9 Things I Learned in an Undergraduate Music Degree
I am a 2020 college graduate. Many of you know exactly what that means. I graduated at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The last 3 months of my senior year of college were, for all intents and purposes as a music major, cancelled. All rehearsals, concerts, gigs, and my senior recital were cancelled. Performance classes such as Band, Chamber Music, and masterclasses would not meet again for the rest of the year. My final private lessons with my professor were all over Zoom. There was no graduation ceremony or celebrations with friends and family.
With how my final months ended, it was a bit hard to fully believe that I had just graduated and earned my Bachelor of Music degree in Clarinet Performance. It was anticlimactic to say the least as the whole world just froze.
But nonetheless, I did earn that degree after four years of nonstop dedication and work — through successes and failures, a recurring hand injury, practicing or studying music history until 2 am, traveling to new cities and countries, and expanding my view of the arts, making new friends and connections, and so much more.
Here, I want to share some of the greatest things I learned during my four years as an undergraduate musician. This is by no means all-inclusive, but certainly some of the things that have changed me as a musician and person.
Musically
1. Stepping Outside of My Comfort Zone
There’s nothing like an undergraduate music degree to force a young musician outside of their comfort zone. I played things rather safely my freshman year as I was dealing with a hand injury and wanted to focus on improving my clarinet playing and all of my classes as I got used to this new chapter of my life. But from there on, I started to experiment with living at the edge of my comfort zone and eventually thriving just beyond.
I became more comfortable and confident with my playing and volunteered to play in studio or masterclasses more often. I stopped asking myself whether I was good enough and said yes to composers who asked me to premiere their new works in recitals. I had a summer administrative internship with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra that built up my confidence in public speaking. I became a colleague to my former middle and high school band directors as the clarinet instructor for their summer band camp, helping me overcome imposter syndrome. And I agreed to dress up as a gaudy circus-like band member and play the wicked little Eb clarinet onstage in IU’s production of Leonard Bernstein’s “MASS”.
Every single time I decided to take a risk and step outside of my comfort zone, I enjoyed it, grew from it, and didn’t regret it. At first, it was difficult for me as a soft-spoken, pedantic introvert, but I’m so glad my undergraduate years provided me the opportunities and a safe space to explore and leave my comfort zone.
2. Exposure to New Music and Art
I was not only exposed to new musical works and genres I’d never heard of before but also other art forms such as dance, painting, and drawing. Further, I was in a place where I could see top-level musicians who played instruments different from my own. I attended cello and double bass masterclasses, had “squad studio class” with my violin and viola friends where we’d listen to and critique each other, and my chamber ensembles were coached by bassoon, viola, and piano professors.
It is common for teachers to tell their clarinet students to go listen to opera singers to inform our phrasing or to notice how a violinist uses her bow and let this inform how we use our air. On an intellectual level, I’d understood why teachers told us these things, but it wasn’t until I was surrounded by so many diverse musicians and works at IU that I truly understood, explored, and found value in these ideas myself.
New music (from Thomas Adès to electro house) and art forms (from salsa dancing to impressionist paintings) inspired me, energized me, and reminded me of my love for classical music when I was feeling pessimistic or burnt out.
3. Playing in a Chamber Ensemble
As a wind player, it’s rare to have a ton of chamber music experience going into college. I could play the clarinet as a soloist and as a member of a band or orchestra, but playing in a trio felt foreign and perhaps even slightly uncomfortable. It really is a whole other experience that challenges you to think and listen in different ways.
In my undergrad, I played clarinet chamber masterworks, pretty lackluster chamber music, and premiered new chamber music in unconventional ensembles. I learned how to listen to the other players, how to score study and what parts were critical to know, who to look at and when, how to use someone else’s energy to energize my own playing, and more. I had a teacher once tell me that being in a chamber ensemble teaches you how to be in an orchestra. I understand why now. Chamber is a special, unique, and incredibly fun experience that I highly encourage all musicians to be involved with.
Personally
4. Accepting the Reality of a Career in Music
As a freshman, I was like many young undergrad musicians: fiery and ready to work, more in love with music than anything, and ignorantly blissful in understanding what a career in music really entailed. But as soon as you enter a conservatory, you become a tiny fish in a huge ocean. Reality sets in quickly.
Over 4 years (honestly much sooner than that), I realized just how difficult it is to create a career in music performance. Sure I was good, but so were the other 54 clarinet majors at my school — many of whom were far better than me — not to mention all the other schools in this country and around the world. These thoughts filled me with doubts and anxiety for a long time.
Before college, I was used to working really hard towards something and having it pay off. My undergraduate years showed me that that’s just not always the case. Life is not fair and doesn’t give you a break. BUT, I also learned that that’s ok. This field can be incredibly difficult in more ways than non-musicians realize, but it’s still my dream, so I’ll remain patient and persistent in my work.
5. Self-Love
Though I’ve never had trouble loving and valuing myself as a person, my undergraduate years forced me to face some of the greatest challenges of my life mentally and emotionally. I came out of it all knowing that I am such a strong, capable, badass woman who can and will handle anything thrown at her.
A musician’s self-worth and value is entangled so deeply with their craft. As I said, I’ve never had trouble with self-love personally, but that was incredibly different from how I saw the musician in me. Having poor practice sessions, performances, or being rejected from grad programs all battered my confidence as a musician and therefore made me feel less valuable. While I still loved who I was as a person, it took me more than just my undergraduate years to stop comparing myself to others and accept and find value in where I was musically.
6. Finding My Personal Outlet
The gym. That is my personal outlet. No matter how bad things ever came to be, I felt so much better after a cardio and strength workout at the gym.
I’ve been active my entire life having been a competitive swimmer and always enjoying running, biking, hiking, anything. I hate staying still. It wasn’t until I began my undergrad that I found workouts to be absolutely essential, though. Of course for my physical health, but that’s not what I’m talking about here. For me, the gym was the only place where I would forget about all of the stresses of school and music. You are required to be so present and in the moment during a workout that you simply can’t concern yourself with anything else. It was almost a practice in mindfulness in that sense. Working out washed away my stresses and helped me to reset.
Plus, it didn’t hurt knowing that I was one of the strongest women there when I felt like I wasn’t the strongest clarinetist. Having that physical strength, grit, and the ability to push my limits helped me to feel like I could handle other challenges life threw at me. Going to the gym gave me something to be really good at when I felt like I wasn’t a good enough musician. We all need that sometimes.
Socially
7. How to Enjoy Spending Time with Friends
To many of you, it may sound crazy that I needed to learn to enjoy spending time away from the clarinet and with my friends. I really did, though. And it wasn’t until my senior year that I finally learned this lesson. For my first three undergraduate years, I was a pedantic, uptight ball of stress that thought she was a bad musician and wouldn’t improve if she didn’t practice at least 4 hours every single day. My freshman year, I took a total of 3 days off, 2 of the days weren’t even my choice but were strongly recommended by a teacher. I will tell you right now… incorporating rest (physical and mental) is going to help you improve at your craft FAR more than nonstop work.
By my senior year, I had made the best friends I could ever ask for. A fantastically motely, wild squad of clarinetists all vastly different from each other. It was because of them that I learned the value of resting and spending time with friends guilt-free. I learned to enjoy nights in and nights out with them when before I would have just stayed home and got ahead on homework, to enjoy their silly jokes in band rehearsals or backstage when I would’ve been too serious otherwise, to enjoy a cheeky beer after masterclass when I would’ve otherwise gone immediately home to get to bed.
My friends taught me how to enjoy my time in music school and how to not take myself too seriously. This is essential. Being personally happy will directly translate to your playing. The very air you put through your instrument will come from a better place, and the way you communicate on your instrument will be more genuine and rich.
8. Letting Go of Judgements about Others and Social Situations
Growing up, I was a model student/teacher’s pet/whatever you want to call it. I was well-behaved, got good grades, and spent my free time doing tons of extracurriculars, practicing, or doing tomorrow’s homework. I couldn’t understand why people partied, drank underage, or in other ways altered their states of consciousness. In fact, it actually made me mad to hear about these things happening, and yes, I would judge others for it.
While I still wouldn’t promote those things, I’ve learned to stop caring so much and stop judging others for doing what most people our age probably do anyway (or did before covid). I learned that letting loose with your friends ever so often is indeed fun and healthy.
Being introverted and obsessed with academics, I needed to be surrounded by people who were quite socially different from me so I could learn more about myself, people, and socializing.
9. Feeling Confident in My Interactions with Others
I’ve kind of taken it for granted because for years now, I’ve felt rather grown up and mature as I’ve dealt with mundane “adult” tasks (e.g. setting up and paying for health insurance, having various job interviews and jobs, etc.), and I’ve been talked to respectfully and have been made to feel fully capable and equal by other adults either older or much more experienced than me. But this was not always the case.
This transition from ignorantly blissful kid who felt she needed to ask for permission to be herself to becoming a realistic and capable adult who knows her thoughts and actions are valid, this transition happened during my undergraduate years. I suppose it’s one of those things that changes so subtly over time that you don’t notice until you look back on who you were four years ago. With this, I learned how to more confidently interact with peers, colleagues, and professors in a professional way, and I became much more comfortable in doing so.
Mia holds her B.M. in Clarinet Performance from Indiana University and is currently pursuing her masters in this field. With her writing, she aims to shed light on the less conventional and less discussed aspects of being a modern musician.
