Requirements placed by academia

[classicalguitar83]

In lieu of the thread dealing with the lack of activity around here I thought I'd make an effort.

What do you guys think of the requirements placed on music students by academia (both on a music major stand point and the general education requirements)? Do you think it's alot, too much, not enough? How do you, on a personal level, deal with it? For example, I'm a full-time student who HAS to work (about 22hrs a week). The work load, and the pressure, seems to be an overload at times...to the point that it really effects my practice routine. I think that we can all agree that practicing technique is a vital aspect, but when you are required to have 2 pieces to perform for juries, which one is more important (especially if you're behind on your technique)? Do you put more focus more on your technique and risk possibly getting a low grade on your jury because you didn't have your pieces memorized or up to standard? Or do you focus more on the piece and get more behind on your technique, realizing that you may not be able to pull off some pieces because your technique is not up to par (i.e. scale runs, arpeggios, tremelos, etc)? How do you approach this? More so, what do you think of academias attitude of "tough, this what needs to be done, so do it"?

Have at it.

[fret440]

hmm...

I've been on both sides of this now, and am about to reimmerse myself in yet more schooling. My view point is this:
Yes, it's difficult, but everything your teachers want you to complete is highly beneficial once you get done. And if they're like me, they want their students to have the ability and skills to get a job in the music industry once they graduate. So, any requirements they place on you, you would probably stand well to just suck it up and do it. Most teachers are not going to make you work any harder than they themselves had to work when they were at your point.

btw, if I could have gotten by with ONLY 2 pieces for a jury, I would have welcomed the extremely easy semester.

[brian richardson]

i enjoyed my 2.5 hours a night sleep
during my years of full time school and work.

[classicalguitar83]

hmm...

I've been on both sides of this now, and am about to reimmerse myself in yet more schooling. My view point is this:
Yes, it's difficult, but everything your teachers want you to complete is highly beneficial once you get done. And if they're like me, they want their students to have the ability and skills to get a job in the music industry once they graduate. So, any requirements they place on you, you would probably stand well to just suck it up and do it. Most teachers are not going to make you work any harder than they themselves had to work when they were at your point.

btw, if I could have gotten by with ONLY 2 pieces for a jury, I would have welcomed the extremely easy semester.


Well....2 pieces for guitar, 2 pieces for piano and 2-3 for ensemble (and I'm an undergrad)....but I'm sure the requirements are different all over. And that's just it, for some it's easy for others it's not. It all depends on your life, how busy your schedule is, how difficult your piece is, etc.

Don't get me wrong I do see the benefits of it, but you also have to keep in mind those teachers with the attitude of "well, my class is more important that any other class you're taking" that make even more difficult for a person to keep up. I'm in my last year as an undergrad so I've been able to make it through but certain things have suffered (my technique). I guess a lot of it also has to do with your own personal expectations of yourself.

[thraex]

We all learn at different paces, and curriculums are different everywhere.
But if as you say, your technique has suffered, for me is a lot of your teacher's fault. You cannot expect to have a great change of technique in 1 year, but in 4? yes, with a good teacher.
The better the teacher, the better you start learning with efficiency, then you don't require 8 hours per day to make it.
Working and studying in every carreer is difficult, that is a given, because of that, normally your learning or grades have to reflect it.
Mi opinion is that if you had better technique, you could learn with more easiness and promptness. Technique is an absolute necessity as means for musical development.

[cgram@adelphia.net]

For all the other conservatory students here, regardless of your level: how much do practice per day? What's a good minimum amount? I know before I started at the Hartt School, I was very inconsistent with my practicing (sometimes a whole lot, sometimes very little), but now I do at least four hours on most days. But is practicing less a day or two per week a big problem? I guess it depends on goals and level of progress, but there should be some guidelines. Any thoughts?

[rdubb]

i agree with my teacher in grad school in that the mind/body with adequate nutrition and rest has about 5 hours of real practice (good concentration) in it a day before you experience diminishing returns or possible injury.

guitar is pretty physically demanding.

i think that if you are in a conservatory or in grad school you should be maximizing your time there, considering how much money is being spent and what your prospects are when exiting....so i would go for it.

that said, i think the mind and the body needs a day off every two weeks or so, or at leat a day every week where you cut your time down to the bare minimum to not lose the elasticity in your hands. this is of course if you don't have a recital coming up soon.

[thedrizzle]

Wow, good question! I constantly try to make sure that all aspects of my performance get proper attention. During my undergrad and grad work I also had to work a part time job so my practice time had to be as efficient as possible. That included a "streamlined" technical workout, the Pumping Nylon warm-up routine worked very well for me. Also the acquiring new material as well as maintaining learned material was very tough. I do 4 hours everyday, no more than 5. I usually take fridays off for a "mental wellness" day to drink beer with my friends and talk about everything BUT music. I'm a little rusty technique-wise on Saturday but I feel that time spent away from the instrument reminds me why I play it. And the homework....gotta do it sometime, usually in the evening. I am currently a TA so my schedule is a bit better, as far as the part-time jobs go. I think the most important thing is your physical health. Its easy to eat crap food for the convenience but the body is the temple. If you feel like crap you gonna play like crap, so eat ya vegetables! Tomorrows Friday!

[cgram@adelphia.net]

That's true. I've been neglecting my health to some extent since getting to college (not eating much, and eating crap when I do), and I've been getting a lot better at the guitar. But I do wonder if my progress would hasten if I ate a carrot every now and then. I like the suggestion of taking a day of from time to time. I don't usually mean to do this, but while I go for an average of four a day, there is usually one day in a week where I just can't do it because of other commitments (e.g. I'm learning a Chopin nocturne for my keyboard class, which can be very time consuming). Sometimes I do five or six hours in a day(ALWAYs in two spread out sessions, say 3 in the morning and 3 at night), so it works out to a solid average. I often find that after a week of intense practice, I start to lose some confidence in my sound, I feel things aren't at their peak. And then if there's a day where I just do the most essential exercises, I come back feeling refreshed the next morning. But say four hours is the goal, would you only include personal practice in that? Because I have to do guitar ensemble practice and I don't count that as part of my practice time.

[thedrizzle]

You practice your guitar ensemble pieces? So you're the one.

[cgram@adelphia.net]

What do you mean by that? And no, I don't tend to practice them by myself. I meant that several days a week my ensemble meets outside of class and rehearses our stuff for a couple of hours. This is certainly practicing, but it's so different I don't count it. If I practice an hour or two with the group, I still like to do the full normal amount.

[rdubb]

You practice your guitar ensemble pieces? So you're the one.

BWAHAHAHA! exactly.

there's always that one guy in the ensemble who actually practiced his part. DAMN HIM!

[thedrizzle]

Sorry cgram, that was just a playful jab. I was jokingly implying what rdubb said in his post.

[cgram@adelphia.net]

no harm done. I just wasn't sure what you meant.

[thedrizzle]

back to the thread: classical83, in my opinion it is about priority, you have to have a practice regimine that addresses the things which need the most focus FOR YOU, and then down the pyramid from there. Quality is more important that quantity. 2 hours of focused, goal-oriented practice is better than 8 hours of general "horsin-off."(thats a Mr. Show reference btw) And don't neglect the sight reading!