I'm Just Sayin': Music Major Problems

Well, folks, we're in it for the long haul now.

The school year is quickly coming to an end, and in just a few short weeks I'll be saying goodbye to these places and people I've come to love. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to come back in the fall (and go home for the summer), but really, three months is a long time to be without your co-conspirators! That said, we aren't out of the woods yet. Finals are looming over our heads, projects need to get done, and I've got more mandatory concerts in the next two and a half weeks than I can physically attend. Not to mention all the little annoyances that come up during normal school...

...which is the point of this post. I'm compiling a list of the little things that are either funny or irritating, all of which fall under the category of #MusicMajorProblems. A lot of them are composer-specific, but some of them apply to almost all of us. (This post is mostly for fun, if you haven't figured that out already.)

Music Major Problems

1. When you tell a performance major friend that you're going to a concert and s/he automatically assumes you are performing. Nope, that's actually probably NOT what I'm doing. (Composer)
2. When you tell someone you want to be the next John Williams and they insist that only being the next Zimmer is acceptable. [This happened to me the other day. Even though I knew they meant it as a joke, it was really annoying.] (Composer)
3. When you're explaining your hopes and dreams to someone and telling them about what you're studying, and they ask, "So what's your actual major?" (Music major)
4. When you don't have time to practice ensemble placement parts so you can move up... because you're too busy composing. (Composer)
5. When you get to meet a composer and constantly have to worry about how you phrase your questions and comments. (Composer)
6. When your friends all get to go meet a world-famous composer... but you can't, because you have rehearsal. (Music major)
7. When you're less than fifteen minutes early to just about anything. (Music major)
8. Having to be both awake and functional for that 8AM theory class. (Music major)
9. Useful people keep graduating. And moving. (Music major)
10. You really only want to write music for your instrument family (and various other special people). (Composer)
11. Not getting to play in front of people. Pretty much at all. (Composer)
12. When someone asks what you play. Which instrument are you talking about? (Music major)
13. There's no easy way to combine classical and jazz music programs in your schedule. (Music major)
14. A lot of us want to do extracurricular a cappella... but we're so busy studying music we don't have time for any more ensembles. (Music major)
15. Too many one-credit classes. (Music major)
16. Do we really have to take general ed classes? [When will math ever help us again? Don't answer that.] (Music major)
17. Realizing you're going to have to charge people for your music eventually. (Composer)
18. Writing enough music to actually fill your senior recital. (Composer)
19. Not enough people writing for brass instruments. (Composer)
20. Boring your non-music-major friends to death with talk about Copland and Schoenberg and functional harmony. (Music major/mostly composer)

Anyway, that's my little rant for today. Hope everyone else is less stressed than I am! Hang in there, guys!
Love you all,
Megan