In honor of Music In Our Schools Month in March, I decided I should write an article on a day in the life of a music education major featuring yours truly. You'll be able to follow along with me to see what it's like to be a music education major at the Community College level. Let's get this show on the road!
Mondays and Wednesdays: My day starts off quite early depending on if I have to take the bus to school or not. If I do have to take the bus to school, I usually wake up at 7 a.m, leave my house by 7:15 and get to school by 8:50ish (yes it takes an hour). My first class, Piano 3, doesn't start until 10:35, so being at school early has it advantages because I can quickly go grab something at Starbucks and then head to the practice rooms to practice. I usually pick a room that has the Boston uprights because 1) I love the way they sound and 2) they are most similar to the Steinway Pianos we have in the piano lab. I only use the Yamaha and digital pianos if all the rooms are taken. After practicing for a little while, I usually come across some friends in the rooms and we practice and chit chat until class starts. Piano 3 (and 4, but I'm in 3) consists of practicing and enhancing one's skills at the piano as well as drilling fingering and learning more advanced repertoire than Piano 2. I practice at least 1 hour a day because it's needed and basically required of you to practice your skills/pieces for the upcoming test or performance. Again, it's a lot of drilling, practicing and performing; it can be hard at times but the professor and fellow classmates make it fun and enjoyable. It also helps that my professor is still a professional pianist and sometimes she performs for us and it's absolutely amazing! After piano ends at 12, I then head over to Choir (Chamber Singers). This is a fully auditioned group and the most elite group on campus. When I first started college in the fall of 2015, I was one of the very few freshman to be accepted into the Chamber Singers! We rehearse for an hour with repertoire that ranges from the renaissance era to current hits. The Chamber Singers also get to tour nationally and have been to Chicago once and Carnegie Hall three times; we're going back this June! Now since my major is music education-choral music, I have the wonderful opportunity to be student conductor for the chorale this semester, particularly the women. I love every minute of conducting and getting to interact with my "students." It's hard work and sometimes nerve racking but I love the feeling of hearing a choir doing exactly what you want them too. Everyone should give conducting a try! As you can tell, Mondays and Wednesday are jam packed with lots of music!
Tuesdays and Thursdays: On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have the car to so thankfully no bus on these days! My first class, Musicianship 2, starts at 9:35. This class is a butt kicker, but my ear and sight-singing has improved so much since taking this class. In Musicianship 2, we pick up where we left off in Musicianship 1 and take off from there. We clap more advanced rhythms, sing in minor and do more dictations. Dictations are kind of like writing down words that you hear except instead of words, it's a melody and you write down the melody that you think you heard. It's a lot harder than it sounds! After this class ends at 10:35, I have a short break and then I head to Music Theory 2 which starts at 11. Theory is lecture and test based. My professor for this class is also a professional musician (as well as all my other professors) and his knowledge of theory is amazing and easy to understand. We are always analyzing something or doing group work. For my major, I basically have to know theory like the back of my hand so this class is a requirement. Now on Tuesdays, after theory, I have my private voice lesson. That lasts about 30 minuets, and I work one on one with my teacher to improve my voice and breathing techniques. In order to get the Applied Voice lesson, I had to audition and be a part of a choral group (which I am so that was no problem). My fourth semester of Applied Voice concludes with me giving a recital and showing off all the skills my teacher and I have worked on over the past 4 semesters.
I also have to GE classes but those are just your basic math and English classes. I'm a busy student as I work part time and go to school full time! I hope you enjoyed this little day in the life and I hope you continue to support the arts in our schools as they are important to the development of your children!
