit class that is required for all music majors.  Don't be fooled though, we also have our share of 3 credit-ers.  Music theory, for example, consists of a test every week which is all you, you don't search for answers in a text book.  It's purely from your brain, as it is called music theory, not music fact.  Nothing is a hundred percent, hence the name music theory. Things can be argued, and basically you spend the first 3 semesters learning all the rules, and the fourth semester they teach you how to break them all!
 On top of that, of course, like everyone else, we have all the General Education classes and required-for-graduation courses depending on the school.

In addition to homework in all of our music classes, homework in all the GE classes, and learning the music for ensembles, there is also practicing on our own.  Like I said before, in the studio I am studying in, it is required to practice at least 12 hours a week on our own time learning the music.  It usually takes me closer to 24 hours a week to actually learn everything I'm required to learn. 

Juries.  If you're prepared then they're a piece of cake.  But even then, they're very, very scary.  Usually it's just finals in all your classes.  Being a musician, you have to do those finals in addition to a jury.  It's basically where you play solos in front professors in your department, and they basically determine whether or not you pass that whole semester.  It doesn't matter if you get straight A's in the rest of your classes.  If you don't pass your jury, you don't come back.  

There is so much more to music than just playing it.  There is theory, ear training, music history, conducting, performing, teaching, composing,  learning about other instruments besides your own, learning how to teach other instruments, and learning all the components of music that you don't think about.  Components such as keys, time signatures, accidentals, terms, composers, pieces, concertos, sonatas, etudes, scales, technique, posture...the list goes on and on. 

It is impossible to procrastinate as a music major.  This is both a blessing and a curse.  The blessing is that you are pretty much always prepared because you have to be.  The curse is that you could feel completely prepared for juries, with two pieces completely memorized, but then the week before juries realize you need to learn and memorize an etude too! (That's right, it's even impossible to procrastinate a week before).  The point is, you have to be on the ball if you want to survive the music world!


Now, this all being said, I absolutely love being a music major, for many reasons such as:
1.  I get to share everything I'm learning with the rest of the people pursuing the same thing as me.
2.  In the music department (at least at DSC) we are all one big family.  We can count on each other and we all support each other instead of compete with each other.
3.  I can do what I am pursuing already while I'm pursuing it! (gigs, teaching privately, etc.)
4.  I get to do what I love all day every day, and never get tired of it because there is a huge variety of music and genres. 
5.  I have the best teachers.  They really have to know their stuff.
6.  There is always room for improvement. In other subjects, once you've finished you have learned everything you need to learn.  Playing the violin, there is always something harder to learn.  There is no end in sight, and as a result it is never ever boring.
7. Music is so intimate and personal, I know I'm not just doing it because I know I will make lots of money, (if that were the case I wouldn't be doing it). I know I'm doing it because I have a personal connection to it and I love it.  Not just anyone can pursue music, you have to be completely dedicated and 100% committed and you have to have an ear for it.  It's not an "anyone can do it" lifestyle. 

Hope this helped...I really do love it, but it is a lot of hard work and it's not as easy breezy as people think it is.  So good luck out there, and keep it coming...I'm ready for fall semester to begin!