Love music but not sure majoring in music is the right path for you? There are other options for keeping music alive in college and beyond in addition to majoring in music.

Are you a music student needing to find college scholarships for music school? You’re not alone if you find searching for scholarships to be stressful and challenging.

There are scholarship dollars out there to be claimed. What’s also true is that you have to be an active participant in order to find them. You’re probably going to have to do a fair amount of research, write some essays, perhaps audition or enter competitions. Scholarships rarely come to you – you’ll have to go after them yourself. The sleuth work may turn up hidden gems that will surprise you.

Some of the more obvious places to look for scholarships include:

• FAFSA – government-based financial aid (grants, loans, work-study) and other resources for U.S. citizens
• State-related scholarships and grants
• Scholarships from the schools that accept you – especially if they love your audition
• Music-related scholarships from foundations and organizations
• Financial aid for international students and undocumented students

But you’re more than a music student, right? So why not look at your other interests and talents and see if you can find relevant scholarships there, too. For instance:

• Are you vegetarian? Do you help promote vegetarianism in your school or community?

• Are you clever with Duck Tape?

• Love to play golf and work as a golf caddy?

• Are you tall?

• Love to make your own greeting cards?

• Belong to a credit union, religious organization, a club or local organization? Ask them if they offer scholarships.

The bottom line:
Start your research early. Don’t wait ’til senior year! Pay attention to deadlines. Be wary of scams, especially where you’re asked to pay money to be considered for a scholarship. And – think inside AND outside the box.

How can you get your money’s worth out of starting music school at a community college?

If your grades or audition didn’t allow you to get accepted to the music school of your choice, your finances make it impossible to pay for a 4-year music school, or if you’re just not ready to commit to a 4-year college, a community college with a strong music program may be just the ticket.

If you plan to attend a community college with the intention of transferring to a 4-year school:

• Find out whether the community college has an agreement with a 4-year school that will accept your credits. If it does not, check with the 4-year school you’d want to transfer to, to see whether you’ll get credit for classes taken at the community college.
• Figure out the right classes to take so you don’t have to spend additional time and therefore money at a 4-year school. Classes like music theory, musicianship and and applied lessons on your primary instrument (along with a regular practice schedule) will keep you from getting behind and also make you a better candidate for any required auditions.
• Consider what you want to do with a music degree, knowing that your plans may change the more you learn. While studying music provides many transferable skills that are useful in pretty much any career field, having a sense of how you’d like to use your degree will help direct your choices and decisions as you move forward.

Note that some community colleges offer terminal 2-year certificate programs in areas such as music technology, recording, and music business. Ask about job options before committing to these programs unless your intention is to add to your skill set for your current or future work.

For more ideas on how to make community college work for you, see: Community College for Music Students…Guidelines for Making It Work.

Prospective music majors frequently ask us: “Which is the best music school for me?” Regardless of your area of interest, instrument, or genre, the answer is typically the same: it’s subjective. You can get ideas and advice from teachers, parents, college counselors, private consultants, and websites that match you to a school based on your answers to a few questions. But only you can determine what the best fit really is for you, and which school or schools can provide that.

Create a criteria list for your best music school

Answer these questions and then prioritize them so that what’s most important is at the top. This becomes your list of criteria. Add to it as new ideas come to mind.

• What do you want to study? Are there areas in addition to music?
• What do you think you want to do career-wise? What kind of training and real world experience will you need?
• Who do you want to study with?
• In what kind of environment do you learn best? Large school and student body? Small? City? Small town? Competitive vs. non-competitive?
• What’s your financial picture like? Do you need financial aid and merit scholarships?

Then, read about schools that you’ve heard about or that offer what you want to study. Look at their videos. How do the schools stack up against your list of criteria?

Before You Visit

Once you’ve narrowed your choices down to a few, consider visiting the schools that appear to be the closest “right fit.” Include a school that’s a stretch for you as well as one that you’re likely to be accepted to.

• Set up a lesson with one or more faculty who may become your private studio teacher over the course of four years. You may or may not need to pay for this lesson; every school is different.
• Ask to sit in on a few classes to get a sense of what it’s like to be a student at the school.
• Find out if you can spend a night in the dorm with a student pursuing a similar major.

Once you’re there

Take your list with you when you visit schools. Use it to make sure you get information you need. And to rate the schools according to how well they meet your needs. This will become really helpful especially if you are accepted to more than one school.

• In addition to getting a lesson, sitting in on a few classes, and spending a night in a dorm, hang out in different areas of campus to get a feel for student life.
• Take the tour of the school if it’s offered. It’s a great way to see the campus highlights, but be sure to do the following as well:
  1. Visit the practice rooms.
  2. Eat in the cafeteria.
  3. Talk with students. Find out what they like and don’t like about the school.
  4. Get a sense of how well you’ll fit in with other students – as friends as well as people to collaborate with.
  5. Find out about opportunities to perform and hear music.
  6. Get a sense of the surrounding town or city – and how you would get back and forth from campus.

The Audition

Music schools encourage you to ask them questions. They even want you to consider the audition as a time for them AND you to assess whether their school is the right fit for you. They’ll be checking you out; you should do the same.

Arrive at your audition prepared with a few questions that will help you learn more about the school and also show your sincere interest in the music program. These should be things you can’t easily find answers to on school websites such as:

• What kind of support is available to students to help prepare them for careers in music?
• What kind of support is offered to prevent repetitive motion/overuse injuries?
• How does the alumni network support new music grads?
• What are the benefits of getting a BM vs. a BA? (Note that some music programs offer BFA or BS degrees.)
• Can you study abroad and still graduate in 4 years?
• What would it be like to double major or minor in another area?
• Who are some current students and recent alumni you can talk with?

Create a spreadsheet of application requirements and deadlines and audition dates and requirements. This will help organize all the details you’ll be accountable for. Here’s a sample:  Tracking College Applications

Note your most memorable reactions – both positive and negative – when you communicate with and visit schools. It’s so easy to confuse schools when you don’t take time to note your observations and perceptions while they’re still fresh.

Afterwards

• Review your perceptions, feelings, and observations while they’re still fresh. Make notes about all of it to refer to later, when you have to decide which school to accept.
• Send thank you notes to anyone who helps you, gives you a private lesson, or auditions you.

Majoring in music and sleep; can you really fit these into the same sentence?

Despite a ton of research on the consequences (sometimes dire) of not getting enough sleep each night, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a lot of college music majors who actually get 7-8 hours of sleep more than a couple of nights in a row (unless they’re sick).

The culture – especially on a college campus – and especially if you’re a music major – may give lip service to the need for sleep. In reality, good sleep in college is far more elusive than good coffee, a good laundromat, a good parking spot, or a source for good gluten-free donuts. Late nights that turn into next mornings are common for many reasons. For music majors some of this stems from:

• The availability of practice rooms – and the time to use them – has to happen after classes, lessons, rehearsals, and homework/studying are over.
• Paying gigs often start late – and end early (the next day).
• Downtime to be creative and compose solo or with others can’t happen when classes and lessons and rehearsals are scheduled.
• Belief in the myth that you can catch up on sleep. You can’t.
• Assuming you’ll be able to fall asleep when you can find time to sleep.

We don’t pretend to know how to reconcile the need for sleep with the facts of college life. We’d like to believe that if you “get” how important sleep is while you’re still in high school, you’ll somehow be able to prioritize sleep along with everything else. But that’s probably not realistic. However, if you enter music school knowing that sleep will be at a premium, perhaps you’ll go off armed with some strategies that will help you stay out of sleep deprivation trouble.

If you have anecdotes, suggestions, ideas, tips, etc. for other music students around sleep, send them to contact@majoringinmusic.com.

A high percentage of recent music school graduates – as well as professional musicians – maintain portfolio careers in music (as well as in other non-music fields).

What does this mean?

They work more than one part-time job, including freelancing, self-employment, short-term and temporary jobs.

Is This “Normal?” Should I Worry?

Yes to the first question, no to the second.

College used to be about getting trained to be able to graduate, get a steady job, and hold on to it. In fact, older generations were taught to frown upon changing jobs – and did so as infrequently as possible.

These days, full-time jobs in music are relatively scarce. They’re often limited to teaching music and to jobs in arts leadership and arts management. But even people in these fields are apt to do some music freelancing to keep their passion for music alive and to bring in some extra income. Some also add other less time-consuming, income-producing gigs outside of music.

How to Prepare

More and more music schools are offering education and preparation for successful portfolio careers in music. Entrepreneurship and networking skills are essential to the process. So are time management and decision-making skills. But it’s typically up to students to take advantage of these kinds of classes, programs, tracks, seminars, and workshops. They’re often offered extracurricularly and students have to figure out how to fit them in. See “Entrepreneurship Training for Music Majors” to learn more.

At MajoringInMusic.com, we urge students to find out what each school they’re considering offers along the lines of career development and preparation. Check the schools’ websites first, and then try calling the career office or admission/enrollment office.

If the schools participate on MajoringInMusic.com, ask your questions on the forms on each school’s page and we’ll make sure they get right to the schools.

We’ve been bombarded by requests for information about music scholarships from prospective music majors, parents, and current music undergrads.

We understand how important and necessary financial assistance is to so many music students. That’s why we continue to work to find scholarship opportunities and other vital information that will support your search. But it will take work on your part, too.

Here’s what we suggest:

1. Visit MajoringInMusic.com’s Scholarships page. It’s on the top navigation bar of every page of the website.

• Read each entry and click on anything that could be even remotely relevant. Don’t rule out anything until you’ve really looked at it closely.

2. Look for all the music scholarships offered by the college you currently attend or are interested in attending.

• Some of these are offered directly by the schools and you’re considered for them when you apply and audition (no additional application needed). These are typically merit-based.
• Others are offered by foundations – these you WILL need to apply for separately.

3. Check out scholarships offered to students in your hometown and state.

4. U.S. citizens: visit FAFSA for government-related financial aid.

5. Click on all the links to articles and resources listed on the Scholarships page.

6. International students: A few of the scholarships on the Scholarships page apply to you as well. Each music school also indicates the options available to international students. But U.S. schools also have stiff admission requirements regarding the cost of attending.

7. Be METICULOUS about meeting deadlines. Don’t wait until the last minute so that you can check to see if your applications for scholarships and other financial aid have been received.

Prospective music majors frequently ask how important test scores, GPAs and academics in general are for getting into music school. Faculty from diverse music schools at MajoringInMusic.com presentations have addressed these questions as follows…

First and foremost, remember that all schools are different. Their requirements are not the same. Conservatories are typically less concerned about your high school academics unless you and another prospective music student are being considered by them for the same spot in their upcoming class. That said, conservatories within universities may have higher academic requirements. Dual-degrees and double majors, especially where one of the majors is outside of music, will definitely require a strong academic background. State-related schools vary in terms of the importance of academics. Liberal arts schools with strong music departments will typically expect students to apply with strong test scores and GPAs.

What about AP/IB? How important are they?

Some schools will waive certain required courses if students show a 5,6,or 7 on an IB exam or a 5 on an AP exam. This may allow students to pass out of general education requirements and allow more room for electives, a minor, and/or a double major. Some schools will exempt a student with a high score on the AP Music Theory exam from the first level of Music Theory.

Most schools post on their websites the average GPA and SAT/ACT scores of the previous year’s class. Even if they don’t use academics as a primary decision-making tool for acceptance, they say that it’s important to be strong in reading, writing, and communication skills. They also say that academic performance in high school is an indication of success in college.

Are you getting mail about music scholarships? Be sure to read the fine print! If you’re a high school junior or senior, you may soon be overwhelmed with online messages and snail mail about dazzling opportunities for scholarships of all sizes, large and small.

BE CAREFUL about what you sign up for. Will you be further inundated with phone calls and text messages on your cell phone? (And due to limitations on your data plan, will you be running up a surprise bill?) Read the terms listed in the fine print. Know what you’re signing up for –– and won’t regret. Remember that not everything on the internet is legit.

The music Scholarships page on MajoringInMusic.com is the real deal. We update it regularly, so you won’t be getting all excited about great opportunities that actually ended in 2009. And NONE of the scholarships listed require you to spend money to apply (another red flag to be aware of). There are great links to scholarships for music majors, both prospective and current. Look at the brief descriptions and click on the links to whatever seems to fit you.

FAFSA, debt forgiveness programs, information for international students, and links to all participating music schools’ scholarships are also on this page. Be sure to also see the comments and responses from students and parents –– these may help you navigate the complicated process of figuring out how to pay for music school.

by Barbra Weidlein

You know what happens when you take some time off from your music. The rust sets in pretty quickly! So what can you do to keep your music strong this summer, especially if you plan to send in your prescreens, audition for competitions, or try out for school orchestras, choirs, or bands this fall?

1.  Keep practicing

This can be tricky if you’re not taking lessons. But it’s important. Find an app that supports you in keeping up with practice. Do something nice for yourself if you meet your practice goals at the end of each week.

2.  Jam and perform with others

Get together at least once a week with other musicians. Try some new things. See if you can get a gig or two –– even if it doesn’t pay, at this stage it’s great practice and gets your name out there.

3.  Network

Talk with people who are steps ahead of you in the music world. How did they get there? What advice do they have for you? Learning how to network will be a huge advantage to you as you start developing your career plans in any area of music. If anything stops you from networking, this is a great time to find out why and figure out how to move forward.

4.  Go to concerts

Challenge your listening skills in new ways. Watch how the musicians interact with the audience. Stretch your musical tastes.

5.  Listen to music

Again, stretch your musical interests by listening to genres of music you’ve never heard before. Tune in to music you already know in new ways.

Do you have tips to add to the list? Let MajoringInMusic.com know and we’ll consider quoting you (and giving you and your music a shout out as well).

Does studying music abroad sound inviting?

It should. There’s so much to gain by leaving the comforts and confines of what’s known and predictable. While the culture, geography, language, customs, food etc. may be very different from what you’re accustomed to, the common denominator is still the passion to study and play music. Learning in a collegial environment with students from other parts of the world can be incredibly inspiring. It can open up creative circuits and bring a wider perspective to your performance, composing, and general understanding of music.

You can study abroad for a degree, certificate, semester, or summer music program. There are many options for all of these. But how can you tell you’re ready for any of it?

We talked with admission folks at schools and programs around the world. What we learned was this:

Start by asking yourself 5 questions

1. How would studying abroad support my goals and dreams?

2. Which program(s) would be a good fit?

3. Am I someone who copes pretty well with change and who knows how to seek out support if and when I need it? Can I spot a potentially dangerous or unsavory situation before I find myself in it? Do I know what to do if it happens?

4. Can I advocate for what I need and want (as opposed to hoping and waiting for it to show up)?

5. Will my family (parents or other key people in your life) support my plan to go to school in another country? Do they have concerns or reservations? If so, what are they? What can I say or do that will help us get on the same page about studying abroad?

You’ll also want to consider

Timing:

• When is the best time to study abroad? And for how long?

 Cost:

• Don’t assume studying abroad will automatically be more expensive than in your home country, especially if you’re from the U.S. Tuition is typically far less expensive in countries outside the U.S. Some schools in the UK and Europe offer 3-year bachelor degree programs, because students take the equivalent of U.S. general education courses in the last two years of high school. Living expenses may also be lower. But travel back home will, of course, add to your costs.

 Culture:

• Do you want to attend a school where you can speak your first language? Or are you sufficiently bi-lingual to keep up with the formal and informal communication you’ll be immersed in?
• Living in another country will expose you to many cultural differences. For instance, in England and Italy, the drinking age is lower than the U.S. and beer may be on tap in the student dining room. You are expected to know how to consume alcohol in a way that does not interfere with your studies or become injurious to your health or behavior BEFORE you travel abroad. Otherwise, you may quickly be sent back to your home country.
• It’s also important to get a handle on the customs of the country you plan to study in before you leave home and then learn everything you can from the locals once you’re there.

The benefits of studying music in another country can be lifelong and life-changing. That said, for some music students, spending a summer or a semester abroad focusing on other areas of interest may have just as much of an impact on their music and will still provide opportunities to jam, practice, and perform.

If you can answer the first 5 questions and can address the other considerations reasonably well, it may be time to think more seriously about expanding your musical perspective through studying abroad.

---

This post was inspired by conversations and visits with Performing Arts Abroad, Leeds Conservatoire, Liverpool Institute of the Arts (LIPA), Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Royal Irish Academy of Music, Trinity College Dublin, and Accademia Europea Di Firenze.

If you have strong academic skills, want to major in music, and don’t want to lose your academic mojo, look for schools with honors programs that welcome music majors.

You’re likely to get:

• smaller classes for your non-music requirements;
• an opportunity to broaden your social circles and mingle with non-music majors;
• in-depth exploration of a host of subjects;
• more time with the professor;
• credit, of course, for your non-music-specific requirements.

This is a great way to keep your writing skills in good form as well as exercise different parts of your brain. It’s also a great way to appease your parents in case worry about what will happen to your academic prowess if you ever decide to focus away from music or decide to go to graduate school.

You may have to run interference between the music school and the honors program, especially if advisors at the school haven’t had many music students do both. Learn what you can, ask as many questions as you need to, talk to students who’ve done both. Stand up for what you want ––  that in itself will serve you well in your career in music.

As graduation excitement and celebrations approach, we hope music graduates will remember to acknowledge and honor the mentors in their lives.

These are the folks who have helped you achieve your successes: parents, music teachers, college counselors, grandparents, siblings, and others who have gone out of their way to listen to you and offer encouragement. The people who haven’t discounted your drive to pursue music, and who have recognized your passion to continue on, despite their concerns that there won’t be an identifiable job waiting for you when you graduate again. Your supporters have maintained faith in you as they’ve watched you work hard, perform with passion, and audition with courage. They’ve seen you miss the mark, and use rejection and constructive feedback to advance your level of proficiency.

Behind every successful music student is someone – and often several someones – who saw a spark or helped ignite something that grew into passion and talent. Your mentors value music, and they understand the benefits of music education. Their patience and steadfast belief in your need to express yourself through music have helped you arrive where you are now.

Once you’ve appreciated those individuals who have stood by you and helped you evolve your passion for music into a serious pursuit, we know you’ll have reached the starting line for paying it forward. Someday soon you will be the mentor for a student coming up the pipeline, because you’ll know what a difference that support makes.

If you’ve been accepted at more than one music school, congratulations! But if you’re not sure which one to accept, life will continue to feel challenging until the answer comes clear. Several factors may be involved in deciding on the right music school for you.

Here are some important considerations for students, parents, music educators, and college guidance counselors.

1. At U.S. schools, May 1 is the official deadline for final decisions about which school to accept.

• Schools can’t pressure you into accepting their offer before May 1, nor can they pull any scholarship, grant, work/study or housing option they’ve offered you prior to that date.
• It’s easier for the schools if you decide as soon as possible. Then they know how many spots on the waitlist to fill, how much remaining scholarship money is available, and what their incoming freshman class will look like.
• If you KNOW you’re not going to accept offers at schools, let those schools know as soon as possible. You’ll be glad you did, especially if you ever decide to transfer to one of those schools or apply there for graduate school.
• The sooner you decide, the easier it is for you, too. You no longer have the big decision hanging over your head, nor the weird feeling of not knowing where you’re going to be in the fall, and probably the next 4 years.

2. What if you’re not sure?

Prior to May 1, don’t make a decision until you have as much information as you need in order to feel as comfortable as possible with your decision. You may not have a lot of time. So you need to act fast.

• Take a final trip to the school you’re still unsure about. Yes, it may be expensive if it’s out of town. But in the long run, it’ll be a lot LESS expensive than going to a school that’s not the right fit.
• Sit in on classes. Talk to students. Talk with faculty. Hang out in the dining hall. Spend the night with a current student who’s ideally majoring in the same area you’d be majoring in. Be sure to set all of this up in advance!
• Take notes. You have what you need at your fingertips – use it. You will need to compare apples to apples to make your final decision. Be sure to note how it FEELS to be there.

3. If you’re put on a waitlist:

• You apparently now have to accept the waitlist to still be considered for it.
• If you’re still serious about a school you’ve been waitlisted at, see if they’ll accept any additional, compelling, and relevant information you didn’t include in your application, including recent letters of reference.
• If you’re really serious about the school you’re waitlisted at, consider visiting there again, as soon as possible (see tipis in #2).
• You may not hear whether there’s a spot for you until after the May 1st deadline. You’ll have to accept another school in the meantime.
• If you end up getting into the school you’re waitlisted for, and decide to accept, you’ll lose any non-refundable deposits made to the first school. You may also be at the bottom of the list for housing options, so prepare to be flexible.

Anyone considering majoring in music –– as well as those already in music school –– will find valuable takeaways from the new movie “Whiplash.” The film is intense and visceral, and focuses on a music student attending a top-notch conservatory in New York City. Accomplished young musicians portray highly-competitive music majors in the film, so it’s easy to perceive “Whiplash” as a glimpse into the realities of life at a music conservatory. But while there are some highly valuable takeaways, there’s far more fiction than fact represented in “Whiplash.”

– Guest Blog by Daniel Weidlein

As a music major at a well-respected school, I never saw blood shed in a rehearsal room (save for a popped blister from a swinging bass player), nor did I ever see a director repeatedly slap a student to help them keep time. (I have had a chair thrown at me before by a director, but that was in high school and that’s a whole different story…) Perhaps more chilling is the film’s relentless use of over-the-top obscenities hurled by the band director to belittle his students under the guise of motivation. Each instance of abuse is purposely exaggerated. The intent is not so much to give an accurate portrayal of life as a music student, but rather to hyperbolize very real tactics that teachers and mentors have used for motivational purposes –– and taken too far.

“Whiplash” overdramatizes the life of a college musician, especially around practicing. I never met anyone who devoted 100% of their practice to playing “double-time swing” as fast as they could and for as long as possible. While that might result in serious blisters and perhaps bloodied hands, it would definitely lead to becoming a one-dimensional musician. Music school is all about developing depth of musical knowledge, not just technical skills. The latter, in fact, could be acquired without paying $50,000+ a year in tuition. The film does remind us that sometimes, in the heat of competition, both teachers and students can forget this fact and fixate on things that may not best serve long-term goals.

While “Whiplash” didn’t remotely represent my time in music school, its underlying moral dilemma deeply resonated with me. What do you have to sacrifice in your life to be the musician you want to be? As an mentor or a teacher, how hard should you push your student to motivate them to be the best they can be? These are extremely important conversations and self-reflection starters for young musicians who are really serious about their craft, as well as for teachers who want to see their students succeed.

“Whiplash” references the famous story about a young Charlie Parker, who was humiliated at a jam session in Kansas City and kicked off the stage after a cymbal was hurled at his feet. It is said that this singular experience led him to lock himself in his house and do nothing but practice for a year until he became one of the greatest saxophonists of all time. But at what cost? As depicted in Clint Eastwood’s film, “Bird,” Parker’s obsessive tendencies resulted in a chaotic family life, and an addiction to heroin and alcohol that led to his death at age 34.

What is the price of greatness? Is it worth sacrificing personal happiness and relationships to be “the best”? ”Whiplash” brilliantly presents and explores these topics without trying to provide answers. As the film progresses, it becomes less about the physical, emotional, and mental abusiveness of the band director and more about the common goal of greatness that both teacher and student share. It reflects the repercussions of their mutual fixation on greatness, on their lives and the lives of those around them.

---

Daniel Weidlein (danielweidlein.com) appears in “Whiplash” as a tenor saxophonist in the Shaffer Studio Band. He is a multi-instrumentalist, studio musician, producer and composer, and owns and operates The B(e)at Cave recording studio in Echo Park, CA. He received a BM in Jazz Performance from USC Thornton School of Music.

Is your child auditioning for a spot in a music school?

Here are 6 tips to support them AND you.

1. Calm down!

Your auditioning offspring needs you to stay the course and manage your own anxiety. Take a brisk walk or get other exercise; take three long breaths when you get antsy; seek out other adults to vent with if you need to. Whatever you do, don’t let your anxiety spill out and onto your child. At the same time, kids are masters of reading between the lines. Don’t let the audition be like the elephant in the room. Acknowledge it. But don’t harp on it.

2. Have faith.

No matter what happens, your child will be fine. Really. It may be hard to imagine, but it’s true. The more you do whatever you can to feel and experience this within, the better you’ll be at transmitting this message to your child, verbally and non-verbally .

3. Remember this is THEIR audition.

One of the worst things you can do is show up like the mom of a recent American Idol contestant did. In her effort to support her child, the audition became all about her. This will not go over well with music schools!

4. Be supportive but not overbearing.

Auditions are anxiety-provoking on several levels. Most of all, kids need a sense of consistency and support at this time. Checking in with your child is important. So is maintaining an awareness of how they are doing. Peppering them with questions, however, is bound to backfire, especially if they’re not used to talking about their feelings.

5. Keep healthy food around.

It’s easy for kids to get run down around audition time. Having healthy, easy-to-grab food around will serve them well. Good hydration is important, too.

6. Congratulate yourself.

You’ve done a ton of work to help get your child to this point in time. Now it’s time to breathe and hold down the fort, while they test the waters of what lies ahead.

Photo Credit: CU Denver LYNX Camp, Robert King Photography

A homeschooled music student recently wrote to MajoringInMusic.com in response to the article “Want to Major in Music but off to a Late Start?”

by Tom Hynes, professional guitarist, assistant professor of music at Azusa Pacific University and instructor at Idyllwild Arts Academy.

While self-taught in piano, guitar and voice, and clearly determined to succeed, the student recognized that her ability to progress was limited by a lack of instruction. She also never played in an orchestra or ensemble or sung in a chorus outside of her church. She asked MajoringInMusic.com for advice in preparing to become a music major in college.

We’re sharing Hynes’ response here. We thought it would benefit other students (and parents) with the same question.

Tom Hynes:

The old line goes, “It’s not just about working hard; it’s about working smart.” One of the greatest things a private teacher can offer is an overall plan, plus specific instruction, on how to reach a goal.

I often hear, especially from new students, “That is so much easier than the way I was trying to do it!” after I’ve offered them advice or insight that they couldn’t figure out themselves. Self-taught students often make the process unnecessarily slow or painful, because they lack the insight that a well-qualified teacher can offer about how to approach something easily and productively. It pains me to see a motivated, hard-working student progress slowly and painfully. But it’s not unusual for students without private teachers.

Homeschooled students often exclude themselves from school music programs that would provide experience, challenges, perspective and camaraderie. When parents who homeschool are musically-trained themselves, they are usually aware of this, and look for alternatives and substitutes. But when parents are not musically-trained, their musical children often miss out on this. As a result, the students don’t realize what they are missing, at least not until much later.

While it is admirable to work on a technique book, it is not likely to be very productive if you cannot connect it to actual playing. If you are playing incorrectly and inefficiently, your practice hours are merely reinforcing bad habits that need to be slowly and painfully corrected later. This is an extremely common scenario among freshman music majors starting a program with little or poor prior training.

For more tips, read Tom Hynes’ “Prepare to be a College Music Major.”