My DS26 is worried that he isn’t spending enough time on his music, and wondering what other people who are successful in this process were doing in High School.
That’s unknowingly a loaded question. Everyone is different. Many students don’t practice efficiently. Worse yet, their teachers don’t have a well thought out pedagogy and practice routine to propel them along their paths. So, one musician’s hour and a half might be more powerful than another’s three.
BTW, most on this forum know me because my kid is an engineer. He started his instrument at five, and was good enough to go to a top conservatory. He still plays. At his peak, he practiced 1.5h per day, while successfully ski racing, being the captain of his soccer team, and having a normal kid life. He just decided, after consultation with several top musicians he’d done masters classes with that he didn’t want to do that as a job.
@Sportsball is your son going to apply for an intensive BM degree at a conservatory or school of music? Or a BA in music or something else at a college or university? Does he take lessons, perform outside of school, attend summer programs, conservatory prep etc.? Is the school program a quality one?
From what I know, and this goes along with what @eyemgh wrote above, effective practice time varies. And some kids have other interests and activities, others don’t.
I know kids who practice 4 hours a day or more, and one of the most talented musicians I know barely practiced, didn’t major in music, and has a career playing.
Without more info, it is really hard to answer. I hope your son is enjoying music regardless!
I also have a kid who turned out to be an engineer but taught herself to play by ear at 3 and was composing at age 9. Doing conservatory programs in middle school showed her she was in the wrong path professionally but she still plays and accompanies.
In high school she would practice seasonally. Over the summer months, she was at piano for hours and hours and hours. She would learn and memorize all her recital and competition pieces for the upcoming season. Once school started,1 hr most days to perfect and keep everything under her fingers. And then learn her pieces for accompaniments. And some days it was zero. And weekends typically more.
This varies wildly by musician. Very wildly.
Do you want to just know what each of our kids did?
Yes, I want to know what other people’s kids are/were doing, and maybe how it worked out admissions wise.
I don’t think what my kid did as a musician in high school had much to do with admissions, other than he was well prepared for his college auditions…which is what music performance admissions is all about.
My musician started the primary instrument lessons in 4th grade, and picked up piano later. Was also a member of an auditioned children’s choir. In high school, in addition to all the school stuff he could do, he took two different instrument lessons, was in a precollege wind ensemble and orchestra, and attended a music camp summers after 8-10 grade and then Tanglewood BUTI after 11th (and 12) grade. He also played in some civic theater orchestras, and was in an honors chamber music group affiliated with his precollege program. He practiced his primary instrument about 2 hours a day, and piano less time than that. He also took AP Music Theory in high school (knowing it wouldn’t give him any college credit, but did it for the knowledge.
Let’s just say…this kid lived music.
He was accepted to 6/7 places he applied. The 7th was a public university OOS with a very highly regarded teacher and program…but the year he applied, the school had only one opening on the instrument and that had to go to an instate student. We still have the letter from the applied teacher explaining that. It was very nice.
So…did all this make a difference in our kid’s acceptances to music conservatories or conservatory programs within a university? Only in that he was very well prepared for his auditions. He also had a large repertoire he had played so when asked to play excerpts, he was familiar with most.
No matter what a kid does in high school, a music performance major will be doing an audition for college. The strength of their audition relative to others on the same instrument is what determines acceptances…in my opinion, other factors don’t weigh as heavily.
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Is your child’s concern not having enough time to practice or not having music related programs? I think hours are not so important but having meaningful music related experiences, local youth orchestras, precollege programs, summer programs. This gives a very young musician not only experience with their instrument and exposure to the best and varied teachers but allows kids to see what the life of a musician is. My S24 is not planning a life of a musician since after all of these programs he realizes it is not what he wants. He practices 1-2 hours daily during the school year, attends a precollege program and spends most of the summer at music related programs.
He’s concerned about all of it. He’s in a private school which he likes but finds challenging, which has mandatory sports which makes for a long day. He’s concerned that the kids in public school are getting more music at school, and have more time to practice after school, or to join things like outside groups.
He wants to be a music teacher or a music therapist, and he does things outside of school that seem to me like they’d be good preparation for that (e.g. He coaches Special Olympics, right now he’s CIT at a music camp, he performs at a relative’s memory care unit although not on his primary instrument) but they also cut into his practice time.
So, he’s just trying to sort out what he wants next year to look at, and whether he should be thinking about a different school for the last two years of HS.
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FWIW, my D did little to no music in school outside of accompanying.
He doesn’t need to change high schools. If he wants to be a music teacher, he needs to carefully look at colleges that offer that program…preferably in the state in which he wants to teach.
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He does not need to change schools and it sounds like he is doing beautifully. Have him look into a summer program and a youth orchestra if he isn’t in one. Our world needs more dedicated music teachers and he sounds like a wonderful kid!
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@Sportsball is your kid a boarder at his school?
No.
Please don’t worry. Music ed is held to a different standard than performance and he will find a school. Often if the musician is not quite there in terms of ability, they will get a provisional acceptance to the major and take lessons and practice until they are good enough to pass an audition.
My music major kids practiced in high school, but not obsessively. Not more than an hour a day unless they were preparing for an audition. They did NOT have access to private lessons or participate in outside groups. Their public school has a wonderful music program, but half the school year was focused on competitive marching band which isn’t all that great for honing music skills.
My D is now working on her music BA at a SLAC with a conservatory and is the top musician in her studio and my S is going to a private college with a decent sized music school doing a double degree in music ed/ performance and also ranks very highly in his studio (it’s more competitive than my daughter’s college and he is an underclassman). It was an adjustment from high school to college for both of them but they are thriving.
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On another thread your son is a rising 8th grader doing serious sports, whose coach wants freshmen to bring 30-60 schools to receive films of their sports performance.
I would say that combining serious sports and serious music is nearly impossible, and even more so in the context of a challenging private school.
My kids attended mediocre public schools or even homeschooled briefly with classes online. Music in school programs is rarely sufficient for good training but can have nice social benefits. Only one of my kids is in music and their significant music activities were outside of school. If you are concerned this early about admissions, music got that kid into a top university.
Your son is young. It is a hard balance for parents between letting things happen and providing opportunities. Good luck!
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Deleted. Because the OP has two kids…one interested in music and the other an athlete. Not the same kid.
I have more than one kid.
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That explains that!
That’s his brother.