5 Things Every Prospective Musician Should Know

Although I had been a musical child basically since I was an infant, I began receiving professional music lessons when I was nine years old. The piano was the first instrument I had ever laid my hands on. As soon as I touched the keys and discovered that I could create music by simply pressing them in certain patterns… I fell in love with the instrument.

Little did I know that my love for music would end up determining the path of my life and that one day I would be studying the subject full-time and preparing to create a career out of it.

For those of you out there who are interested in taking lessons (perhaps through my studio or a different one) or are considering studying music at college I want to provide some words of wisdom and some things I wish I had known about studying music before I dove head first into the world of musicianship:

1. Music Is A Science

Yes, music will always be considered a form of art and will always have its creative elements but no successful musician/composer has ever sat down and written a piece of music without music having certain patterns and fundamental elements that make it enjoyable to the ear. For anyone who knows anything about chords and harmonic functions, you know that much of the music we listen to has a certain pattern or set of rules that it uses to make the song sound nice and…well…not weird or unsatisfying. All that to say, be prepared for the world of music to be much more structured, mathematic and scientific than expected.

2. Sometimes, Taking A Break Is Just As Important As Practicing

I am guilty of being one of those people who doesn't want to stop until I can play or sing a piece fluently. I also am guilty of being one of those people who wants to get all of their practice time in all at once so I can go about the rest of my day without worrying about it. However, sometimes the most effective way of practicing is giving yourself brain breaks and not forcing yourself to practice EVERYTHING at one time. Often, it is most beneficial to break up your practice time into smaller chunks that you can do throughout the day rather than locking yourself in a practice room/your bedroom/wherever you practice and forcing yourself to practice everything at one time. Be smart, take breaks!

3. Not Everyone Understands The Importance Of Music

The amount of disrespect that I have seen directed towards musicians and even people who are simply interested in taking more time to study music is heartbreaking. I never expected that as someone who lives in a world where people so desperately cling to music for comfort that I would see comments on social media such as "music is not a real major" or "prepare to work in fast food for the rest of your life." Luckily, this was something that I was made aware of before I decided to make music my career. However, it doesn't make it hurt any less. All I can do is show those people that they're wrong. Be prepared to face people who haven’t heard the studies and don’t understand the importance of what you do/study. Learn to allow the comments to slide and not allow it to discourage you or diminish your love for music.

4. Change It Up

This can be taken in several different ways. Sometimes you need to change up the style of music you are playing, sometimes it means learning the basics of an instrument other than the one you play/are learning to play proficiently, sometimes it means finding new places to practice (ex. Practicing outside on a nice day, if possible). Music students are people who can easily become bored/drained with what they are doing. Changing it up, whatever that means for you, is vital to keeping your love for music alive and not allowing it to deflate because of the extensive studying and practicing.

5. Practice Makes “Perfect”

This seems like a no brainer, I know, but so many people quit their instruments within the first year of taking lessons because of their frustration with their lack of progress. Mozart did not become a proficient musician overnight. Neither did Bach, neither did Beethoven, neither did Handel and neither did any famous musician/composer you can think of. They were patient, they persevered and most of all they PRACTICED for years until they finally mastered their art. Now, I'm not necessarily saying that if you practice enough that you will become "perfect" at whatever instrument you are learning. However, you will discover that if you push through and continue to practice and take lessons, even when it's hard and you want to rip all your hair out, you will develop skills that you didn't even know you could. THAT is what makes studying music so wonderful and so rewarding!