| Author |
Subject |
ruthann
Registered User
(9/12/00 3:17:21 pm)
Reply |
Expectations
I was thinking... (Yes, I know it's
dangerous)
What kind of expectations did you have when you
were young about the cello? Did you assume you would go to college,
major in music, end up in an orchestra somewhere? Always consider
the cello as a hobby? And how much did the opinion of others, like
parents, influence your expectations? If your parents were
musicians, did that make them more or less supportive towards your
music?
For myself, I did go to college, major in
performance, expected to be pro in an orchestra one day. My parents
were not at all supportive. I can't say it's their fault I didn't
reach my goals. Although both parents were classical music lovers,
neither played an instrument, nor were they college
graduates.
My husband was saying the other day that he
wouldn't want either of our children to study music in college. Too
impractical. I say why not? You can always do something else later
if it doesn't work out, and a music education will bring you a lot
of satisfaction throughout your life. Can you tell my husband is a
non-musician?
cello_suttonr@hotmail.com
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Corrina
Connor
Registered
User
(9/13/00 1:07:32 am)
Reply |
Re:
Expectations
Your husband sounds like my father.
Since I gave up my ideas of becoming a lawyer about three years ago
my father seems to have despaired of me ever becoming anything but a
drain on society. The other day when I was filling out my
application for my Uni audition in October, my poor pater went about
groaning:
"I hope she knows what she's doing..." Ah me. . .
.
I am pleased that my mother, although resigned to my fate,
is quite happy about what I want to do, although she's not sure if I
am doing the right thing.
After all, if your children do want
to study music, you could point them towards History and Lit or
Composition.
People I know have done their first year in
Performance and then changed. Then they can do Music Ed, or even
Music history papers as part of a B.A.
I don't think that
music is impractical - you don't have to be a musician, but surely
it's best to be happy. 
I
don't know if I have expectations, I just want to do
well.
~Corrina~
|
inta
stella
Registered
User
(9/13/00 3:55:49 am)
Reply |
wow - i
have to get in on this...
and here's my little story : i am
still "young" (21, to be exact) and went straight out of high school
(graduated early, 18th in my class) to the so-called Real World,
moving from Colorado to Texas with the band i was playing in to rent
a place, get a job, pay bills, try to get some live gigs, and all
that stuff that seems so great when in high school (what was i
thinking?), aching to strike out on one's own.
and when i say
band, i mean good old rock'n'roll : 2 drummers, 2 guitarists, 1
bass, 1 female vocalist, and me on the cello. amplification
problems? you bet. compositional roadblocks within the band? even
more. the point? well...i COULD HAVE gone straight into college
after high school, maybe even gotten an academic or even music
scholarship or something - if i had tried - but i was SURE that
college (at that point in time) would be a waste of energy and
money, especially because i had NO idea what i really wanted to
pursue academically or as a career, and i was disheartened by the
public schooling system after 12 years labor under it. i also knew
that i had the desire to learn still, as well as the desire for
further education, so i didn't worry. there will be time, i said,
for college. THIS opportunity with the band may not always be there
- colleges will.
and tehy still are, or course. i mean, i can
jam out with a Led Zeppelin CD without having to take a college
course to Feel the music i'm playing, to be able to Jam Out. i
realize now, however, that it would certainly be EASIER to jam out
more exquisitely if i were more technically able, if i had taken
years' worth of music lessons or theory classes instead of
self-teaching and playing rock for the last 6 years...*sigh*.
so, to turn the tables, maybe some of you may have something
to mention to me in passing, in reference to expectations? my
parents? well, i know they'd have been more comforted by my going to
college to study and build a "typical career", not to Austin to work
in retail and be a "struggling artist". especially because they're
both teachers, and because i did so well in school. i just did well
in school to find the quickest way to get out of it. but the folks
are also understanding enough to be supportive of what makes me
happy, (for which i am eternally grateful) which playing music does
moreso than any other thing i have done so far in my 21
years...
i know i have expectations...(don't we all? sigh)
and i try to curb them from negatively coloring my ability to do
what i am able to do, even when it disagrees entirely with my
expectations. in fact, after the small amount of postings i've read
here, it seems like most of "us" would like to just be able to Do
Well playing cello (except for those who already do)...to eke out a
living or more doing what we all (evidently) love. this seems to
hold true over time, even as the piss-and-vinegar (if you'll all
pardon the expression) eagerness of youth calms to maturity.
|
Sopher
Registered User
(9/13/00 6:41:31 am)
Reply |
don't
be so sure
Hey,
Don't be so sure that if
you were more technically versed and more familiar with theory that
you could jam even more exquisitely!! I know lots of classically
trained musicians who couldn't jam their way out of a 12 bar blues.
I work with a wonderful classical pianist who can't play a note
unless she has sheet music in front of her. The concept of jamming
is not only not taught in modern music academies, it is positively
discouraged. Even in most jazz studies you are encouraged to play
the changes in a technical way rather than feeling the music and
finding it on your instrument. I also am a "jammer" on several
instruments and my hero is Miles, who will never be considered a
technical virtuoso on trumpet, but who could express emotions on it
like very few could or can. Fundamentally, music is about revealing
your humanity and your vulnerability through your music - people
don't come to hear great scale studies and technical virtuosity (OK,
teenage heavy metal fans do!) - they come to hear you express that
within you that only music can express. It sounds to me like you are
further along that road than any college music program is likely to
take you.
Submitted for your consideration.
Your mileage
may vary!
Sopher
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jekerry
Registered User
(9/13/00 7:19:05 am)
Reply |
Re:
Expectations
I think I always thought I was going
to be a musician. It was hard for me to come to conclusion that
there was no way for it to happen. I think it is a combination of
things: lack of talent, lack of training, lack of emotional
maturity, lack of parental support. I don't think missing one of
these would have made it impossible (even talent -- hard work is
more important than talent). I think it was the
combination.
Do I hate my life as it is? No. Mostly I think
I'm better off. Music is a very hard career (from what I hear).
Computers as easier, there are more jobs, and the money is damn
good.
I think one of the sad things about classical music is
that few people see it as a hobby these days. There is no reason it
has to be a profession or nothing. People used to play classical
music just for fun amd listen to it as part of their lives. Families
used to play music together and now the kids sit in one room
watching tv and the parents in another watching a different tv. How
boring! Anyway, this is my soapbox for today. While it's great to go
listen to the professionals and see and hear music 'done right' --
it's also fun to play music yourself even if you're not that good.
Sigh.
Jane
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ruthann
Registered User
(9/13/00 12:45:15 pm)
Reply |
Re:
Expectations
Jane,
I think we've
discovered another "twin." I could really indentify with your
reasons for not "making it" as a musician and how painful it was to
give it up. I also ended up in computer science and you are right,
the money's good and good programmers are never without a job for
long.
cello_suttonr@hotmail.com
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zambocello
Registered User
(9/13/00 1:15:13 pm)
Reply |
expectations
I grew up knowing I was going to be
a baseball player. Then, when I was about 14, I realized that while
I was one of the better players in my area, if I wasn't one of THE
best what were the chances I could make it at the highest levels?
Then I realized I was going to be a musician. That has
worked out OK. My parents were VERY concerned about being a music
major. We thought about my going to violin making school so I would
have a "useful" skill in music. Once they realized I was committed
(or is it commitable?) they were 100% supportive. Both school
teachers (not music) by the way.
As to school, I had no use
for it. Accelerated my programs and graduated the same week I turned
20. Went to work and had a blast, but I made my way in the cello and
orchestra world in spite of shortcomings that might have been better
dealt with through additional studies. I did eventually get Masters
and Doctoral degrees while I was playing in orchestras, including
some very helpful doctoral level work with Laszlo Varga while I was
in the Houston Symphony. As to school, my advice is that it's way
easier to stay in than to go back!
But then again, everyone
has a different life.......
Zambo
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