I always find it so interesting to see what the reaction is when I tell someone I am a Music Major. Typically it falls along one of these "Oh wow, so you must have fun like all the time!", "Pshhh being a music major isn't hard", "It's not you take any hard classes", "So what do you do will all your free time?", "That is so much easier than my ________ major". Well, folks let me just tell you....no. So before you say that to the next music major you meet here is some stuff to keep in mind.
1. Fun, all the time?
No. Just. No. Don't get us wrong we love music, that is why we're choosing to put ourselves through this torture but no. You guys just see the concerts or singing/playing for fun. What you don't see or here: the cries of agony during practices, the episodes of crying from frustration, the constant "that's it I'm f***ing done with my music" or my personal favorite "I'm just going to drop out and become a stripper", the swearing when we mess up, and the constant mistakes. So no it is not fun all the time.
2. We're pushing ourselves every single day.
Whether it is, sleep, food, practicing, packing our schedules so tight we can't even breath or just one of the many other options we do at least one every day. For instance, as I'm writing this I have been up for 18 consecutive hours, the longest "downtime I've had was the ride to the concert. Today has fit in multiple classes, lots of walking, a concert, grocery shopping, practicing and much more. I have eaten today- a jimmy dean loaded hashbrown, jimmy dean pancake on a stick- a meal from Dennys and a few handfuls of cinnamon toast crunch cereal. Along with 72oz of coffee, and maybe 24 oz of water...over 18 hours and that I what I have put into my body. Also functioned all of today on somewhere near 5 hours of sleep. In other words, we are always pushing ourselves- how much coffee can I have before I have a heart attack? How little food can I eat before I pass out? How long can I stand in 3-inch heels before my whole body is killing?
3. No Hard Classes?
Do you have to memorize 1000+ -year-old music for your biology major? Are you learning about Plagal cadences in engineering? Are you memorizing an Augmented 6th ascending interval in the key of F Major for your Sports Major? That being said each major has hard classes I'm sure. But just because we are Music majors isn't any reason to discount that. Yes, it's probably fair to say there are classes that you take that we would be clueless in...but that also works the other way around.
4. Just Because Its Music Doesn't Make It Any Easier.
Being a Music Major isn't all rainbows and sunshine. We can't simply have a piece of music set down in front of us and be able to play it perfectly. Sometimes things don't just click when we're learning stuff. No, it's not just writing what we hope will be the next big hit. We don't spend our days working in chem labs, on an engineering program, dissecting animals but we do spend our days in classes learning about the music we are making, practice rooms learning to play the stuff that you'll see at that concert, or in ensembles. We still have lots of homework, and if we don't have homework than we have a practice that needs to be done, an ensemble to be in, or concerts perform in. Never once have I ever truly had everything done, cause there is always stuff music majors need to do.
5. THE MONEY
Oh, that machine you're using is provided by the school? Oh well the $200.00 in mallets that I'm currently using to hit the wood to make sound with aren't. The microscope you're using cause $300.00? That's cute, tell my $17,000.00 how expensive your microscope is. Have a part break on your instrument? Well, dang nab it you better be prepared to pay through the roof for that flimsy piece of wood. Concerts, competitions, music, equipment, repairs, etc. IT JUST NEVER ENDS.
6. Pain
Music buildings are never quite so there is a good chance that there is at least one headache per week. Drop the cymbal on my foot...well I practically just amputated my foot. Strings you ask? Say hello to blisters, callouses, and bleeding! Wrist involved? HELLOOOO carple tunnle, arthritis, tendinitous, mobility issues, stiffness, and much, much more. Back pain, feet, knee, hip pain. Holding an instrument like the violin, viola, flute etc? Pain say hello to arms, back, shoulders, neck etc. Trying to read a billion ledger lines...my name is blurry vision and headaches cause I can't see where the white of the paper ends and the black of the notes begins anymore.
I won't say being a music major is harder than any other major. But I will say this: don't forget that we are working just as hard as you. Just because you hear a fun new pop song, or see a great concert where everything was perfect, don't forget the hours of literal sweat, blood, tears, and pain that went into the easy, simple product that you see. So next time you meet a music major give us some credit and don't count us out.
