<p>I just wanted to say thanks SO much for the abundance of invaluable information and support from this forum. This community has helped me many, many times over the last two years in my quest to attend music school. I could always find helpful information about applying, auditioning, and all the workings of music school from simply exploring this wonderful community. </p>
<p>I have just completed my first year as a music major (Vocal Music Ed, soprano), and I could not be more pleased, excited, satisfied, overwhelmed, HAPPY with how my first year turned out! I started the year so scared and doubtful, having a fear of practice rooms, dreading lessons (from fear of not being good enough), convincing myself I would fail every music class, etc. However, after much deep thought and encouragement from this community, I was able to BREATHE, take each moment for what it was, and start to ENJOY my studies. Things really began to click, and I woke up every morning a little sleep-deprived but so happy about what my day would bring. Not to mention the relationships I have formed within the music department! I already know that these people are lifelong friends. Most importantly, I am so thankful that my voice teacher and I have bonded and become very close. She told me in my lessons this spring that she feels a strong connection to me as a student and that she is so excited for what the following years of study will bring. My voice has improved far more than I could EVER have imagined under her study this year, and this is the thing I am most proud of thus far. My voice teacher has even graciously offered to start lessons again in mid July to prepare for NATS. So many opportunities have opened up for me now that I have the confidence in myself as a music student and performer (Side tidbit: Performance and Ed students are not distinguished by any means in the music department other than the extra classes for Ed majors and an extra recital for Performance majors.)</p>
<p>Overall, I ended my first year on a very encouraging note. I came out with 46 hours under my belt (some from the summer before), and a 4.0 GPA (take that, theory!)! I also auditioned for the fall musical, Sweeney Todd, and was surprised to have been cast as Johanna! Needless to say, I am very proud of my accomplishments this year and am reassured each day of my decision to pursue music. </p>
<p>Sorry for all of the rambling, but I just wanted to share my story with this community and thank you again for helping me end up where I am now. I owe so much to the people of this forum for the knowledge and wise words I have gained. </p>
<p>What wonderful news! I know that everyone here is proud of you too and pleased that you stuck with it through the rough patch and are doing so well. Please let us know how the musical goes in the fall…</p>
<p>Thanks for checking in, glad it is going well for you. Posts like yours are nice to hear, and hopefully other kids considering going into music, or apprehensive before their first year, will read this post and realize that the fears are often worse than the reality:). My S faced that, he is studying with the top notch teacher with a studio full of really talented students, he was apprehensive as heck, afraid he wouldn’t live up to the teacher, that the other kids would be so much better and he would be the slug, and by the end of first semester he had started figuring out he did deserve to be there, that while he had a long way to go, he also had a lot that was good, too (he had an added handicap, the teacher he had through high school is one of those teachers who thought their job was to tear the student down but didn’t bother to build them up; I read an interview in Sports Illustrated with Li Na, the tennis player, her coach that almost had her quitting at 22 must have been my S’s teacher’s sister or something…)…</p>
<p>In any event, glad you are doing well, that rocks.</p>
<p>Absolutely @stradmom we found that out this year with one teacher out of the 8 sample lessons my D had - it actually took the second lesson, on the audition weekend for her and the teacher to realize- they were not a good match at all as they simply did not communicate well together. This really stood out in comparison to all the other teachers and lesson experiences, and I shuddered to think what would have been the case had she gone there. Fortunately he did not accept her into his studio and I do mean fortunately for her because all the signs were there that it would be a tense relationship at best. He had not charged for the first lesson in the fall but did for the second during audition weekend, which we not surprised by. Considering what we, ( and I have to assume he as well ) realized, it was money well spent. </p>
<p>It may take more than a sample lesson to judge a teacher, If you’re checking out a school or have been accepted into a studio, the teacher is going to be on his/her best behavior- after all, the whole idea is to get the student to sign on the line and attend the school. You may, however, realize that, as mymble’s D was lucky to discover, that the teaching style is not a good fit. I can think of at least one school where all of the VP teachers are compelled to teach in the exact same style- as dictated by the dept head- so that is also something to attempt to discover before committing.
In my D’s case, it was a teacher who was thrust into the mix without warning and I believe that the methods employed were to “encourage” students to remain at the school and not to apply elsewhere for further degrees by tearing them down with non-helpful criticism. It didn’t work on her because she applied anyway and was getting good feedback from the panels where she auditioned and she loves her current teacher.</p>