@never-fear-supertonic-is-here / never-fear-supertonic-is-here.tumblr.com
Smh I can’t believe all these fake ass bitches who say they looove Mozart now. If you only started liking him after Don Giovanni dropped in 1787 then you’re a FAKE FAN!! Where were you when opus 1: four sonatas for keyboard and violin came out huh? I didn’t see you queuing up to buy kv 6-9 in the 18th century when they came out. Honestly don’t even talk to me if you say you ‘like’ Mozart and you can’t even name 600 of his works. Disgusting.
Perhaps it’s time to have a discussion about what goes into studying/majoring in music!
NOPE.
First of all, in a lot of schools/academies/programs, before you even get to think about auditioning you have to maintain a GPA and a good record like everyone else in the world. Then, if you manage to pass an audition, you then have to maintain that GPA (in both music AND general ed classes, but we’ll get there in a minute) in order to stay enrolled in our major. I.E: C+ or better is a common standard. I would guess that the confusion comes from the idea that majoring is music is like taking music appreciation or marching band in high school.
On the contrary, college level music majors are expected to have been playing/singing their respective instruments for numerous years before their auditions. Rather than learning how to play/read/sing music, we are majoring in order to become masters of instruments we have already dedicated most of our time to learning!
Actually, they are! On a standard music major curriculum, you will find not only your general studies (English Comps, Public Speaking, Maths, Sciences, History, Literature, etc.), but also a full and required music curriculum. Many will be general-study-like classes such as:
So let’s add this all up so far, shall we?
Seems like a lot, right? We aren’t done yet!
That whole list up there is for just a bachelor’s degree. In order to move on, there are more auditions to be had for graduate schools, in which we will repeat this whole cycle again with more advanced coursework, dissertations, etc. There are also other degrees to be had with different requirements. If someone would like to get a degree in music composition, they will manage all of that as well as conducting classes, orchestration classes, and much more.
Going back to the whole listening test/outlandish amounts of exams thing: becoming a music major is an all encompassing job. We must learn and be aware of everything that happens in our field, because rather than be building on other people’s work, we will be using theirs as foundation to create our own! It is our job to become masters at what we do so we can pass down the knowledge and keep this field going!
Besides: when we graduate, even those with doctorates STILL have to audition for the rest of their careers.
The fun thing about music is that until you retire, you are in a constant state of auditioning. University professors, orchestra members, Broadway musicians, composers, singers, and everyone else must keep practicing, keep studying, and keep on their toes if they expect to be able to compete in our industry.
What goes into an audition? A lot of times, everything on that list. All of that studying listed above ends up being VERY useful, because auditions often include sight-singing, aural (ear-training) tests, proficiency in your scales and warm-ups, AND orchestral excerpts/whatever material is being used by the ensemble for which you are auditioning.
The important thing about this is that I am aiming to dispel the “Music is an easy A” or “Music is for people that couldn’t hack science or math” myth. We aren’t any better than the rest of our peers in college, but we work just as hard, if not harder at what we want to do in life.
People call us crazy because we follow our hearts instead of the road that was laid out for us. Upon becoming majors of music, we all had to accept a harsh reality that doing what we love would consume most of our lives, and that we will always be fighting for what we want. The truth is that the industry is competitive and if you want something, you might have to sacrifice everything to get it.
And there is an industry! Music degrees are far from useless. Plenty of research can indicate that jobs such as conducting for an orchestra, designing music for tv/film/video games, and even music therapy can pay up to six figures in salary!
Think twice about belittling a music/art student for what they study. We take our mid-terms and finals just like you, as well as balance a whole second academic career’s worth of classes on our shoulders. I have met some of the most awe-inspiring, passionate, amazing people through music, and I can’t say that I regret it for even one day.
God bless this post. It’s perfect.
(Subtitle: “Oh, I thought about majoring in Music, but I decided I wanted something less easy.”)
(Sub-subtitle: How to rebut people who think music isn’t work)
So sometimes, people can assume that music is easy. Anyone can sing, after all, right? It’s just tapping/rubbing/breathing through something, right? How can classes on that be hard?
Well, they are. They are hard. Here’s the lowdown on why being a music major is something worthy of knighthood (or at least fewer side-eyes at the holidays, Aunt Carol).
So. Being a music major is work. It really is. If you love music, though, don’t let this scare you off! Some people have a taste for this kind of labor - don’t fail to at least attempt it just because it seems like a lot.
To all you music majors and prospective music majors out there: I commend you!
