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Life as a College Music Major —
What’s It Really Like?
By Janis Weller

Life as a music major can be inspiring and challenging, thrilling and exhausting, but it’s anything but an easy choice of study. In fact, music may be one of the most ambitious majors out there, in many ways.

So what’s it really like to major in music in college? Of course that answer is different for every musician and every school. Whether you plan to attend a university, liberal arts college or music conservatory, there are some common elements of majoring in music that are pretty universal and lots of other aspects that are unique to each place. What follows will give you a glimpse into the life of a music major.

In spite of all the fun you’ve had with music throughout high school, reality can come as quite a shock once you get to college. When you enter as a freshman music major, you are expected to have already developed considerable musical skills. You may have been the star musician of your high school, but once you enroll in college you’re just another student in music school—a star among stars. In many music schools, virtually all members of top performing ensembles were among the very best players in their respective high schools. Performances (and, by extension, practicing), which were extracurricular activities in high school, now become the core of the curriculum, creating new physical, emotional and time demands. While other college students typically finish classes by late afternoon and head off to the library to study (well, most days at least), the music student continues with ensemble rehearsals and individual practice time. It’s often late in the evening before the music major can tackle the academic class work that still needs to be done. So your days are full— talking about music, thinking about music, playing music, music, and more music. Sound good? Read on.

The course of study for music majors in college requires an intense balance of incredibly diverse natural abilities and carefully learned expertise. The capacity to be rigorously analytical on the one hand and also exceptionally intuitive on the other, and to work in very refined detail while retaining a big picture view are examples of the music student’s Jeykll and Hyde persona. Highly systematic, rule-based learning must be balanced and combined with the creativity and flexibility of personal artistry. Work and study environments range from “you’re on your own” to “do it exactly like this.” On top of all that, these wildly different styles of learning and working all typically intermix within the course of virtually every day. So personally, the ideal college music major is versatile, adaptable, has lots of stamina (physical, academic, and emotional), and develops tons of interpersonal skills. No wonder some people say music makes you smarter! (I sure believe that’s true).

As a music major, you will spend lots of time alone in a practice room with little direct supervision but with high expectations for progress. Many music schools, whether state university or conservatory, expect two or more hours of individual practice each day, and it’s largely up to you to structure that time effectively. You will also interact with fellow students and faculty in large and small ensembles. Sometimes you’ll have a leadership role (chamber music, or as section leader in a large ensemble, for example) and often you’ll be a cog in a big orchestral wheel where the hierarchy of musical decision making is clearly set by others. Performances will happen more frequently in college and the level of the repertoire will likely be a significant leap up from your high school experience.

So practicing, rehearsing and performing become central to your life as a musician in college, regardless of your area of emphasis. But that’s not all. You will simultaneously be delving quickly and deeply into the theory, analysis and history of music, training your ear to listen and reproduce music in highly complex ways, and learning new repertoire from wide ranging time periods and styles. While developing these foundational skills, you will further focus your studies with more specialized work in music education, composition, performance, conducting, jazz studies, music therapy, music business or other concentration, depending on your interests and long-term goals.

Sound cool? There’s lots more to this musical candy store. Regardless of your specialty or emphasis, most music schools require performance examinations (often called juries) each semester, played for a panel of faculty. And most schools also require a sophomore jury/review to determine whether a student has progressed sufficiently to be allowed to continue as a music major. A senior, and sometimes also a junior, recital is also part of the requirements. It is usually necessary, and important, to pass a keyboard proficiency exam before graduating.

While your studies will be full of music and musical detail, you will develop other, broader skills at the same time. Medical school admissions committees and employers in high tech in particular seem to love the self-discipline, attention to detail, team skills, willingness to work long hours, and creative thinking of music majors. So don’t worry mom and dad, music can be a wonderful major as preparation for careers in other fields too.

As you can see, the workload for music majors is both broad and deep, stimulating and demanding, energizing and stressful. For the student with a passion for music, exceptional musical ability, and focused drive, music school can be a challenging but richly rewarding environment.

Sound exciting? Do you think you have what it takes? Can’t wait to graduate from high school and get started? Now you know a bit of what to expect--check it out!

For some more information on this topic:
(more to be added soon to this site)

The High School Musician’s Challenge: Enter College as an Expert
Practice—Rehearse—Perform: Personality Whiplash for Musicians
Why (or why not) Go Into Music?
Choosing a Music School


Also check out collegeboard.com (http://www.collegeboard.com/apps/careers/majors/0,3480,20-107,00.html) for another overview of what it’s like to major in music.

Copyright 2004 Janis Weller. All Rights Reserved

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