Music major, it is not like what it seems

Hiya! As I promised I would be posting a story about my life as a music college student, so here it is..

Back in 2011, I took a violin audition for an admission test at the Indonesia Institute of the Arts. To get into a music college, a specific grade/level are required (at that time I was still in grade 5 and it's the minimum requirement). For auditioning, I played one major-minor, harmonic and melodic scale in 3 octaves, with accompanying arpeggio (sequence of notes), an etude (a piece of technical exercises) and a violin repertoire from Vivaldi, the 1st movement of Concerto in A minor. I only had like six months of preparation (after years I hadn't played the violin), and it's the first time in my life I experienced an audition in front of a jury of professors, so I was dealing with performance anxiety really really bad :( Though the audition was the opportunity for the juries to get a sense of the current level of proficiency, I guess they saw my potential talent, determination and willingness to work hard. Fortunately, I managed to pass the audition, and I officially became a music student in September 2011.

Raise your hand if you think music major is much more fun and less stressful compared to engineering and economic or any other major. Well then, you might be misguided! Generally speaking, most of you think that majoring in music is about sitting on a chair, playing a musical instrument in a band or singing in a choir, making music and so on. What you think is not entirely wrong because we enjoy the music when it is composed and then played by a musician. I mean those things (composing, playing and performing) are also part of our course, being a music major, it's not only about playing musical instruments and get fun tho. I tell you that's a myth! So, here are the struggles :

Music Theory is 'Fun'

Music theory is a fundamental course that music major has to master but it seemed very challenging for people who have never been exposed to music theory, and I was one of them. This course taught me about basic elements of music, so we can understand, recognise, and analyse the musical process. It started with drawing the treble clef and reading black notes on the staves book into the main topic included musical terminology, notational and basic compositional skills, musical analysis, and aural skills. It's that all? Well, no. I got another music theory class, the Music Harmony and Counterpoint; this course aims to develop our ability to identify and build different chords in a melody, predict what chords come after one another in melodies, write musical notes and scale progression, distinguish the major and minor scale, and so on... Could you imagine for someone who is not familiar with those kinds of stuff before have to deal with on a daily basis, that was a real struggle! I still had another one 'killing' music theory course, Solfege. This course is part of the aural-skills development, so the teacher plays a series of major and minor melodies in a piano, we listen to it and write the melodies we hear. The key is, no panic and stay focus, but anyway, my second year was going tough till I failed in this course :) You see, how much fun those courses are, huh?

Practice is the only option

Do you wanna be a great player? Wanna master your instrument? Wanna impress you 'bae' by showing off your performance skills? PRACTICE. P-R-A-C-T-I-C-E. No matter what your major instrument is, you must spend day and night to practice, practice and practice! Locking my self in a small practice room for at least 4 hours per day with my only love - Geri - was part of my routines. Anyway, Geri is my violin. I even named it because we stuck together like every weekday on the practice room to master the music materials for rehearsals, performances and end-of-semester juries (the practical exam). Well, I started with the most tedious warming-up ritual, playing the violin in an open string (usually in A string) with a plodding pace over and over and over again (Oh, I wish I could be more patient doing this stuff I might have a solid violin tone colour). Next, working on the music scales - playing major-minor, harmonic-melodic, arpeggios back and forth - and then followed by playing études (works of technique) from several books, like Wohlfahrt, Kayzer, Mazas, Kreutzer, etc. Speaking of which, practising with a wide range of études is a MUST because you will find it easier to play any music pieces or even in a different genre (I regret that I never did that much). The last but not least, practising in music pieces that every semester my teacher gave for the end-of-semester juries. I played violin works from Schubert sonatina, J.S. Bach concertos (it drove me crazy!), Beethoven sonata, to Mozart concerto and many others. Whatever, I guess the most important thing in doing practice is having a commitment and patience because it can be so.... freaking dull. Trust me once you have that full-time commitment and patience, you will master your music instrument! And Oh wait, find the most effective way to do practice. It is imperative as doing it can be so upsetting that will drag you into a slump and start questioning yourself like "Oh, hell! Why can I not play it well? Why it sounds so rubbish! Why is this part so hard? and many other depressing WHYs..." Anyway, it sucks, and I had been there before :)

Time management is everything 

FYI, beside all the music courses - music history (my favourite), ensemble and orchestra, chamber music, acoustic and organology, world music, music aesthetic, band and keroncong, piano, conducting, musicology score reading, etc. -, I also learned non-musical courses such as philosophy (my favourite), religion, English and Indonesian, research techniques, computer, social and cultural studies, etc., and they are part of a core study. The piano class was one of my core studies, so every student MUST learn how to play the piano because acquiring basic piano skill gives a better understanding of musical learning.

Well, not only I got too many classes (especially in the first two years) in a week, I also had rehearsals and gigs. Just imagine in one day managing your time for studying, practising, rehearsing for orchestra or ensemble and organising a gig (in many situations I could be both the organiser and performer..  what an exhausting day!), also for taking a break :) 

Against the anxiety 

As mentioned above, I was dealing with a bunch of activities that required both mental and physical strength especially when it came to the end of semesters. Participating in a jury where every student had to play the music pieces with their instrument in front of at least four music lecturer, they looked at me while listening to the pieces I had been practising day and night in one semester. Other than that, in my case as a classical music student, I have to play all the pieces as accurately as what is written on the score, no improvising at all and expected to hit every note perfectly. Yeah, the pressure was high enough till I had to face the worst enemy ever, anxiety. My heart was beating so fast, feet were shaking, and fingers were cold, that is how I encountered most of my music college life :D

Back in time, music was a hobby, and basically, an entertainment or a meant source of happiness and social bonding (it still does) but became a music student, auditions, performances and exams were the sources of stress in my life. Means when pursued professionally, the expectations changed, and I pushed myself to be successful in this major, it's hard tho!

In the end, majoring in music is fun and became one of the most challenging years of my life (I could not imagine life without a challenge.. boring, right?). Another rewarding thing is I was surrounded by people with different background but have the same passion for music. We do all made a choice, I chose this life, and there is no turning back, so how stressful I was, I always had to find a way to enjoy what I do, because it is my passion.

I guess music major is not for everyone. One must remember, it is not enough only having a passion for music to become a music major because it also demands a tremendous amount of commitment, patience and hard work. Your passion will help you to define where your heart is and see yourself doing what you love :)

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