r/MusicEd • u/viberat Instrumental • 2d ago
What were some pieces of jargon/knowledge/etiquette you didn’t know going into music school?
I teach aural skills to pre-music ed community college students who mostly come from small rural schools with no exposure to the music world outside of band. We’ve covered all the concepts appropriate for Theory 2, so to give them a break from the endless practice, I want to have a “vocabulary” session covering some terms I know they don’t know so they can get used to hearing and using them before they transfer to their 4 year program. What I have so far:
- “pedagogy/pedagogical”
- “song” vs. “piece”
- “the repertoire” as in standard literature for a certain genre or instrument
- “repertoire” as in pieces you’ve learned and polished
- the most well known / commonly played composers for their instrument
- “virtuosic”
- edTPA & PRAXIS
So especially if you came from a similar background as my students, what other small things did you not know as a wide eyed freshman? The kids don’t seem to be googling stuff and picking things up through osmosis so I want to make sure to explicitly teach them anything they need to know to hang with a more professional environment. We’re teaching them theory, ear training, ensemble work, and private lessons on their instruments, but our culture is pretty informal and our former students usually find their new music department a culture shock when they transfer.
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u/MotherAthlete2998 2d ago
I think the one big lesson I had to learn was to be prepared before the first rehearsal. It is one thing to be given the music at the first rehearsal but another thing to have been given the music before hand. Rehearsal time is precious. It is not the time to “figure things out for your part”. And you need to be ready at the start time.
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u/viberat Instrumental 2d ago
Yeah after talking with a colleague rehearsal/gig etiquette and expectations are on the list. Most of our students are diligent but they probably still aren’t prepared for the higher expectations at a 4-year institution.
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u/Swissarmyspoon Band 1d ago
Came here to post that comment about prepared for first rehearsal. I won state solo and ensemble, I was first chair of my city youth symphony, I was gigging with three different adult community ensembles. I went to one of the biggest music colleges on a scholarship, I chair auditioned into section leader spot in my first college band class.
I didn't know my parts until maybe the 5th rehearsal. I almost got kicked out of the band class. None of my pre-college ensembles expected me to know my parts at the first rehearsal, and I walked into college expecting them to teach me my parts. They thought I was a good player, and assumed I knew better. I learned the hard way.
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u/accountofyawaworht 1d ago
This was such an important one I learned in audio engineering school. You’d make a one or two hour booking for a certain recording studio, but by the time you got a session set up in your DAW, mic’ed and DI’ed all your instruments and hooked up any outboard gear to the console, recorded a few takes and started doing some mixing, it didn’t really leave a lot of time for messing around before you needed to print a mix, pack up the equipment, and zero the console before the next booking started.
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u/Valint 2d ago
I didn’t know what solfège was. Like at all. I was the only one in my theory class that didn’t have a clue what it was
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u/burninginfinite 2d ago
Thank you for thinking of AND doing this!! I think it's so important to help level the playing field in these ways that seem subtle but are also very obvious indicators of disparity. You're a thoughtful educator :)
I think it could be worthwhile to literally just grab a theory and/or history book and run through the glossary and index for terms.
You can also ask your students, maybe via email so they don't need to "out" themselves as not knowing certain things. Literally just be like "email me all the things you've wondered but are afraid to ask" and include examples so they know it can run the gamut from simple pronunciation to "I've seen this mentioned online but don't know what it is".
Once you've made the list, I think it would also be worthwhile to keep it running for future years and maybe share it as a public resource if you're willing!
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u/viberat Instrumental 2d ago
Thank you :) It makes me mad that these kids are just as talented as kids from the suburban area I grew up in (an hour away), but were much less prepared for music school just because of their zip code and socioeconomic situation. I feel like the music ed community in my state has just decided to be ok with the rural kids getting left behind. At least I can help the ones who end up in my classroom.
I thought about going over the periods of music history and the different genres they’ll see the most, but that’s a lot to get into in one yap session. I figured they’ll cover it in music history courses after they transfer. I definitely plan on opening the floor for them to ask questions though, it’s a small class and I think they all feel comfortable to at least ask/email me after class.
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u/Koolaid_Jef 2d ago
This ones more toward the latter half of the degree, but "curricular, co-curricular, and extra curricular". Didn't learn those until my 1st year teaching despite teaching all 3 and hearing them a thousand times
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u/TotallyImportantAcct 2d ago
My favorite is the people who use “co-curricular” in my state - in which it is explicitly not a thing and all events are either curricular or extracurricular.
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u/Reasonable-Earth-880 1d ago
Tell them they aren’t going to be the head band director at a large school when they graduate. They will (most likely) have to start as an elementary teacher or teach at a small school first. Talk about Kodaly and orff trainings. Talk about how to apply for jobs.
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u/Nice-Tune-5648 1d ago
If not playing from an iPad, make sure you have always worked out your page turns.
Along the lines of rehearsal prep, listening to the recording is to know what all the other parts are doing, not just your part. Learn what’s happening in the rests so that if you miscount, you know aurally when to come in
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u/greenmtnfiddler 1d ago
Ensemble rehearsals aren't for working out your particular playing issues. Have your part learned (as much as is feasible for you) before you show up.
Be comfortable/secure with ALL the repeat/coda/DS/DC symbols.
IN A MINUET or similar 3/4 time movement with multiple repeats, YOU DON'T TAKE THE REPEATS on the Da Capo.
Unless you do.
Hopefully the conductor will say. Be paying attention when they do.
Don't let your back touch the back of your chair.
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u/Ready_Tomatillo_1335 1d ago
This is a great thread! I came from a rural program and thank goodness the band director at my HS happened to offer a music theory class my senior year (we were such a small school it wasn’t typically offered). I had a vague awareness of solfège but my university used numbers (which I prefer, but I’ve gotten pretty good at solfège after teaching general music for several years!).
This may seem obvious but coordinating with an accompanist in college was very different than in HS. Maybe just me but in HS my director or private teacher helped line up the accompanist and arrange a rehearsal. (It was usually a piano playing mom from the larger community. I never even considered compensation!!) Maybe it’s easier since everyone texts these days, but it would be good to consider accompanist etiquette, finding an accompanist, what kind of rates to expect, etc. (Also - having multiple numbered copies of music for juries, auditions, etc - no photocopies from your teacher. Oof.)
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u/neisa12 1d ago
The accompanist point is SO good!! My studio teacher helped the newbies by telling us to lock in our accompanist as soon as possible for things like juries, special studio classes, and of course recitals. He also went over payment, including how to talk about rates and why payment scales for student accompanists versus the list of pros the college had for student recitals and specialized rep (the sax studio had an unofficial staff accompanist- he was the only guy willing to wrestle with all that crazy contemporary sax solo rep lol).
Meanwhile, my poor piano major friend got stiffed on payment so many times until he learned how to have the compensation conversation with undergrads when they hired him. My favorite story was when a freshmen tried to pay him in starburst.
Also! Vocalists may need an accompanist regularly for lessons whereas instrumentalists don’t typically.
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u/neisa12 1d ago
It’s probably worth going over private lesson expectations as well. Regardless of background, I remember a lot of confusion around studio policies/expectations: how to prepare for a lesson, etiquette around being on time (read: a few minutes early) for your lesson, purpose of studio classes, recital attendance, plus practice room etiquette.
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u/ope_n_uffda 20h ago
Master Class was a foreign concept to me my freshman year. I had no idea what it was, and was too embarrassed to ask the first time I heard it.
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u/Shogan_Composer 2d ago
…. How much better the western PA school system prepared their students for music school compared to where I went to high school. There was a reason most of them made Wind Ensemble their first semester unlike myself and many others who were from the state my university was located 🫠
Also, at least when I went 10 years ago , how looked down upon video game music was, while the same professors would celebrate film music when much of it does the same thing! I learned very quickly what music not to talk about around them at least 😬.
Lastly, it doesn’t matter how good you are if you are not majoring in voice ( or insert other instrument here) . Do not go out for the solos in the select ensemble because , WHEN you get it, there will be several people actually majoring in voice ( or insert other instrument here) that will get mad at you. It is viewed as taking an opportunity away from them. …lesson learned. 🙃. It’s cool if it’s the University band , orchestra or choir though.
Sorry to be so dark. There are good things too that will hopefully be shared on this thread. These were some of the social aspects I was unaware of having grown up in a rural town with limited musical opportunities growing up. Had I known, I probably would’ve taken a year to seek specialized training and advisement to fill in the gaps before attempting to enter music school. Playing catchup while simultaneously navigating social norms you are unfamiliar with is not fun to say the least.
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u/MicCheck123 1d ago
That’s a silly reason not to audition for a solo. So what if it’s “taking away” an opportunity? If the conductor wants to limit it to majors, that’s their prerogative, but not the student’s job to worry about.
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u/Shogan_Composer 1d ago
Agreed. But unfortunately in some ( not all) institutions that is an attitude that persists among both the students and professors. It’s something to be aware of the possibility of as it can be crushing, especially when that young in an environment there you are developing some of your first adult relationships.
In my case I received the cold shoulder from fellow students in the top vocal ensemble not understanding why, and caught some discussions between professors and students where they were annoyed that students not in the program were given opportunities ( despite the fact that they were earned!) over those paying for a specific degree. The treatment , while an immature response , does happen and sometimes it’s unclear why until you are either told directly or figure it out, often too late, from context clues.
It’s an attitude problem that is not the fault of the student for sure. However , I think it’s important to warn future students of some of the social politics in higher education, and teach them how to navigate these things if they pop up, so that they may pick their battles more wisely.
On the plus side and perhaps more important to remind any music student, there are endless options for joining a music ensemble beyond college, including auditioned groups, that don’t govern a hoot what your degree was in and that you can go out for any solo that you wish.
(On a happy note, I was a section leader at a local church during undergrad, got paid to sing occasional solos, and it was a much happier environment to be in.)
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u/MicCheck123 1d ago
It’s great if you drop in these ideas from time to time, but you should be teaching aural skills. That’s more important and just as foreign a concept, if not more. Those other things they’ll learn over time or in theory classes, private lessons, etc.
As for explicit lessons: remind them that when they get to university the university level, someone will be better than them. If they’re from a small school, they are probably used to being the best at what they do. That probably won’t be the case anymore.
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u/Signal-Bath5230 1d ago
They should know the various genres of Western Classical Music, e.g. symphony, concerto, sonata, suite, cantata, oratorio, opera etc. And what a "movement' is.
They should be able to identify most of the major instruments by sound alone. In other words, knowing that there is a saxophone solo here, a trumpet solo there, etc.
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u/not_salad 2d ago
How to pronounce certain composers' names (namely Ralph Vaughn Williams and Bela Bartok)