In this episode, I interview Trisha Craig who helps parents and students create music resumes, regardless of if they wish to pursue music in college or not. We talk about the benefits of pursing music, the components of a music resume, and the scholarship opportunities with music.
Audio file
Transcript
Kamila
Hey college kids.
Kamila
Today’s episode is a bit different from what I usually do.
Kamila
I’ll be interviewing Trisha Craig and she helps students high school students build music resumes for college.
Kamila
Whether you’re applying to a music school specifically or applying to a music program within a larger university or larger college, so I’m just here to remind you to subscribe so you know when you.
Kamila
Episodes are released and enjoy.
Trisha
Second hey college kids.
Kamila
Welcome back to my podcast.
Kamila
Who cares about College in today’s episode I’ll be interviewing Trisha, so if you could introduce yourself.
Trisha
Well hi, I am Trisha Craig.
Trisha
I am a classically trained flutist.
Trisha
I’m a flutist and conductor and I have a business called music build lives and I coach music students on leveraging their musical training to get into college with scholarship money.
Kamila
OK, so I said we jump into the questions but I I have like friends who are, you know, in my school like music is a big thing.
Kamila
There a lot of my friends are in band or orchestra and do like bands and orchestra outside of school as well.
Kamila
And like a lot of them have like seriously considered becoming like a musician down the road, they just don’t.
Kamila
They know it’s like.
Kamila
It’s really hard, like most people don’t end up doing it they.
Kamila
Just like give.
Kamila
Up you have to be really passionate about music to stick to.
Kamila
Stick to it.
Kamila
Throughout your life.
Kamila
So like if you could just like give quick advice as to how you know that you should actually pursue music.
Trisha
Well, first I just I, you know, I we weren’t going to talk about this, but I also have a business coaching creative people on the business side of their life.
Trisha
And the the the.
Trisha
The fact is that.
Trisha
Anything you choose.
Trisha
To do it takes.
Trisha
It is hard.
Trisha
It’s hard to do.
Trisha
It’s hard to be a dentist for the rest of your life and to make it, it’s hard to be an accountant for the rest of your life and make it.
Trisha
It’s hard to be a pianist, and.
Trisha
So, so it’s not true that.
Trisha
That that it’s harder than other fields in that realm.
Trisha
What what ends up happening is that a lot of musicians just haven’t been.
Trisha
Taught any of the entrepreneurial side of what they need to know and those who do know that do really well like they might not be principal in an orchestra, or they might not be the leading opera singer in a major company, but they still can have a a fulfilling career doing that so.
Trisha
The but I I I recommend when it comes to those students who are really doing great with music who think they might like to do that as a career.
Trisha
I say go to school for music and it it will.
Trisha
It will pan out into something.
Trisha
It’ll lead to something and.
Trisha
Uh, and to be open minded about what that career will look like.
Trisha
I mean that I I say, if they’re thinking they might like to do that, then honestly, you know I used to work at a Conservatory and I had.
Trisha
I knew people who were whose parents were like, well, you can audition to play cello here, but I want you to go to Business School that.
Trisha
Yeah, the the fact is that if you go to school for music or if you go to school for something that you love doing that you’re good at, you’re going to do better in school and and than you would if you went to something that you don’t really care about.
Trisha
And also I have to say that.
Trisha
Right now, law, schools and and medical schools are actively recruiting music students for their programs.
Trisha
Yes, and that is because musicians know stuff that other students do not learn and the list is extraordinary.
Trisha
So if you just look at your friends who are in in orchestra, for example, they’ve been practicing something to gain that skill every single day since.
Trisha
They were about 6.
Trisha
So they know how to practice to learn this skill.
Trisha
How many of your other student friends have done that?
Trisha
And so what’s happening is learning skill has become something that people don’t know how to do, and so when you get to medical school and you have to learn how to do, you know open heart surgery and you don’t know how to learn that skill.
Trisha
Medical schools are having a very difficult time teaching people how to learn skills, so they’re so there’s that.
Trisha
There’s also we musicians get critiqued every single week in our private lesson.
Trisha
In our.
Trisha
I mean, we get shredded and ask your friends what’s the local entities they had and they will tell you so we get shredded in every single lesson we take every single rehearsal, even at the professional level you do a concert.
Trisha
It doesn’t matter how famous you are, there’s there are people out there writing articles saying Oh my gosh, they’re awful.
Trisha
Their tone was terrible or so.
Trisha
We know how to take it.
Trisha
And when it comes to law school and medical school, people with music degrees are totally ready to be like, Yep, I messed that up.
Trisha
That was not good.
Trisha
I know I have to go back and rewrite that thing or I have to redo that research or I have to retry that skill and music students are the ones who are like OK, I’m on it and they just go back and do it.
Trisha
Other students are.
Trisha
Are not qualified.
Trisha
To handle that kind of pressure, and they crash and burn and the list goes on and on and on. Music students from the time that they’re young are dealing one-on-one with professionals in their field.
Trisha
And other students aren’t aren’t doing that, so they don’t know inherently how to deal with those kind of interactions.
Trisha
Those kind of professional conversations.
Trisha
I mean, I’ll bet that your music friends.
Trisha
Are able to speak in class more articulately than many of the other students in your class.
Trisha
They’re able to interact with teachers better and and and and come up with ideas on the spot.
Trisha
Music students are taught how to handle pressure right on stage, and you know when you’re trying to learn to do medical procedures or how to be a lawyer.
Trisha
A lot of students are just not able to handle that.
Trisha
Like anymore and music students can.
Trisha
And oh oh, there’s more.
Trisha
And I didn’t write down these this list I could.
Trisha
I could go on all day about this kind of stuff because they’re there.
Trisha
Oh, you know what another big one is and this one my I do this with my clients.
Trisha
We go through a whole list of things that they’ve learned from music.
Trisha
Then we translate it into other fields and one of them that everybody kind of laughs at, especially the men, the young men.
Trisha
They say.
Trisha
Well, I know how to wear a tuxedo and tie a bow tie to Zac Brown.
Trisha
And it does.
Trisha
We music students have been having to wear concert attire, appropriate clothing, and then for those of us who did marching band or winter percussion, we have to wear a uniform.
Trisha
We’ve been doing that since we were kids, little kids, and when you go to study you know anything where there’s a, uh, a clothing.
Trisha
Requirement on an appearance requirement.
Trisha
You know, like if you’re going to be a chef and you have to wear the jacket and there’s pushback, people don’t want to have to wear what they’re told to wear or they don’t want to have to conform.
Trisha
But music students you.
Trisha
Know even even to go get a job.
Trisha
At an ice cream.
Trisha
Stand and they’re like OK you have to wear this cap and this shirt.
Trisha
Like awesome, it’s not a marching band uniform I’m, I’m cool.
Trisha
I’ll wear that.
Trisha
And the music students are the ones who never complain about having to wear that that item.
Trisha
So music students are so hireable and I actually have a friend a colleague who has degrees in saxophone was teaching in the public.
Trisha
Schools, and he realized that he had a passion for animals and he is in his early 30s and he just got into veterinary school at Cornell.
Trisha
Based on his musical training and now he’s studying to become a vet with a big honkin scholarship.
Trisha
Wow, so music students are not.
Trisha
I tell the parents music kids are not normal, your kid.
Trisha
All the things that you see when you go to marching band competitions or orchestra concerts or Allstate.
Trisha
All of those kids, all the stuff that they’re doing, all the interaction, the practicing the knowing to be appropriate.
Trisha
And to strive for excellence and to work as part of.
Trisha
A team all.
Trisha
Of those things, are music specific and outside of.
Trisha
Those that musical realm schools are really finding that that students are not qualified to deal with a lot of a lot of those kinds.
Trisha
A lot of things that they’re required to deal with, especially as they go on to grad school, and so grad schools are literally throwing money at musicians because.
Trisha
They know that we can take it that we’re smart, that we can handle the pressure, that we know how to learn skills, all those things.
Trisha
So if you think that you want to go to school for violin and you’re not sure if maybe you’d prefer to be a doctor, go to school for violin.
Trisha
And then you can go to medical school later, I promise.
Kamila
OK, so that’s a whole.
Kamila
Rabbit hole we can go.
Kamila
Down had no idea music students were so horrible, but I want to ask one more thing before we jump into.
Kamila
Like creating a music resume so.
Kamila
One thing my friends like talk about the ones that are interested in music.
Kamila
They really love music and they can’t imagine their life without it.
Kamila
And the thing they’re struggling is with is.
Kamila
Should I make it like a career or should I make it like a hobby or something?
Kamila
You know stuff like that and I’m telling them like oh, how hard is it to like?
Kamila
Again, you said in every career to like to make it to the top.
Kamila
It’s really hard, but they’re saying like with music schools for a lot of schools like it doesn’t really matter where you go to school.
Kamila
So once you get your first job, you build yourself up from there.
Kamila
Once you get your first job at least.
Kamila
But for like.
Kamila
Music schools like Juilliard and I always forget.
Kamila
The other one is like Juilliard and the other really.
Kamila
Big one they say like if you don’t get into those schools, then you’re probably never going to make it to one of those.
Kamila
Like bigger orchestras.
Kamila
Bigger like UM.
Kamila
Bands if you, if that’s what you want to pursue.
Kamila
’cause they like most of those people, musicians who go from there are from those like big schlich, those really famous Juilliard, the conservatories.
Kamila
So like.
Kamila
I guess I’m asking, how do you if the probability is so low of you actually getting into like the highest conservative like not Conservatory, but like orchestra out of college like how do you know you have the passion for music to pursue it that intently?
Kamila
Or just keep it as a hobby throughout your life?
Kamila
How did you know?
Kamila
How did you know that you wanted to pursue music, for example?
Trisha
I just I just knew that I wanted to.
Trisha
When I was looking at colleges and I was thinking I was thinking of either studying music or English at the time and and here’s The funny thing.
Trisha
I was really good at biology and the Science department chair was like you should go to school for biology.
Trisha
And I laughed.
Trisha
And I was like, what do you do with a biology degree like now that everything changed?
Trisha
And everybody, like biology, is like such a cool thing.
Trisha
But back then I was like I couldn’t even imagine what you do with that.
Trisha
But so I knew that I wanted to increase my musical I I didn’t want to stop and I wanted to keep working at it and so I chose to go to school for music and I just sort of I.
Trisha
I don’t know.
Trisha
At first I thought I wanted to be a band director and.
Trisha
I changed my my my degree.
Trisha
I mean, that’s the other thing you go to college.
Trisha
And you can change your mind, but so I pursued music.
Trisha
First, because I knew that it would be hard to go back into it if I didn’t do it first.
Trisha
It’s hard to get back in music because you have to get that skill back.
Trisha
So that’s how I chose it.
Trisha
I challenge your assumption or assertion that everybody in the top orchestras went to Juilliard here.
Kamila
I don’t know like that’s all I hear from my friends or like Juilliard and the other one.
Trisha
No, they’re they’re wrong.
Trisha
They’re wrong.
Trisha
In fact, people and Julia is a phenomenal place, and I have plans to apply there, so I’m not going to diss Juilliard.
Trisha
And it’s a great place for very specific people, but also it’s a great place to.
Trisha
Now and there are lots of people who went to Juilliard and then crashed afterwards because they have been playing at such a high level from such a young age that they’re already like world class level.
Trisha
Practically, when they get to Juilliard and then with all of that intensive work and all of that pressure and everything, they graduate and they’re just like done.
Trisha
So a lot of people in I’m from New England.
Trisha
We’ve got the Boston Symphony Orchestra right here.
Trisha
I I can’t give percentages or statistics, but I’m certain that if we got a list of every single person from the Boston Symphony Orchestra and looked at where their training came from, I’m certain that it is not.
Trisha
A high percentage of Juilliard grads, so that’s the first thing that being able to to play is more important than getting into Juilliard.
Trisha
You’re not going to get into Julia.
Trisha
I mean people some.
Trisha
People get into Juilliard, but probably someone who’s like, I wonder if I should major music.
Trisha
They’re not.
Trisha
They’re already not quite at that level.
Trisha
Like you know, if you’re Juilliard bound.
Trisha
And so there are lots and lots of really amazing training grounds in the US and beyond, and so with lots and lots of really wonderful options to combine majors or to study, you know, outside of just.
Trisha
Violin, you might want to go into musicology or composition or other things.
Trisha
There are other things you can do in music and I would anyone anyone who’s having that conversation honestly tell them to have come have a free chat with me and I will give them a pep talk because because they need.
Trisha
The the that question is based in fear.
Trisha
I never hear anyone say oh I wonder if I should bother to study accounting.
Trisha
Will I be able to make it or or should I become a surgeon?
Trisha
I don’t know if I can get into that to that medical school or something like that, people.
Trisha
Are just like I’m.
Trisha
Going to try and you know with music.
Trisha
It’s the same thing you’re really good.
Trisha
At the tuba.
Trisha
And you think you’d like to study it at the college level?
Trisha
Then do because it will lead to other things.
Trisha
Either you’ll become a great tuba player and be in a military band, or the Symphony or whatever it is, or you’ll find other opportunities or use that musical training to go elsewhere so it’s.
Trisha
It is, uh, you you can’t.
Trisha
You can’t lose honestly.
Trisha
More so now than ever before.
Trisha
I would say just by looking at what other?
Trisha
Students have for their experiences that that, like I said, colleges are finding that there’s quite a challenge in.
Trisha
Teaching the typical student.
Trisha
And and but it’s easy to work with the music students ’cause they’ve dealt with a lot more so.
Trisha
How do you know if you have?
Trisha
The passion, well you you try.
Trisha
Right?
Trisha
You try that, I mean, you just you just try and you go for it and and and when we’re talking about all the questions for this.
Trisha
For this conversation about the resumes we can we can touch on that more because there are things that they can be trying now that will tell them if they, if they love doing that.
Trisha
A lot of my clients.
Trisha
Didn’t know that they wanted to major in music until they went to a high end of music camp in the summer and they went to music camp.
Trisha
There was one student that.
Trisha
That had a had a meeting with me after having attended music camp and she was going to be a senior.
Trisha
She it was like.
Trisha
August of her senior year and she said, you know, I kind of thought I was going to go to a Business School or something and she goes.
Trisha
But I went to music camp and gosh.
Trisha
I just wish college could be like that and.
Trisha
I was like music.
Trisha
College is like.
Trisha
That like that’s what music school is.
Trisha
It’s the same type of thing and they ended up going on to become a really great music educator at actually here in New Hampshire.
Trisha
And they they realized it after going to a music.
Trisha
Uh, music training ground.
Kamila
Yeah, disclaimer going into this episode.
Kamila
Everyone listening covering so if I sound dead or nasally or whatever, that’s why.
Kamila
So I did happen sick for several days.
Trisha
Hope you feel really well really soon.
Kamila
I hope.
Kamila
It’s getting better, I’m just recovering alright, so let’s get into the questions.
Kamila
So first and I’m coming like I usually have background knowledge on this kind of stuff.
Kamila
I don’t know what a music resume is.
Kamila
I don’t know anything about, despite have like all my friends.
Kamila
Being into music, but so number one.
Kamila
What is a music resume?
Kamila
And like how do colleges view it? Is it the same as Git is deciding whether to accept the student athlete to play like D1 or D2 at your school?
Kamila
So how do colleges view it and what is a music resume?
Trisha
Well, let’s start with what a music resume is.
Trisha
It’s literally a list of all the things that you’ve done as as a music student and it’s so it’s music.
Trisha
Specific so on the college applications there’s also the, you know the student, the student, resume your your activities resume.
Trisha
And this is.
Trisha
Similar to that, but it’s just all of the music related activities all in one place and.
Trisha
That can go to the music, I mean to the in with your application.
Trisha
But what I really teach my clients to do is to create a relationship with the music department at the schools that you’re interested in.
Trisha
So athletes do the same thing, right?
Trisha
They get they they have they go.
Trisha
They have the.
Trisha
Coaches come look at them and all these things that the athletes do.
Trisha
The music department.
Trisha
In many instances does similar stuff, but they don’t.
Trisha
They don’t leave you, bring it to them so you know there’s not this.
Trisha
There’s not as much recruitment, although there is recruitment as well, but.
Trisha
So it’s all about.
Trisha
Being able to fill the need that the school has and if they have a need for your instrument and what you do at the level that you do it at, then it can help you in the college process and it can help you.
Trisha
With scholarship money did I?
Trisha
Did I answer that question?
Kamila
Yeah, I think it did a good job.
Trisha
I mean, I think the thing to remember when you look at when you look at a school, any school, whether you’re going to.
Trisha
Study music or.
Trisha
Participate in music.
Trisha
When you look at any school they have for example they have sports and so if they don’t have anyone coming there to play field hockey.
Trisha
Then they’re not.
Trisha
Going to have a field hockey team for long.
Trisha
And they can’t lose that team because that’s part of the fabric of the school.
Trisha
And the same thing holds true in the music department.
Trisha
If they have an orchestra, then they have to fill it, and some schools are finding it difficult to fill their their large ensembles, and So what they’re doing is they’re adding a community element.
Trisha
To it, so they might have.
Trisha
We might have mostly students and then some adults in the community that join and play in the group.
Trisha
They’re like amateur musicians, or if they if the school is near another big music school, they might hire students from that other school to come play in your band or in their orchestra to fill those seats.
Trisha
So what they would prefer.
Trisha
To do is to have current students to fill all of those spots and and so your music resume if it’s well done.
Trisha
And well thought out and and that you’ve done enough things to to.
Trisha
To show that you are at a high level, you might be exactly what they need in order to make sure that their orchestra keeps keeps playing and or their choir or their jazz band or their pep band or whatever they have, and so the music department has to be able to bring in people at a certain level who will fill those slots, and so your music.
Trisha
It may helps them to see that you’re one of those people.
Kamila
And I guess going into like schools looking at music resumes more students that have a high interest in music.
Kamila
With every job that every job is going to have different qualifications for a position like expectations that they want so.
Kamila
When you’re applying to a school and you want to be part of their music program, even if you want to, just like double major in it or something, you still want to be part of it.
Kamila
But for a school to seriously consider you to come and play for them.
Kamila
Is there like a certain level you need to reach, like what I wrote was?
Kamila
Is there a certain level you need to reach to have, like a valid music resume is?
Kamila
There’s like such a thing.
Kamila
Are there essential components that you must have?
Kamila
I mean, beyond the fact that you need a play instrument or like saying, but are there like really like big essential things that you need to have for school to seriously consider you?
Trisha
Yeah, so there’s a big spectrum when we’re talking about every school in America or every school in the world.
Trisha
There’s a really big spectrum, so there are some schools that have really, mostly just.
Trisha
Activities based music stuff that people complain and so you know clearly that would have a different level.
Trisha
Of expectation in order to participate than Juilliard.
Trisha
And that’s at the other end of the spectrum, right?
Trisha
So but most people.
Trisha
And if we talk specifically about students like the friends that you were talking about, really great musicians in a school music program who also play in an ensemble by audition.
Trisha
Outside of school.
Trisha
Those, that’s like.
Trisha
That’s a good standard right there.
Trisha
Those kinds of people are going to be able to show that they have the training necessary to play well at the college level, so some of the basics that you know.
Trisha
If I were just going to talk to anybody about any school and not necessarily a music major, but maybe.
Trisha
Minor or or just leveraging their musical training, I would say that you want to have been taking private lessons.
Trisha
That’s important you want to have been in your school music program all the way through high school or as much as possible.
Trisha
And you want to have done some things outside of your school music program.
Trisha
So that could mean that you got into Allstate.
Trisha
Or that could mean that you play at your temple.
Trisha
Or your church.
Trisha
Right that some some community service types of things that you’ve done.
Trisha
Can count I.
Trisha
Worked with a young woman.
Trisha
Right?
Trisha
Who was a good music student good?
Trisha
Not not.
Trisha
Not groundbreaking, not winning awards?
Trisha
Not, but she was a good student and she was involved in her school band all the way through high school and she wanted to go to nursing school.
Trisha
She was looking at schools that didn’t have music.
Trisha
She wanted to go to nursing school, but what we did was we worked on developing a music resume that it wasn’t.
Trisha
Something that anyone at and at a music degree would look at.
Trisha
She didn’t.
Trisha
She didn’t win anything.
Trisha
She didn’t even play first chair.
Trisha
Her band, but but she had taken private lessons and she had played on some recitals.
Trisha
And So what we did was we put together.
Trisha
I call it the Ovation project that I do with some of my clients and we put it together over the summer and she did this thing where she got together a bunch of her music friends and they did a.
Trisha
Fundraiser for a nursing organization that raises money for Children that are born addicted.
Trisha
In her community, and so through her music, she was able to do this project and she was able to show all kinds of the kinds of experience that we were talking about earlier.
Trisha
Being able to interact with people and all of those things and she wasn’t planning on playing music in college.
Trisha
But all of this musical stuff.
Trisha
Gave her so many ends and she got in everywhere and she got.
Trisha
I think she ended up taking one of the full scholarships.
Trisha
She they were blown away and and she had done all of this work.
Trisha
Through music toward the nursing profession and it, it made a huge difference, a huge difference.
Trisha
And she had lots of great questions in her application when she interviewed and things like that.
Trisha
But for someone who wants to play and who wants to or major, it really depends on the level.
Trisha
Of the school.
Kamila
And one question about you mentioned how like law schools and medical schools are recruiting music students ’cause they can see the.
Kamila
I guess this killing their ability to learn skill in their discipline.
Kamila
Is it the same for like you applying to undergrad as a high schooler, or obviously like colleagues are not going to see like a decrease in like supply of certain student ’cause they’re not looking for specific student like medical school and law school are, but like, are they also like looking at?
Kamila
Students with music and saying, like, oh, they’re definitely capable if they come to ours.
Trisha
Yeah yeah, but you have to make sure that they know that about you right?
Trisha
So a lot of kids don’t realize that applying to college is really.
Trisha
A project in marketing and they you know and they have to.
Trisha
They have to understand that they’re kind of selling themselves to the school and so having that musical experience be a common thing.
Trisha
That in their in their application can make a huge difference, especially when they can articulate some of the things that we’ve been talking about.
Trisha
So when they can say, you know that they that they know how to learn a skill if you’re.
Trisha
Applying to a.
Trisha
Program where skill learning is important, or research or being able to.
Trisha
To work independently, all of these things.
Trisha
If you can articulate that you know how to do these things because you’ve been playing the Viola since you were nine, then, then you’re already ahead of the game, because they will see that you know that how to be successful as a student at.
That’s cool.
Kamila
Alright, so let’s go through the the different like.
Kamila
I guess we can.
Kamila
Say major God.
Kamila
I I was freaked out by my own voice there, alright, so let’s.
Kamila
Go through the.
Kamila
Let’s go through the major component of a music resume and like let’s stick it to the level that like I said, my friends are there.
Kamila
They’ve been playing for a very long time to take private lessons.
Kamila
And they do stuff outside of school as well.
Kamila
And like I wouldn’t say like my school is competitive musically and I don’t really know where we fall.
Kamila
But like you got some pretty good musicians like one of my class.
Trisha
That’s good.
Kamila
Yeah, one of my classmates, he he plays the clarinet now and I’m sure he’s going to be applying to us like conservatories like Juilliard.
Kamila
I think his sister got into Juilliard.
Kamila
What’s the other school starts this year?
Kamila
With the C.
Trisha
So Curtis, you’re probably thinking it’s planted in Philadelphia.
Kamila
Hurtis yes yeah.
Kamila
She either got into Juilliard, yeah, Juilliard or Curtis.
Kamila
So like there are some decent musicians at my school so we can talk about that level.
Kamila
And then what would be in their music resume when they’re applying to?
Kamila
Like a lot of them.
Kamila
In my school, during me applying to top schools.
Kamila
So I imagine like they’ll be applying to like the music programs there as well.
Kamila
So let’s talk about the different components #1. When should you start like? What’s an appropriate time to start an instrument so that you get to the level that you need to be before you apply to college?
Trisha
Well, well.
Trisha
I would definitely say for the average person some point in elementary school it almost doesn’t matter as far as as long as you’re able to play.
Trisha
Once you hit high school.
Trisha
That said, I have worked with people.
Trisha
I’m a I’m a professional flutist.
Trisha
I have taught students who have gone on to music school who started the flute when they were like a sophomore in college.
Trisha
They worked their tail off and they were amazing and they worked really hard.
Trisha
So I mean that can be done.
Trisha
But top flutist in the one of the most famous flutist in the world anyway, at one point said that no one should start an instrument before.
Trisha
14 or 16 years old and everybody.
Trisha
Was like are you crazy but?
Trisha
It’s because he could.
Trisha
Start then and and succeed so you know it.
Trisha
It almost doesn’t matter, especially if you have a drive for it.
Trisha
But if there are parents listening who are wondering when to start, I would say start as as you know by by 3rd or 4th grade would be amazing.
Trisha
5th or 6th would be great and and take it.
Trisha
From there, if they are in middle school and they.
Trisha
They are playing an instrument, but they don’t have private teacher.
Trisha
Then now start getting a private teacher.
Trisha
You know in middle school that’s don’t don’t wait any longer.
Trisha
That’s a good time to to catch up if you haven’t so so so.
Trisha
Uhm, you know I have.
Trisha
I have.
Trisha
I’ve had clients who come to me like that.
Trisha
That young woman who was like I didn’t know I’d want to go to music school.
Trisha
And now I went to camp and I love it.
Trisha
So we were, we we, we raced, uh.
Trisha
Around you know in September of her senior year, to put some things together to give her a good competitive edge and make it possible to go.
Trisha
But for for the average average musicians in a really good music program like the school you’re talking about, they’re they’re.
Trisha
They’re all set.
Trisha
If they’ve been in there.
Trisha
They’ve been taking private lessons, and they’ve they’ve gotten into a Youth Orchestra or something outside of school, and if they have been in the ensemble through high school, then that’s a really great start, so they’re in good shape regardless of what you’re doing.
Kamila
And you’ve been mentioning private lessons and I understand they.
Kamila
Can help you but.
Kamila
Like, what exactly does a private lesson do in terms of building or music resume like it can help you become a better musician.
Kamila
I know that, but is it more for you to be more disciplined, or does it actually have some weight when you show that you’ve been like taking private like?
Kamila
Or do you even write that you’ve taken private lessons on your resume?
Trisha
Yeah, and you missed.
Trisha
Your teachers on your on your resume, you list your private instructors and if you’ve attended any masterclasses, you list those people as well and you list your conductors on there.
Trisha
So if you’ve been in Allstate for example, you would list your conductors.
Trisha
All of these things show what level you’re at, and taking private instruction.
Trisha
Then also makes it possible for you to win these kinds of things.
Trisha
It makes it.
Trisha
Possible for you?
Trisha
To get first chair if you’re not taking private lessons, especially on some of the more popular instruments.
Trisha
You’re just not going to.
Trisha
You’re not going to be the top one in your.
Trisha
School you’re not going to get into Allstate, you.
Kamila
Is it like?
Kamila
The discipline or something?
Kamila
Or do they?
Trisha
Yes, and the and the specific.
Trisha
The very specific training it’s training.
Trisha
So when you’re taking.
Trisha
Well, I’m a flutist, so when you’re taking a flute lesson, for example, I mean, we get down to hand position.
Trisha
We get down to really discussing how to use your body to get the best tone and we have exercises that help to develop their their embouchure, which is how they get their sound out so that they get a good sound, and so that they can control their phrasing and do.
Trisha
All of the artistry, I mean private instruction, is where you get really in depth into the art form.
Trisha
And into your own specific skill level for that art form for that instrument for that craft.
Trisha
And it’s essential it’s it’s absolutely essential.
Trisha
You don’t get that level of 1 on one instruction, and that level of skill building without private lessons.
Kamila
And as I know, for my own musical ventures in elementary school that didn’t last very long, I know that this stuff is like really expensive.
Kamila
If you’re not like singing, if you’re playing like an actual instrument, getting the instrument, even if you like rent one, it’s expensive, and I’m sure the lessons are expensive too, so like.
Kamila
Is there a way to actually pursue music in that way if you don’t come from a financially like advantage household?
Trisha
Well, for people who are in a very very disadvantaged household, there are often community programs.
Trisha
That can help them.
Trisha
To to pursue music and there’s lots of great programs, especially in major cities around the country, but beyond that.
Trisha
I have worked with some very not advantage families very very.
Trisha
Not wealthy families who struggle and as a family.
Trisha
When this when the student decides that they wanted to pursue.
Trisha
Uh music as their one thing then the family makes it happen.
Trisha
They commit to it.
Trisha
So I mean, I’ve had students who have.
Trisha
I’m I’m thinking of one young man who wanted a flute. He wanted to buy a high end flute at the time, the amount that he wanted to spend was $4000.
Trisha
And so he.
Trisha
He he was so committed to it that he got a summer job and put that money towards a flute and he for for every
Trisha
Birthday and holiday for a couple of years, he told everybody I’m saving up for a flute.
Trisha
Please don’t buy me a present, please if you could give me cash towards my food and that kid paid for.
Trisha
His own food.
Trisha
So it can be done.
Trisha
It can absolutely be done.
Trisha
It’s just with a little ingenuity.
Trisha
Yes, there are programs that will help to purchase purchase a a nicer instrument, but there are also there are also.
Trisha
And there are scholarships to help pay for the private instruction at certain in certain communities, but there’s.
Trisha
There’s always a way.
Trisha
There’s always a way.
Kamila
Alright, so let’s go into choosing your instrument again.
Kamila
Some instruments are more popular than others.
Kamila
I don’t know if I don’t know if I’m saying this wrong, but I’m sure like clarinet, for example, is like really popular, whereas like a bassoon is like not that.
Kamila
In terms of like amount of people who play it so, and this is more so for the parents and maybe more so for the maybe for the kids as well.
Kamila
But when your child is like I want to pursue music like I want to try playing an instrument and they’re like, oh, I really want to take it seriously, like I really want to try.
Kamila
And, you know, build yourself up till high school.
Kamila
It like is it better to choose an instrument that’s less popular and become really good at that?
Kamila
Because I feel like you’d have to work harder to make yourself stand out as someone who plays a clarinet versus someone who plays like a bassoon.
Kamila
Right?
Trisha
So probably your clarinet man should move to New Hampshire, because when you say clarinet.
Trisha
I almost laughed.
Trisha
Because it’s like no one plays the clarinet here.
Trisha
I don’t know.
Trisha
Yeah yeah, OK, everyone plays the violin and the flute.
Kamila
Oh oh Violet, for sure.
Kamila
That’s definitely the most popular one, yeah?
Trisha
Yeah, yeah.
Trisha
But the violin there’s so many violinists in.
Trisha
An orchestra that’s a little different.
Trisha
Percentage so I owned a music school for 22 years and and parents would ask that question all the time and.
Trisha
Really, what it comes down to if if a student is very, very interested in a particular instrument.
Trisha
If if some kid in your town heard the top, the top clarinetist from your school play and was.
Trisha
Blown away and just wanted to do.
Trisha
That then they will do well on the clarinet and pushing them toward the Viola will not help them, so they they very likely would never get good at the bassoon, for example, because they wanted to play the clarinet.
Trisha
So the first thing is to do what the kid wants.
Trisha
If the kid is attracted to a particular instrument, then that’s what they’re going to want to do.
Trisha
And it’ll be easier to get them to learn that instrument and to excel at that instrument.
Trisha
So that’s the first thing.
Trisha
Once they get going and and a lot of times music teachers, especially in the school system, will say.
Trisha
You know you’re really good at.
Trisha
The at the clarinet, but we need an Oval player and maybe you’d like to try the oboe and then the kid might say no way and another kid might say absolutely and that could give them some advantage.
Trisha
So you’re you’re right, there are instruments that very generally speaking.
Trisha
There’s there are fewer of out there, but.
Trisha
But you might not get good at that one if you don’t.
Trisha
If you don’t like it, you know.
Trisha
What I mean so?
Trisha
So so part of it.
Trisha
So it’s it’s kind of a combination.
Trisha
If a kid is like I don’t know, should I play the trumpet?
Trisha
Or the toolbar?
Trisha
I would say why don’t you go with tuba ’cause not so many people play the tuba and every school needs a really strong tuba section.
Trisha
You know one of my earliest clients was a.
Trisha
Tubist is that what we call them?
Trisha
I don’t even know, but she played.
Trisha
It was a young woman who played the tuba and in her state she was all state level for several years on the tuba and she was going to school for engineering and her parents had no financial need and.
Trisha
They were like.
Trisha
Help us please and we got her a big honking scholarship to play tuba.
Trisha
In the in the in a big engineering school, so it made it made a huge difference.
Trisha
You know?
Trisha
I don’t know that she would have gotten that if.
Trisha
She played the flute.
Trisha
Yeah, right?
Kamila
Alright, this is kind of like.
Kamila
Random question that popped off my head but and I should ask my friends this.
Kamila
I don’t know why I’m not asking them, but clarinet versus oboe.
Kamila
It looks really similar.
Kamila
I hear that the oboe is much harder to play.
Kamila
Like my friend.
Kamila
She plays the oboe.
Kamila
She’s like Oh my God, my core.
Kamila
It hurts so much or.
Kamila
Something like that.
Kamila
Yeah, what makes the oboe much harder to play than the clarinet?
Kamila
’cause they both have reads, but they’re like different.
Kamila
Because the oboe you just blow on the read, whereas the clarinet you have the read attached to the actual instrument.
Trisha
Yeah, so they have different kinds of rates.
Trisha
The clarinet has hold on.
Trisha
I think you gave me your.
Kamila
Did I give you my sickness?
Kamila
Through the screen.
Trisha
I think you gave me your sickness through the screen.
Trisha
Yeah, that’s some powerful germs, yeah, so the.
Trisha
So the clarinet has like.
Trisha
A hollow mouthpiece with a straight read.
Trisha
That closes it.
Trisha
So when you.
Trisha
Go into the clarinet, you’re just you’re I don’t want to say just every instrument is difficult and has its challenges, but you’re it.
Trisha
Someone like me could grab a clarinet.
Trisha
Mouthpiece and make a honking sound on it because.
Trisha
Yeah, yeah.
Trisha
You just, you just have to get that thing to vibrate.
Trisha
The oboe is a double Reed, and so if you want to play around with a double Reed, take a a straw and like.
Trisha
Crush it and cut the edges just a little bit.
Trisha
And see if you can make it squawk.
Trisha
So the double Reed is like that.
Trisha
It’s a, it’s a.
Trisha
It’s two pieces of Reed that are vibrating on each other.
Trisha
It takes unbelievable pressure because your embouchure has to close it open just right, and then it doesn’t want her to go through.
Trisha
With the flute I’m just blowing into the room, so there’s no.
Trisha
There’s no holding.
Trisha
Back the air.
Trisha
But with the oboe, it’s all about getting all of this pressure in exactly the right space while you’re holding this little Reed open.
Trisha
Just enough and getting it to vibrate, it’s it seems impossible.
Trisha
It seems impossible so.
Trisha
One of the things that happens with oboe players is they’ll be playing and at the end they have to exhale because all that pressure is still built up.
Trisha
For flutes like we can’t inhale enough.
Trisha
There’s nothing left to exhale when we’re playing ’cause there’s no resistance, we’re just.
Trisha
Blowing into the.
Trisha
Room so yeah, the clarinet is a single read like a saxophone.
Trisha
And the oboe is a double Reed, just like a bassoon too.
Kamila
OK, that that was just a wonder of mine.
Kamila
I’m wondering for years I have friends who play both instruments.
Kamila
Never knew why I never asked.
Kamila
Them, but anyways, let’s go back.
The admission.
Trisha
To the question the addition.
Trisha
The additional issue for double Reed instrument players is that they make their own reads.
Trisha
It’s an art form.
Kamila
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.
Kamila
Yeah, my friend like the care that she takes for her reads or like.
Trisha
Down well, it.
Trisha
I mean, it’s it’s a whole craft and they they have to make their own reads and then.
Trisha
You know what a pressure they’re under if they have this one Reed.
Trisha
That just sounds amazing and they have a big audition coming up.
Trisha
You want to practice on that one so you can sound amazing, but you don’t want to wear it out because.
Trisha
You want to use it.
Trisha
For the audition and then Lord.
Trisha
Help you if you if you drop it.
Trisha
And it breaks or it cracks.
Trisha
And then you know they’re like they’re like.
Trisha
I can’t I I.
Trisha
Just ruined my audition.
Trisha
I don’t have a good.
Trisha
I mean it’s intense, its intense.
Trisha
I don’t know how they manage without a personal counselor to talk.
Trisha
I don’t have reads, I just have a fluid.
Trisha
I just put something together and it works just fine as long as I maintain it.
Trisha
Those reads, they scare the living daylights out of me and it, you know, I I know high end professional oboe players who play in symphonies in in New England and you know they they might have a week where they’re like.
Trisha
I just gotta sit and and make reads ’cause I can’t get one.
Trisha
Right right now and.
Trisha
So they’ll they’ll do.
Trisha
Work on reads intents.
Kamila
I’ll tell my friend that when she thinks about, you know, applying the music school and pursuing if she won’t spend a week of.
Kamila
Her life doing that.
Kamila
Alright, so going back to the questions we talked about, like when you should.
Kamila
Start what is like.
Kamila
How you should choose your instrument.
Kamila
So now going into high school.
Kamila
Your high school will most likely have a music program of itself, so.
Kamila
I mean can you discuss like I?
Kamila
I don’t think.
Kamila
It’s like hard to get into your own schools music program like.
Trisha
No it.
Trisha
Depends on the school and a lot of schools.
Trisha
You just sign up.
Trisha
From the band or.
Kamila
Yeah, that’s that’s what I mean.
Trisha
Looking straight flyer or Jasmine or whatever.
Trisha
It’s in every school has different policies.
Trisha
You know as far as you know, marching band or you might have to audition for the jazz band or some schools that have really big programs.
Trisha
They might have an orchestra and then a like a select.
Trisha
Orchestra of some sort or a concert band.
Trisha
A big wind band and I wouldn’t ensemble.
Trisha
So you would audition for that one.
Trisha
To get into those, but for the most part, you can simply sign up to be in your school music program.
Trisha
You know, ask, ask them what the requirements are.
Trisha
They might have specific playing levels that you’re expected to to do, but the the nice thing is that most music programs
Trisha
In schools, of course, every school is different, but it’s usually for credit and you get a grade, and they’re usually considered to be on the advanced side of the grading system, so that can be helpful, you know.
Trisha
To in your decision making as far as whether or not to do band but Lucas or whatever.
Trisha
But it doesn’t take much to sign up for your school music program, and you can catch up pretty well if you’re motivated to do so.
Kamila
And like I’m sure colleges, if your school has like a big music.
Kamila
I’m just saying in general, ’cause I think this is pretty much true for all colleges.
Kamila
It’s just like a general thing.
Kamila
If you’re it’s a college, knows your school, like if your school is pretty big and they get like a lot of applicants.
Kamila
From there, they’ll know about your school’s music program and know how like competitive it is within your own like.
Kamila
I guess like orchestra or whatever to like get first chair and stuff.
Kamila
So I think they’re familiar with that.
Kamila
So I I don’t really want to talk much about that.
Kamila
I want to talk about outside of school orchestras and like bands because I think that’s where it like really does make a difference.
Kamila
So where do you even begin to look at orchestras?
Kamila
Or like symphonies?
Kamila
Whatever it may be outside your school, like when do you start?
Kamila
How difficult is it, et cetera.
Trisha
I’ll say every major city at least, but all over the country.
Trisha
There are these.
Trisha
Wonderful youth orchestras and their nonprofit organizations, and they’re always recruiting students for their programs.
Trisha
And they’re all different levels.
Trisha
So here in New England, there.
Trisha
There’s there’s like a really great one up in Portland, ME.
Trisha
And then there’s like some some.
Trisha
I mean, that was fairly competitive, and then there’s some less competitive ones between Maine and Boston.
Trisha
And then there’s this big one in Boston.
Trisha
So in your in your area.
Trisha
It’s not that hard to find out where the youth orchestras are and what level they’re at.
Trisha
Same with community choruses, and even if your town doesn’t have one.
Trisha
There’s often community bands, which is like the community, so if you’re not a high level, if you’re an intermediate trumpet player and you want to be in something outside of school, you could be in the the town community band that plays at Memorial Day or the 4th of July or something you know, and that can be something outside of school.
Trisha
That you did without an audition.
Trisha
But there are youth orchestras and community orchestra, community choir groups, student choir groups all over the country, the.
Trisha
Best resource for finding out is usually your private teacher.
Trisha
Your private teacher usually knows, and most of these.
Trisha
Groups market themselves to private teachers because that’s where the bulk of their students come from, and so your private teacher will know.
Kamila
Oh sorry, you like I thought you froze like you just stopped.
Kamila
So I was like alright OK so.
Kamila
Again, I don’t know how this works, like I barely know how athletics work, so you know, I don’t know how music works at all.
Kamila
So with athletes like you go to counties and you go to states etc and you can get like awards there.
Kamila
And like I don’t think you can get individual awards like if you’re on the cross country team for example, I think.
Kamila
It’s like your school wins.
Kamila
But I’m sure you could like mention that you were like the fastest one on your like resume with music when you’re playing in, and I don’t know about schools like what kind of awards they do that I think they just perform like a couple times a year.
Kamila
But for like orchestras outside of school.
Kamila
That are well established and that colleges will know, especially if you’re in a major city.
Kamila
Are there awards associated with that?
Kamila
Like, do you?
Kamila
How does the competition go in like the across like orchestras across like the United States?
Kamila
Are there competitions you know when do they happen?
Kamila
What kind of awards do you receive?
Kamila
And do you ever get special mentions?
Kamila
If you, for example like play a solo in that concert?
Trisha
Huh, yeah, those are great questions.
Trisha
So it varies by instrument.
Trisha
You know there are.
Trisha
There are solo competitions for it, like there’s some very famous ones for for violin and for piano world famous ones that people all over would know about.
Trisha
And then there’s like community ones and smaller ones and and pretty much.
Trisha
Every state solo competitions.
Trisha
Often they’re run by either a nonprofit or by a.
Trisha
The music educators of the of the state might have a music educator solo festival where you can win.
Trisha
Parts for the Symphony orchestras.
Trisha
The the youth, orchestras and youth choirs and those kinds of things.
Trisha
Those are usually by audition.
Trisha
So when you put it on your resume, you can list that you were selected.
Trisha
You were one of 14 violins selected to perform to be in this ensemble.
Trisha
So, so the fact that.
Trisha
You got in is kind of the award, and so when we’re creating the resume, we make sure that it’s listed that way, so that if you’re applying to something outside of your area, they can see that, oh, it’s a.
Trisha
Yeah oh they took.
Trisha
They took 4 flutes and so they wanted 4 flutes chosen to do this.
Trisha
This concert series or whatever it is and so you can.
Trisha
There’s when we’re working on the music resume, we find ways to take the things that you’ve done and to get it so that it can be clear on the resume.
Trisha
So we kind of.
Trisha
It’s it’s sort of crafted for you.
Trisha
For the each specific student, so you know if you if you one of the things that we include in the music resume is a whole page of repertoire, which is the music that’s written for your instrument.
Trisha
So if you got to play a major.
Trisha
Symphony if you’re a Piccolo player and you got to play the New World Symphony, for example, everybody everybody in the music department at any school knows about the piccolo part on the New World Symphony.
Trisha
And so when you have your repertoire list, and you say that you will pick a little player with the Boston Youth Symphony and on there it says that he played.
Trisha
Dvorak’s New World Symphony. They’d be like, oh, I know exactly what that is. I know exactly what level they must be at to have been able to do that, so we can we communicate the things that you have won or that you have earned. We can find ways to communicate it in your.
Trisha
On your resume, including.
Trisha
The large ensemble work.
Trisha
By audition and chamber ensembles, those are small groups that you might audition for or be selected for any solo work that you’ve done.
Trisha
So if you did a solo recital, or if you were participating in a solo recital from the music school you attend, or your private teacher where have you all?
Trisha
All of those we we list right on there.
Trisha
One of the awards I set some notes here from.
Trisha
From from your questions, but one of the words that you might win is a scholarship, and so we list the scholarship, winning things and all of them count.
Trisha
I was working with a young woman who won a scholarship that was it was public.
Trisha
It was called like the Tuesday Music Ladies Lunch Scholarship or something like that.
Trisha
It had a very funny name.
Trisha
And in her little.
Trisha
Town there were these very fancy ladies.
Trisha
They were all retired ladies and they loved music and they had like music, lunches on Tuesdays or something and every year they would raise some money and they would have this scholarship that they would give to a local student who.
Trisha
Was going to college.
Trisha
I’m going to play music in college.
Trisha
And so it was like $400.00 or $500.00 or something, right? And when the the client was like, oh, I don’t really have scholarships to list.
Trisha
And she said, oh, I only have this Tuesday lady’s color and it was like what is that? So she told me what?
Trisha
It was and.
Trisha
I’m like you.
Trisha
Won so we list it because then people know that the.
Trisha
That the people in your community.
Trisha
I gave you money to support what you’re doing. It doesn’t matter that it was $500.00. You don’t even have to say how much it was, but any of those little opportunities any of those little you you know, if you want a scholarship to be in the Youth Orchestra.
Trisha
If you want some, a lot of music programs in high schools, public schools, they have little scholarships to take private.
Trisha
Lessons or a scholarship to attend a music camp from a scholarship to buy to put towards a new instrument.
Trisha
If you won one of those, then we listed on your resume so that because that just shows that you’re someone.
Trisha
That people already.
Trisha
Already support, they already feel like you’re.
Trisha
You’re going somewhere and so that’s important to communicate so.
Kamila
All right, so you get a great job of explaining, like the different awards and like especially playing like a certain instrument in a certain like Symphony.
Kamila
That can be really impressive because the people who play music note but like the difficulty of that.
Trisha
Yeah, yeah.
Kamila
Is that what I was?
Kamila
I think this is.
Kamila
I think this is.
Kamila
I heard this from my choir friend, but I’m sure it applies to people who play in symphonies and orchestras.
Kamila
There’s like competitions and there are like judges and they give you a score and there are like other like maybe a couple other schools competing.
Kamila
So when you have.
Kamila
What is like?
Kamila
Is there a competition between like symphonies?
Kamila
What are the scores the judges give you mean like is that a score for the overall or did they give like oh the violins were playing particularly well?
Kamila
Cellos were lacking a bit.
Kamila
I don’t know stuff like do they like how does it look like when you’re actually at a competition and there are judges giving you marks on your orchestra.
Kamila
Or your choir.
Trisha
I love that question, so yeah.
Trisha
There’s all kinds of competitions and and those, so those ensemble competitions.
Trisha
They also have them from marching band and they haven’t filled with passion and they have them for you know when when d’ensemble or what have you leaving him for theater, like your theater group can go perform part of their flag at a play festival and those.
Trisha
Kind of things so.
Trisha
Part of it is a critique, and every group every organization has a different scoring system or whatnot so you know you might get a 5 star performance, or you might get a four rating like they you know they call them all different things and so it it it.
Trisha
It’s almost a moot point, but.
Trisha
They they.
Trisha
They always have something to do with the whole ensemble, and there’s a whole system that they include in it so they would talk about intonation and the choice of repertoire.
Trisha
And all of these things.
Trisha
But if there was a solo, someone might get a special commendation for having an outstanding solo within a piece that they played.
Trisha
So when you list.
Trisha
When you list.
Trisha
That band, so you could say you know my the Triton High school band One five star rating at the music educator, Massachusetts instrumental and Choral conducting association.
Trisha
Either you put down the name of the thing and you say that one a 5 star rating and I got a special commendation.
Trisha
Whatever they call it.
Trisha
At that festival for my solo in X piece so you can list that on your resume. And if you didn’t get a solo then you still could say as a bullet point under the ensemble that you and you still could say that we competed at such and such and won A5.
Trisha
Grading so that they see what your level is and they see the music department at that college will see that you know you’ve been active in a band you were playing, first chair or second chair in a band that’s winning these kinds of things like clearly you’re more experienced than someone who wasn’t in band in school.
Kamila
And then just one other question to do with competitions.
Kamila
You know, I’m from Maryland.
Kamila
So Baltimore Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Kamila
My friends are.
Kamila
All of my friends, right?
Kamila
So like does.
Kamila
For example, the Baltimore Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Kamila
Do they ever compete with, let’s say like the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra?
Kamila
Like, is there ever national competitions?
Trisha
Uhm, I don’t know of 1, but let’s start one that would be so fun.
Kamila
Oh really, my passion.
Trisha
Wouldn’t that be fun?
Trisha
Yeah, sure, I’ll.
Kamila
I’ll I’ll call my friends, it’ll ask them if they would like flighting.
Trisha
Let’s get that planet.
Trisha
We could get people.
Trisha
The youth orchestras from all over the country to come to one place and have them all do a festival.
Trisha
That would be nice.
Kamila
I feel like that.
Kamila
I thought that kind of thing would exist, like I mean there are national robotics competitions where like all over I would think like music is a pretty big thing like they would have something like that.
Trisha
Yeah, they have more.
Trisha
Of that, for solo players or for chamber groups.
Trisha
And I think logistically it’s just easier to bring, you know, a trio or a solo to a competition somewhere in the country than.
Kamila
Oh, that’s true.
Trisha
It is to to.
Kamila
Then it’s cool.
Trisha
To loading your orchestra and travel across the country.
Trisha
Although a lot of the school public schools.
Trisha
Will do that.
Trisha
And they a lot of schools will take their ensembles too.
Trisha
To a uh.
Trisha
A festival and but but the youth orchestras don’t typically do that, but they do tons of stuff that’s really high end anyway, so it might not be necessary, but we’ll think we’ll think about it, maybe.
Trisha
We’ll start it.
Kamila
Alright, so in another line that’s not my last question.
Kamila
So if you, let’s say, play the clarinet for example, are there like statewide national wide competitions specifically for your instrument?
Kamila
’cause I think you mentioned that, but we didn’t elaborate on that.
Trisha
Yeah, so I don’t know the ends and outs of every single instrument, but there are.
Trisha
I know for flute, for example, the National Flute Association has some competitions.
Trisha
The Greater Boston there used to be a group called the Greater Boston Food Association that had.
Trisha
Like competition festival types of things flu talk magazine used to have one so I I don’t know where they all are at this point, but especially post COVID.
Trisha
But there there are lots of organizations for each instrument, and they often have private or solo competitions for that.
Trisha
Instrument various types and you know I tell my clients to just take every audition.
Trisha
Just take every audition, just do it.
Trisha
It gets easy.
Trisha
After you’ve been doing it for a while and you know if you win.
Trisha
If you, if you win a 5 star rating or if you win, you know an A in New Hampshire, there’s a solo festival that the music educators run, and if you play really well, you get an A rating.
Trisha
Then next is the B rating or whatnot.
Trisha
There are some that do gold, silver, bronze, whatever, so to be able to say that you participated in anything and one.
Trisha
When first prize or won a gold rating or those kinds of things that just shows a different level of of commitment and expertise.
Trisha
And so I say, do them all but your private teacher would be the one who knows best about what options are open to you in your area.
Kamila
All right, so I want to get into like a couple last things before we wrap up here.
Kamila
So number one is you definitely mentioned scholarships a lot.
Kamila
I use in our e-mail chain.
Trisha
It’s it’s.
Kamila
You’ve also discussed scholarships like meshing them as well, so can you tell?
Kamila
We do most like.
Kamila
Is it kind of like I don’t know, like an athletic scholarship, to get a music scholarship at merit based schools?
Kamila
Is it pretty much the same kind of process?
Trisha
Huh, yeah, it’s very similar and it’s, you know, just like with athletics, it depends on what they need that year, you know so.
Trisha
So if they don’t, if they’re if they’re looking at their orchestra and they realize that they’re short on cellos and and you come along, and you’ve played in Allstate and you did a summer music program.
Trisha
Then you you know you can take private lessons and all these things.
Trisha
The the the.
Trisha
That information you start a conversation with the music.
Trisha
Department about that stuff.
Trisha
So even before you start applying to the.
Trisha
School and you find out what the options are, what the opportunities are, and you send them all of your stuff and you talk to the cello professor and you talked to the orchestra conductor and you say you know I play the cello and I I want to come to your school.
Trisha
And they might be like, oh, we don’t have many cellos.
Trisha
What have you got up your sleeve and they might hear heavy play and those kinds of things, and so it’s not well, I guess it’s not the same every year, but that’s the same with sports, right?
Trisha
That they don’t need, uh, if they don’t need a specific.
Trisha
If they don’t need, uh, I can’t even say a position on a team if they don’t need a picture.
Trisha
Came up with the position.
Trisha
They don’t need a picture if they’ve got really high end pictures right now, then they’re not going to be going around recruiting to give somebody scholarship money to pitch in their softball team with their baseball team, right?
Trisha
So so but they.
Trisha
The music department, just like the Athletic department music departments at many schools.
Trisha
Of course, every school is.
Trisha
Different, but at many schools music departments.
Trisha
A budget and if they know that we’ve got to get it shallow in here and they find out that you’re what they need, then they might just say here we’re going to.
Trisha
We’ll give you this much money if.
Trisha
You will play.
Trisha
The cello in.
Trisha
Our school I one of my very first.
Trisha
I think she was.
Trisha
My she was my client before I had started.
Trisha
My business music both lives and.
Trisha
I just I was just working with her because I knew all of.
Trisha
This stuff and.
Trisha
She wanted to go to school for.
Trisha
On the field hockey scholarship, and she did all of the field hockey things and she everybody knew that she was going to go on a field hockey scholarship.
Trisha
She won the right stuff she was like and when he came down to it, she just wasn’t.
Trisha
No one, no one looked at her and she not only was she not.
Trisha
Offered a scholarship.
Trisha
But she wasn’t even offered any opportunities to play.
Trisha
And she was a.
Trisha
Really high end field hockey player.
Trisha
But at that point they did.
Trisha
The competition was intense and they just.
Trisha
Didn’t have the the.
Trisha
Need and in the meantime I was forcing her to keep her music resume up to date and to put certain things on it and to go do certain activities so that and I forced her to send her stuff to the music departments and all these things and she.
Trisha
Chose a school and sent all this stuff to the music department and they called her at home and without even an audition they said this was a flute streamlined without even an audition they.
Trisha
Said to her.
Trisha
We need a flutist for our orchestra.
Trisha
If you’ll play in the orchestra will give you full tuition.
Trisha
And she called me and said I was hoping.
Trisha
To let me play in the.
Trisha
Orchestra, right, but instead she went to.
Trisha
School on a on a.
Trisha
Music scholarship to study business.
Trisha
That is a small liberal arts college, but they didn’t have a good flute player and she, she she was, and so they so she got a scholarship and she got to play in the orchestra.
Trisha
Couple years.
Kamila
Damn damn should have planned instrument alright anyway.
Kamila
Anyways, one thing that I forgot to like follow up when you mentioned this earlier, but when music departments don’t reach out like athletic departments, I know I’ve interviewed like student athletes at schools, even like top schools.
Kamila
And they would tell me the recruiting process coaches would come to them, watch them play, talk to them afterwards and that’s how they would contact them and start.
Kamila
Like you know, talking back and forth.
Trisha
I thought you should.
Kamila
But if music departments don’t reach out, what exactly do you have to do on your end?
Kamila
Do you just send?
Kamila
An e-mail to like I don’t know.
Kamila
The band director of the school that you want to play do.
Kamila
Do you need to be introduced like what?
Kamila
How do you even like?
Kamila
Begin to.
Kamila
Ask to be in their music program.
Trisha
It’s much less, UM, it’s much different and less similar at each school than the athletic stuff is.
Trisha
There’s a real system for the athletics, you know, for music degree programs.
Trisha
If you want to go study music, there are some Deans of music departments who will go to college fairs or things like that.
Trisha
And and talk.
Trisha
Up the school, talk up the program, but they’re really not going to.
Trisha
To show up at your orchestra concert and that just doesn’t.
Trisha
It just doesn’t happen like that.
Trisha
What does happen though, is that and.
Trisha
And let’s talk about studying music as a degree.
Trisha
What does happen is that in many instances the private teacher, the private instrument professor at the school, had a lot of say in whether or not they teach a particular student.
Trisha
And So what I and so this is what music build lives, is all about.
Trisha
I’ve always coaching students on how to talk to people at the music department, how to figure out whom to talk to, how to, how to reach out to them, what to send them, what to say.
Trisha
And so one thing to always do is if you have a professor and I have to say that for someone who’s going to study music to become a music, a performance major at a school.
Trisha
Probably the single most important element of the college is your private instructor. You’re going to do all of your one-on-one training.
Trisha
With that person.
Trisha
So you want to know that it’s the right fit and they want to know too?
Trisha
Like they don’t want to teach you if they can’t teach you, you know so.
Trisha
I urge my students to go to masterclasses and now it’s even a little bit easier because some of them are online, so you can at least participate online if not attend in person.
Trisha
But to go to masterclasses where these people are teaching and to have actual conversation with the person and see if you can play for them.
Trisha
See if you can have a.
Trisha
Private lesson with them.
Trisha
See if you can.
Trisha
Just really start a relationship so that so that the school knows that you’re someone that they want to teach, and then yeah, you send your resume to in your repertoire list to the chairman of the department, or to the person who who conducts the ensemble that you’re interested in, and make sure that they know that you’re.
Trisha
Interested make sure that you’re.
Trisha
That that you’re at the right level and that you’re talking and filling in need it.
Trisha
That’s how to do it so the students do that and you could just imagine how much sophistication it takes for a student.
Trisha
You know someone who’s applying for you know biology.
Trisha
They’re not.
Trisha
They’re not reaching out like this, so the music students.
Trisha
Get good at doing this and those are the ones who end up getting really great opportunities.
Trisha
So we music students end up being the ones who are doing the reaching out and getting the information to the right people.
Trisha
And telling them who who they are.
Kamila
Alright, so there’s one more thing I want to discuss before we wrap up is the time commitment that it takes for music.
Trisha
Right?
Trisha
OK.
Kamila
You know, athletics if you want to be the top and you want to play like.
Kamila
Do you like at one of the top schools in football?
Kamila
You got to work your ***** off.
Kamila
Same for music and I will tell I again I have music friends so I know the time commitment.
Kamila
It takes one that clarinet like my classmate who plays the clarinet.
Kamila
I said his sister older sister played the bassoon and she went to like either Juilliard Curtis, one of one of those two right.
Kamila
And like I didn’t hear from him directly, but I heard it from one of our mutual.
Kamila
His family, they constantly moved around to get a high school, which ended up being our high school.
Kamila
A high school that had a good enough music program for her.
Kamila
They were costly moving around as she was constantly playing and like people were visiting her and she was going and like the amount of effort, not just her but her whole family put into and I think This is why he was.
Kamila
Pushed into music as well, but the whole like effort that their family put into just getting their daughter to like one of these top Juilliard occurs one of them.
Kamila
Yeah, this top school was like immense.
Kamila
So and my even my friend, who’s an oboe player.
Kamila
She’s like like should I do it?
Kamila
Should I major in it?
Kamila
Should I just keep it?
Kamila
As a hobby for the rest of my life.
Kamila
So much time in like committed hours and you’re like so frustrated that you can’t play this like line correctly and you just for like hours and hours.
Trisha
Thank you.
Kamila
You said so.
Kamila
If you want to be in music, can you explain like what is the time commitment to true?
Kamila
Because each instrument will have its difficulty, there’s no like one really easy instrument.
Kamila
Can you say like what is like the time commitment that you need?
Kamila
If you really want to create a really sophisticated music resume and just become a really good musician?
Trisha
Yeah, so I would say that the example that you gave is extreme.
Trisha
That’s very extreme.
Kamila
Oh, I know.
Trisha
That is not typical.
Kamila
Juilliard and Carnegie is like.
Trisha
That is not.
Trisha
Typical and it’s extreme and I I can say that I was just working with a client who’s just that.
Trisha
I’m just wrapping up with now who’s gone through the process.
Trisha
Who was I?
Trisha
I think a bit of an underdog and came to me in September, which was really, really late and.
Trisha
But he jumped through all the hoops and did all of the things and we chose.
Trisha
For very.
Trisha
Very wonderful music schools for him to apply to.
Trisha
Two of them are very excellent schools and.
Trisha
He did all the things and he got into all four of his schools with really, really wonderful scholarship options, which was a really great result.
Trisha
And and he’s probably.
Trisha
So, so I don’t.
Trisha
It’s an impossible question to.
Trisha
Answer I would say.
Trisha
That if you want to be a performer that you have to be doing the work every single day.
Trisha
We’ll put it that much and and.
Trisha
And when you get to college, you’ll you’ll work even more every single day.
Trisha
But that holds true with your biology class.
Trisha
You’re taking AP biology.
Trisha
You’re going to be working really hard right now every single day, and then when you go to college to study biology, you’re going to be working even harder and more every single day on biology, right?
Trisha
It’s the same with piano.
Trisha
It’s the same with everything you.
Trisha
You just have to.
Trisha
Really put.
Trisha
Smart time in and and.
Trisha
You know musicians just like athletes are prone to injury.
Trisha
And and to overuse problems.
Trisha
And so if you if you have a really great private teacher and I can’t stress that enough, then your private teacher.
Trisha
Will will help you to figure out.
Trisha
What amount of work is required for you to reach the goals that you want to reach?
Trisha
If your goal is to get into the Juilliard School, then your friends family did all the right things, right?
Trisha
But if your goal is to go to a great university and to be able to March in their gigantic marching band and to get a degree in clarinet and then go on to.
Trisha
Be able to have a career playing the clarinet then you know you can.
Trisha
You don’t have to go through the hoops that the Juilliard family went through.
Trisha
So, so the time commitment you know you hear these stories, you know at Juilliard you practice 8 hours a day.
Trisha
If if if I practiced the flute 8 hours a day, I would hurt myself.
Trisha
You know, like you you can.
Trisha
I know pianists, I have a colleague who, when I was in grad school, she’s a pianist, and she injured her wrists from practicing so much and she had to take a couple of years off.
Kamila
Bro Oh my God right?
Trisha
So, so it’s not just about the time, it’s about the intelligent work.
Trisha
Yeah, there’s a very famous flute flute professor in the little Trevor Y, and he says it’s about time.
Trisha
Patience and intelligent work.
Trisha
And and so I would, I would say that the answer is would be better found with their private teacher.
Trisha
You know somebody who’s it depends on your level.
Trisha
It depends on your goals.
Trisha
You know, but most of the professional musicians I know who are making a living are are practicing a few hours a day.
Trisha
And that’s as part of their profession.
Trisha
Practicing a few hours a day and then they’re in rehearsals for you know however, many hours a week and then they’re in concerts, so.
Trisha
It it, it definitely varies and.
Trisha
It depends on your instrument.
Kamila
Alright, so thank you very much for coming today.
Kamila
Have a good.
Kamila
Rest of the night.
Trisha
You too thank you you you rock, you’re awesome.
Kamila
Now you’re even bad.
Kamila
You made the interview OK, bye.
Trisha
You know you did.
Kamila
Alright, we both did.
Kamila
We both did.
Trisha
We rock, we rock it.
Trisha
I’ll see you later.
Trisha
Right, right, yeah?
Trisha
Thank you.
Trisha
Good luck, love, I feel better.
Trisha
Thank you.
Kamila
Thank you, that’s it for my episode with Trisha.
Kamila
I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
Kamila
I will leave the information for how to contact her down below in the description.
Kamila
Again, make sure you subscribe ’cause next week I’ll be releasing an interview with Ethan.
Kamila
And Ethan, he’s a high school senior.
Kamila
He’s not set on where he wants to go yet, but he did get into USC, UC Berkeley, and a bunch of other uses that I cannot remember right now.
Kamila
And he is currently deciding between USC and Chapman University.
Kamila
You do not want to miss that.
Kamila
And I hope to see you there.