Hi,
I am a second-semester freshman student. My major is Music Performance in violin and I am thinking of changing my major to economics.
I play relatively well but not good enough to survive in the music industry. Also, I don’t like playing in an orchestra. I like classical music but it is not my thing. Since I have to practice to get good grades in the orchestra, chamber music or recital class I am not enjoying my daily violin practice and sometimes it becomes a torture. 
Most of my violin studio mates are playing important violin concertos, and I am playing like easy stuff. Learning a piece or a scale takes me too much time and it is killing me.
Well… this semester I had to take a general course, so I decide taking economics and I fell in love with that course. Now I would like to take upper-level courses in economics.
On the other hand, I am not thinking of quit the violin, I would like keep playing it or take lessons with a private teacher, but no more as a music major. Now, I am worried that if I take that desicion maybe I am going to regret in the future.
Will you regret your decision? Of course you will!
There’s a Buddhist saying: To think about the past is to know regret. To think about the future is to know fear. Only in the present is there peace.
How’s your present? Is it OK, good, bad, miserable, fulfilling? How long has that been going on? A few weeks? Maybe OK. A few months? Maybe you should talk with your parents, advisor, teachers about how to get to a more positive place. There are probably many paths for you.
Music careers are notoriously hard. Pay can be great to very good for few…and mediocre to poor for the many. But if you love it…you can find your way. If you don’t…by all mean explore other careers! It doesn’t have to be all or nothing right now. Work with your advisor to explore (first in your mind and then maybe on paper) a middle way. Working with an advisor will also help with the inevitable questions of time in school, scholarship money, ultimate goals etc.
Good luck!
@pinkfloyd612 I’m glad for you that you took the course in economics and that you fell in love with this subject area. That’s very exciting! If you choose to major in economics, you can still keep music in your life. Regret is a difficult feeling, it can slow us down. So maybe try not focus on that, and instead notice the pride, contentment, and joy in charting your own path. By the way, all that you have put into music, and will continue doing, is still helpful, and shapes who you are as a human being and as a student. Whatever you decide, try to remember this!
I also think it is wonderful that you discovered an interest in economics. This is what the colleges should be about for many: exploration and discovery. You can certainly continue violin but perhaps more on your own terms. Orchestral work is not the only path, and you can also continue as an amateur. Make sure to talk about your options with someone first but then go ahead and follow this new area. I know musicians who did so and did not regret it. Some went to grad school for music regardless, and some followed other avenues for career. Good luck!
A couple points to ponder while you’re chewing over your decision, @pinkfloyd612 -
Regret is a two edged sword- yes, you could regret giving up your music performance major. You could also someday regret ignoring your newfound love of economics and not pursuing that more fully. Best not no live in fear of regretting either and try to make the best decision you can based on what your gut is telling you.
Many professional musicians have said it’s not a field to go into unless you really feel like it’s what you should be doing with your whole being, because of both the dedication required and the challenges of making a living. That said, @bridgenail’s point that it makes a difference whether you’ve had an unsatisfying day, week, month, or months with your violin studies is an important one. Everybody gets frustrated in this discipline at times.
Life is long. Whatever you choose to focus on for the next three and a half years won’t determine the sum of your knowledge for the rest of your life, nor will the things you put on the back burner necessarily be banished from you life either. A better way of thinking about it might be how can you make the best use of the resources and opportunities your school offers in the (in the scheme of things) relatively short time you’re there? Would that be in music performance or economics? Only you can answer that.
The kind of shift you’re contemplating happens all the time, that’s one of the things freshman year is all about.
Good luck with your decision.
@pinkfloyd612 : Great comments above. I’ll add a few notes from my personal experience.
I know many people who were extremely talented music majors at the most prestigious schools in the US. Some of them are working professional musicians in classical music or other genres, some are doing very different things not associated with music. When my son was deciding whether or not to be a music major, all of them – ALL of them – told him that he only should be a music major if he would be genuinely unhappy majoring in something else, or put in a more positive spin, only be a music major if another area of study didn’t give the same level of joy as being all about music.
Studying music can be great, but the challenges are immense. You can be the best, most talented musician, and there is absolutely zero guarantee that you’ll have any stability in work as a musician. None. It’s a grind, even for the best musicians. If you know that and still want to be a music major, stay a music major.
Otherwise, you’re almost certainly going to be happier in the near-term and perhaps even in the long-term as an econ major or finance major or [insert other viable major here]. You can be an average engineer or an average accountant or an average economics major and still make a good, stable living at something similar to what you studied in college.
Finally, I’ll echo what others have said above: be honest with yourself on whether or not you’re just having a bad day/week/month which is an anomaly in your normal love of violin and/or music study. Then act accordingly.
There are no approved solutions, and there are no guarantees. There are, however, odds and extremes. The odds are much tougher as a music major and the lows tend to be more extreme, but the highs are absolutely more extreme too. There is no free, everyday kind of joy that can match the best moments in music. Most other academic majors won’t have that kind of top end, but the lows won’t be as bad and the road will be smoother. You have to decide which one is ultimately more appealing.
Best of luck on your journey, no matter which way you decide to go.
Do you have an academic advisor or a trusted music teacher you could talk to about this? Are you currently in a BM program?
One thing to remember is that life is (hopefully) quite long. And things shift and change all the time moving forward. You might find ways to work in economics and the arts which may keep you in touch with the music community. You might find that you can (as two of my neighbors do) have a wonderful career but then also perform in a well respected community orchestra. Or you might find kindred spirits as an adult to work and create music with and perform on weekends or just for fun. You also could find that you work hard and end up making a career and enough money that you can afford to return to a conservatory setting and get a master’s (as another neighbor of mine did…he now works as a professional composer after spending years in high tech and business). A friend of mine did a lot of theater but works as a mediator for an environmental company after getting a degree in Chemistry. She finds herself very involved with community theater these days and loves it.
“One thing to remember is that life is (hopefully) quite long”
That perspective depends upon your age. I’d say life is quite short even under the best of circumstances. Sometimes even shorter.