What Are Your Options FAQ

“I'm not sure if I will have time to participate in music in college because of my academic responsibilities. How should I approach this problem?”

Music participation does require a significant investment of time on your part. Performers are expected to learn their parts before rehearsals, and most college ensembles perform music which is more difficult than that performed by high school groups. Music participation requires the ability to manage your time.

Look at your schedule and see if you can add in several hours of practice time each week and still have time for your studies. Consider how much music means to you, how much it is a part of your life, and the fun times, friends and memories that you will gain from musical participation and weigh that against the amount of free time and study time that you will lose by participating. Remember that is is your decision to make.

“I'd like to participate in music, but I don't think I'm good enough to make it into an ensemble. What should I do?”

Most people tend to underestimate their ability to compete in music. The simple fact is that there is no way to know how you match up against other students unless you audition against them. If you do audition, you may make it into the ensemble. If you do not audition, you definitely will not make it into the ensemble. Let the ensemble director make that decision; don't make it for him or her!

If you don't make it into an ensemble, don't be discouraged. Most colleges offer private musical instruction, which you can use to improve your ability, and most colleges will encourage you to reaudition. Just because you don't make it into an ensemble one time does not mean that you will not if you try again. Your ability to pass an audition is dependent upon a number of factors: the needs of the ensemble, the number of persons of your instrument or voice type available or the literature programmed for the semester.

“Does musical study cost extra?”

Many colleges assess additional fees for musical study. The way these fees are assessed vary from institution to institution. Some will pay for most of the fees of music majors but not for non-majors. Some will pay the same amount for all students, regardless of major.

In general, you can expect to pay for private instruction, recordings, program printing or special programs away from campus. Ask each individual school of music for its policies on this matter.