I’m Jacqueline Ranieri, and I’ve been an intern for Jessica at The Domestic Musician for the last month. I wanted to write about my experience in being a music major, in the hopes that it will help others realize what it’s really like.
Whenever someone asks me what my major is, I tend to keep it short and just say “music”. However, what they don’t realize behind the shorthand of my answer is how much work actually goes into being a music major. To give you a general idea, music majors tend to overload on credits each semester. Overloading entails enrolling in 18.5+ credits compared to the typical full-time college student that takes 12+ credits in a semester. In addition to this taxing workload, we have to allot time for various sectionals, rehearsals, and individual practicing for the remainder of our demanding days. Finally, add on the hours spent at our 1-3 part-time jobs to help us get through our expenses for each month. Are you surprised we have to schedule time to fit in 3 meals a day?
The formal title of my double major is music education and music therapy with a vocal concentration. Yes, that means I am a singer and by pursuing these two degrees I see myself following multiple career paths. The music education side of me wants to be a choir teacher in a public school. Although I am open to teaching any grade level, I somewhat prefer middle school over other grade levels. In contrast, the music therapy side of me wants to work with the elderly. For this career path, I would like to work with residents in nursing homes and do one-on-one or group music therapy sessions. Aside from these career paths, I can also see myself implementing my passion for music into my daily life by teaching private lessons at a music studio on the weekdays and performing with bands on the weekends.
As I progress through my college curriculum and career, I am one step closer to achieving my dreams. I take anywhere from 9-13 classes per semester that meet 1-3 times per week. Taking 9-13 courses is equivalent to 17-21 credits; compared to other majors who typically take 5-6 class for 12-15 credits. In attempts to slightly lighten my workload, I decided to take most of my general education classes during the summer and winter sessions. Since we are on a break, my only commitment is my part-time jobs and the remainder of my time is dedicated to the 1 or 2 courses I am enrolled in over the summer or winter session. However, both tasks combined have proven to fill up all of my downtime. So, when I am supposed to be enjoying a much-needed break, I am still constantly going. But now, it would be out of the ordinary for me not to be busy 24/7.
As mentioned earlier, I have to fit in time for ensemble sectionals, organization rehearsals/meetings as well as individual practice time on my major instrument as well as for all the other instruments I have to learn throughout my college career. Sectionals are typically 30-minute practices that occur once a week, right before the full ensemble rehearsal. Sectionals are a time to work on repertoire with others in your voice part. This pre-scheduled practice time goes toward your ensemble grade so, it is expected for you to attend or an alternate assignment will be given to you. I consider sectionals to be beneficial because they allow you to get to know the people in your section and gives us a chance to perfect our part. In terms of organizations, I am involved in 3 – American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), Music Therapy Club, and Under A Rest A Cappella (UAR). I am an active member in ACDA and Music Therapy Club which means I am required to go to a 1-hour meeting once or twice a month as well as participate in any events associated or held by that organization. Although I enjoy being a part of these organizations, UAR is my main priority. I am serving my second year as the Vice President of our group. We typically rehearse for 2-hours a day, 2 days a week. In addition to rehearsal time, our exec board has weekly 1-2 hour meetings and at any point throughout the semester, we could book a gig. Our gigs are typically held on weekends and we must travel to them. Since we work so hard in our rehearsals, it is so much fun to sing in front of an audience and see their reaction to our performance.
Because I am a voice major, I must prepare for my 30-minute voice lesson that occur once a week. I mainly prepare for the lesson by taking the time to learn my repertoire. In addition to voice lessons, I also take 30-minute guitar lessons once a week for my music therapy major. Remember how I said I had to learn other instruments throughout my college career? Following my voice and guitar lessons, I must take an additional 9 instrument classes that are 0.5 credit each and meet once a week for 50 minutes. These instrument classes are beginner level classes that involve band or orchestra instruments. Learning these instruments at a beginner level will allow me to teach them to students if needed. These are all instruments I have never played before college. If I am being fully transparent, I start out knowing nothing and then have to put in the time to learn how to create the correct sounds out of each of them. Needless to say, if you thought my class schedule was a lot, this is just a glimpse of what my life outside of those classes entails.
Finally, I currently have two jobs. In the past, I have had had to juggle 4 jobs; This included babysitting for 2 different families and teaching private music lessons to 2 different families. Although I still have those 2 families on my own, I now am mainly teaching music lessons through a music studio. It is nice working at a music studio because I only have to travel to and from there with all the resources I need at my fingertips. For my own families, I have to drive to their house and bring all my own materials to teach their kids the instrument(s) of their choice. One family has 2 kids, I teach 1 of them guitar for 30-minutes and the other piano for 30-minutes. The other family has 4 kids. I teach them all voice, guitar, or piano for 30-minutes each (so a total of 2-hours). At the music studio, I work 3 days a week and teach multiple lessons back to back. Currently, I have 9 elementary to middle school-aged students and teach voice, guitar or piano as well. Each of those lessons is also 30-minutes. I enjoy teaching music lessons over babysitting children because this job incorporates elements of my education major and it is something I am highly considering to continue after graduating from college.
In the end, that is really what my class, extra-curricular activities, and work schedule look like. I am nearly booked from 7am to 7pm every weekday. This doesn’t even include time where I have to eat 3 meals a day, do homework for each of my classes, fit in time to hang out with friends, see my family and most importantly (but the least likely to happen) self-care. While each music majors schedule is different, the premise of it all is the same. We are very hardworking, dedicated, and busy people so the next time someone says they are a music major – know that their life isn’t as simple as you may think.