<p>Right now I'm an Environmental Science major with a concentration in Biology. I'm really interested in music though. I was trying to choose between a music major and an EVS major, and EVS won out simply because I felt like it would have more job options. I'm considering minoring in music, even though it doesn't really fit with my degree. It's something that I'm really interested in (I was in band throughout middle and high school, and play 5 different instruments). However, when I went to talk to the professor about minoring in music, there are more requirements than I thought. I'd have to be in the band, and take lessons on the instrument I'd be playing in band. I'm already taking 2 lessons, so this would be a 3rd. We also have to do sight singing in music theory once a week, and I hate singing in front of other people. Now I'm debating whether or not I should just take the occasional music class and lessons, and not minor in it. What are your thoughts? I would like to minor in music because I'm so interested in it, but I'm afraid it might not be very practical.</p>
<p>There’s no shame in being an avocational musician. Take lessons and enjoy!</p>
<p>I’m trying to come up with a situation in which adding a Music minor to an Environmental Science undergrad degree would produce a net benefit for you, and not coming up with any scenarios that have a reasonable probability of occurrence. Unless you have your eyes on a very specific grad program or job that somehow combines those fields (coaxing endangered species to reproduce by playing the right mood music, perhaps) you might do better to use whatever electives you have to take the music courses that interest you most and enjoy yourself rather than struggling through a bunch more requirements.</p>
<p>Try a class and see if you enjoy it, including theory/solfege with “sight singing,” if you want the challenge (you might like it), or a class on certain composers, or a music history class (American Music in Wartime is offered in our local university and covers Souza etc., or you could take classes on medieval/Renaissance, or classical composers, contemporary “new music,” Balinese Gamelan, all kinds of possibilities).</p>
<p>My daughter is a music major but has discovered along the way that she loves art history. She takes a class in art history every chance she gets, but hasn’t really worried about a minor. My son was a computer science major but took a lot of political science.</p>
<p>If your school has distribution requirements, and your environmental science major has a lot of requirements in sequence, it can be hard to find room, but whenever you have space for a class, you could take a music class.</p>
<p>Or, as others have said, you can continue to practice and take lessons and play regardless. But if you love music, you will probably enjoy some of the classes offered in the music department. So, maybe the best way to decide is to go ahead and take one!</p>
<p>Like BassDad said, I can’t figure out any way that a music minor would help you, unless your major just requires a minor.</p>
<p>If you were an education major, or a business major with an interest in working in the entertainment field, or something like that, I would recommend that you go for the music minor. Otherwise, I figure it’s pointless.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry that much about the singing stuff though. My son is most definately not a singer, yet he hasn’t found the classes that he has to do sight singing embarrising at all. this semester he is taking a introductory voice class, and the teacher isn’t grading on the beauty of his singing, only on the techniques that the classes teach. According to him, most of the students in the class are horrible singers, no voice majors take introductory voice lessons so he is not having to sing in front of real singers.</p>
<p>I do agree with much of what was said by the other posters. EVS with a music minor will get you the same EVS job (although you could have a leg up if the hiring manager is interested in music, but this is not a reasonable possibility to reference BassDad). </p>
<p>So I went back and read your post again and this line jumped out at me: “We also have to do sight singing in music theory once a week, and I hate singing in front of other people.” There are many things in life that cause us discomfort and even if you don’t minor in music, I would still advise you to take the music theory class (which as most of us know is very basic to any music program) to help you work through this. Of course, that doesn’t answer the question as to whether or not you would minor in music, but I believe that would be a very practical application for your professional life no matter what you do.</p>
<p>geo1113 has an interesting point there. As an Environmental Scientist, you may find yourself in the position of having to do oral presentations in front of a group, perhaps a large and distinguished one if you do good work. I don’t know if you would find such a situation at all distressing, but having to speak in public is decidedly unpleasant for some. Personally, I find that being able to sing to an audience makes the prospect of having to speak to one a lot less troubling.</p>
<p>I speak in public all the time, and sometimes the audience even appears to enjoy it almost as much as I do.</p>
<p>However, were I to sing in public, very soon I would find my self all alone. Trust me…</p>
<p>So I can appreciate that the OP might be a fine musician and still find even the kind of casual singing in an intro ear training/theory class off-putting. She, being younger and no doubt stouter of spirit (although not girth) than me, may well find that she can meet the challenge. I hope so, because it would be a shame for her to look back with regret on not giving it a try in college.</p>