If I hear how easy I have it one more time, well... That’s why this article is being written.

Let me just set one thing straight-- music majors do not have it easy.

We work our butts off day in and day out, and yes, it goes unnoticed because we are constantly working behind the scenes. We’re never in our dorm rooms because we’re always in a practice room. You never see us doing homework because our homework is practicing. And when we are doing homework, of course it looks easy, because it’s most likely analyzing or composing pieces of music, and black notes gracing a piece of paper doesn’t look like it would be stressful at all.

For me, learning music is much harder than any papers or projects I’ve done throughout my years in school. I’ve spent this entire semester alone learning a Beethoven piece. Even when I thought I had it down and showed up to my lesson feeling pretty proud of my accomplishment, my teacher said, “Great. You’ve learned the piece. Now it’s time to shape it.”

“Shaping” is one of my least favorite words, but it’s one of the most important aspects of music. Shaping is the next step towards making the music yours. It’s when the musician adds texture, feeling, and emotion into a piece. It’s important because it's what makes your interpretation of the piece unique. I hate shaping because I’m the type of musician who wants to sit down and just plunk out the music right away. Sure, I’ll pay attention to dynamic and tempo markings, but other than that, who’s got time for shaping anyway?

My point is that so much more goes into preparing music than most people realize. Music is not an overnight homework assignment, and it never will be. It takes time, patience, and effort to be able to perform a piece to the best of one’s ability. A vocalist will spend hours practicing leaps from note to note. A guitarist will work to perfect quick chord changes and arpeggios. A pianist will replay pieces over and over until it becomes engraved in his or her head.

We work hard and we push ourselves, just like anyone else pushes themselves in sports, school, or extracurricular activities. So the next time you hear of a recital or concert at your school, I urge you to go and listen. The kids performing have put countless hours of effort into preparing their music, and I guarantee that the results will be phenomenal. And then you’ll be able to see how easy music majors don’t have it, and how hard they’re working to pursue their dreams, just as you’re working to pursue yours.