<p>Hi, I'm considering taking the vocal performance major and I was just wondering what life is like, what are your day to day activities and whatnot?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated as well!</p>
<p>This is a difficult question to answer, because there is no specific job of "vocal performance".</p>
<p>Day to Day activities? Practice alone, practice with your accompanist, vocal lesson biweekly or weekly (where you may be in a different city and have to commute), audition, headshots, resumes...</p>
<p>Some people go right to grad school, because their young voices aren't ready to be heard (yet).</p>
<p>Some people go through auditions for regional opera companies, some enter "contests" (Young Artists, etc.), etc. to get a name, some go to Germany, where it is easier to make a living in opera because they have so many more paying jobs.</p>
<p>Some teach privately, and become the "go-to" person for regional oratorio societies and community choruses as the hired soloist.</p>
<p>There are lots of options for the young singer, but you need to be aware that the you have to go out and find your paycheck. It won't come looking for you!</p>
<p>For me the hardest thing was having to take care of your instrument at all times (the tenor with the scarf when it's 88 degrees). That doesn't really fit the college life for a lot of people.</p>
<p>Football games, nightlife, smoking restaurants, lots of sleep needed, etc.</p>
<p>I assume the OP is asking about life in college as a vocal performance major????</p>
<p>My daughter found that a lot of your social life involves fellow "musis" and not as much the dorm friends (residential college in her case). There is a lot of practice time and, especially after freshman year, you are in the music building a lot. You attend a lot of recitals and concerts. You stay away from smokey bars and parties, but you still have fun drinking and socializing. You are afraid of the graduate students at first, but then realize how much you can learn from them.</p>
<p>DD has a very full academic load (18-20 credits) with all of her required music courses, voice lessons, time with accompanist, studio time, opera rehearsal time, practice time and trying to get a least 1 of her required distribution classes in, or more, with the homework so that she is not on the 5 year plan :) She does still have time to do a little intramural sports, socialize and party with friends, have some down time. She has a number of non-musi friends, too, but spends a lot of time in the music school.. I'm not sure exactly when meals fit in but they do. </p>
<p>You have to pay attention to your health, eating right, drinking lots of water, getting plenty of sleep, watching cleanliness and germy people. But all those things are second nature to her now. She can do that and still party. Just not over the top. These things do set her apart from some others, though, at times. She had some trouble adjusting in the dorm to those who did not have to pay as much attention to those things. Now she lives with another voice student and has her own room so it is better. She loves all of this and would not trade it for anything at this point.</p>
<p>I think the personal health concerns are very much comparable to an athlete.</p>
<p>Thank you, your answers are answering my question. I agree, the health concerns are comparable to being an athlete, if you think about it.</p>
<p>Being that I am only at the end of my third week as a freshman VP, I cannot give too much insight to the bigger picture. I can, however, give you a fresh perspective on the transition to college music vs. high school music. </p>
<p>The schedule is definitely busy. I am taking 18 credits right now, and only 2 of my classes are not music classes. As far as free time, I really think you can have as much free time as you make for yourself. Being that your instrument is your voice, you can't practice that for 4 or 5 hours a day like instrumentalists, so that does leave you more free time than other music majors. I have a roommate who is a non music major, which helps a lot when I just want to get away from all the other music people and just take a break from that atmosphere. It also helps that my school has a lot of (mostly free) on-campus activities on the weekends which are also helpful when you want to take a break.</p>
<p>Actually just this week, we had a freshman "convocation" for all freshman music majors where upperclassmen answered our questions. One girl (not a voice major) asked them about losing your passion for music because of all the hard work, and the one guy gave a very good response. He said it was the difference of something being your hobby and something being your job. I think that is a good thing to think about because even people who love what they do, sometimes just don't want to go to work.<br>
Or for another example, in my high school, there were a lot of talented singers (people who had leads in shows and solos in choir and won competitions) who did not go on to study music, because though they were very talented, they did not want music to be their life. </p>
<p>My mind is kind of wandering right now, haha, so if I think of anything else I will post it later. : )</p>
<p>It may be that you cannot physically practice that many hours a day, but there are so many other disciplines which are important components to achieving as a singer, you should have less time to spare. Do you have a dance or movement class? Languages? Drama? Poetry and literature? Do you do in depth study of the literary origins of every piece of music you sing? Are you in peak physical shape, endurance, strength, flexibility? How are your piano skills?</p>
<p>Instrumentalists tend to think of singers as musical light weights, and typically their music background is not as solid. Only those singers who have the discipline to enrich their studies beyond their "stand and sing" product are going to have much to offer the music they perform. </p>
<p>IMHO</p>