I’ve been hit with “Is music even a job or is it just something you do in your free time?” and “We didn’t even have a music teacher at our school, so there probably won’t be jobs for you when you graduate.” Regardless of the answers I give, there always seem to be more questions. It’s hard enough working toward my major academically, but no one prepared me for the amount of work it takes to defend my major’s importance.
Music education differs from studying performance in that, while we are required to take many of the same classes — such as music theory and history, musical skills, and the fundamentals of piano — we also learn how to play every instrument offered in schools’ music programs, including string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. If you think that’s a walk in the park, we have ensemble rehearsal for two hours a day at least three days a week, individual lessons on our primary instrument, and field observations of music education in local schools. Add on a casual 20-credit-hour course load — as opposed to virtually everyone else at IU with an average of 15 credits per semester — and you’ve got a concoction for one of the most stressful majors on IU’s campus.
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