On college (pt. 2)

I’ve been getting back into writing lately (mostly the self-indulgent journal type), but nonetheless I’m quite enjoying it.  I’ve been reminded over the past couple of weeks just how much writing used to be a part of my life and how sad it makes me that the only writing I’ve been doing these days is on checks…big ones to other people.  So, I think it’s important to divulge a little bit more about the college experience (mine, mostly).

College makes you jaded.  You get thrown into a classroom full of people who have been told that college is what intellectual people do; therefore, they (and you) start intellectualizing pretty much everything.  You can really get to a dangerous point where everything becomes so cerebral that you forget why you started doing it in the first place.  I specifically warn music majors about this particular problem.  By my fourth semester of college theory, I couldn’t turn on the radio anymore because all I could do was identify perfect and diminished intervals.  I heard major chords in my sleep…seriously, I kid you not.

I’ve spent the past couple of months since graduation trying to get back in touch with the passion that got me into music in the first place, and I’m just now getting to the point where I can stand listening and practicing again.  My most important advice for anyone considering a music degree in college is to give yourself a reality check every once in awhile.  When you start wondering what you’re doing in a practice room at 2am on a Thursday, it’s probably time for a day off.  Don’t let yourself get too hung up on the “noble” path you are taking as a trained musician.  It’s not noble…it’s hard work just like anything else, and you’re the one that has to do it.

Fortune Cookie:

Learn how to appreciate really trashy 80s songs because it will save you from yourself.

Listening to:

TV on The Radio – “Golden Age”