Is it even possible for me to major music?

[george428]

i started playing piano in December, Nov 2012 so i basically have little to no experience. I really love playing the piano and want to have a profession in the field of music. since 2012 I've been doing scales and arpeggios that the school teacher has instructed me to do. I've been steadily progressing but i don't know if I'm moving fast enough. i recently got myself a jazz instructor and the hanon virtuoso pianist book to improve technique. I also want to get a classical teacher in the summer to build a repertoire( i have no classical rep.) and oversee my hanon study, and if it help my case at all, i did earn a silver medal at the naacp act-so music competition. with all these things in place, do you believe that i have a shot at all? though it still wont stop me from trying, i want an opinion from other people.

[faulty_damper]

Probably not.  What's really important for a music major is how quickly you can learn pieces.  If you're a slow learner, it means you have multiple issues that you need to get over.  The semester system doesn't really allow you to develop proficient enough technique; you'll end up relying on whatever technical habits you already have.  And the fact that you're doing Hanon exercises is a impediment to building real technique.

Having said this, I auditioned to the music program at my school after having played the piano for a little over two years of practice and study.  I was accepted based on my musicianship as I had very poor technique.  However, lessons were a total waste of time since my teachers wanted me to learn repertoire when all I wanted was to learn how to play the piano.

[george428]

Having said this, I auditioned to the music program at my school after having played the piano for a little over two years of practice and study.  I was accepted based on my musicianship as I had very poor technique.

you were accepted based on musicianship? i dont understand.
also, is piano your main instrument ?

[faulty_damper]

Musicianship = making music at a high quality.  Piano is my main instrument.

[iansinclair]

May I remind you that "music major" does not necessarily mean "concert pianist"?  There is a lot more to music and a music major than fantastic technique!  So I'd say yes -- you can be a music major, at least at many schools, without ever intending to embark on a performing career.

[m1469]

It depends upon the Institution, of course, but the short and general answer is most likely yes, though if it's not the right place, there can be some no's in there, too.  It is important to be considering what is right for you right now, and while it can be very enchanting to think about and want to just be accepted to a program (-any program-), if you are really serious about your progress you will want to make sure that whatever your next steps are, are truly in line with what you need.  The teacher you will be working with and the environment you will be working within, as well as knowing at least some aspects of yourself and how you learn, are very important factors towards your actual progress.  If you don't know any of these things and have no idea how to figure those out, then probably any program will do as a step towards helping you to discover them.  Of course, you can still earn a degree even if learning factors don't all line up, but earning a degree isn't necessarily the exact same thing as making the most progress you can possibly make during that time.

[awesom_o]

If you're a slow learner, it means you have multiple issues that you need to get over.  The semester system doesn't really allow you to develop proficient enough technique; you'll end up relying on whatever technical habits you already have.  And the fact that you're doing Hanon exercises is a impediment to building real technique.

I don't often say this, but I very much agree with what faulty_damper has written in this paragraph.

[gore234]

And the fact that you're doing Hanon exercises is a impediment to building real technique.

  Can you explain why Hanon exercises would be a impediment? I seem to think hanon exercises would be ok for a beginner  and learning harder technique such as those found in a chopin or Czerny etudes would come later.  I understand that Hanon exercises do not build real technique but I would think to learn easy stuff first.

[faulty_damper]

  Can you explain why Hanon exercises would be a impediment? I seem to think hanon exercises would be ok for a beginner  and learning harder technique such as those found in a chopin or Czerny etudes would come later.  I understand that Hanon exercises do not build real technique but I would think to learn easy stuff first.

It's a finger-only exercise if you follow the instructions.  If you didn't follow the instructions, it might be okay but then it must be played musically, not percussively.  It's also incredibly restrictive and there is an incredible amount of positions the body can adopt to play them, which allows the formation of poor form, amongst other issues.  There have been many more thorough discussions on Hanon before so if you search you can find some.  The older posts contained more convincing arguments.

[Bob]

I would doubt it.  That's a year and half of study. 

What are you going to do with the degree? Music ed?  Otherwise, if you're starting later, the only other areas I've heard of people getting to a high level while starting later are conducting and composing. 

Getting in on... jazz?  You'd have to do an audition.  That's usually a year before you would actually attend, at least from what I've seen.

Post some recordings and titles of pieces you've worked.

Ah yes... The auditions usually have requirements for the pieces.  1 Baroque piece, 1 mvt from a Sonata, etc....

[lelle]

It's a finger-only exercise if you follow the instructions.  If you didn't follow the instructions, it might be okay but then it must be played musically, not percussively.  It's also incredibly restrictive and there is an incredible amount of positions the body can adopt to play them, which allows the formation of poor form, amongst other issues.  There have been many more thorough discussions on Hanon before so if you search you can find some.  The older posts contained more convincing arguments.

For me this is actually the most convincing argument you have made. Though I don't claim to have read every post you've made I've often felt like I'm missing the explanation why you are anti technical exercises, but this one made it clear. I also think exercises can reinforce bad form if you drill them mechanically and with strain (as can playing "real" repertoire). When assigned technical exercises you should be shown how to do them with proper form (healthy movements), so you can use them to reinforce and refine those movement habits and their sensations.

[lazyfingers]

 Can you explain why Hanon exercises would be a impediment? I seem to think hanon exercises would be ok for a beginner  and learning harder technique such as those found in a chopin or Czerny etudes would come later.  

It would be nice if life were so black and white.

I understand that Hanon exercises do not build real technique but I would think to learn easy stuff first.

Whoever said Hanon "was easy" had no idea. It is true that Hanon's Art of Dexterity has its detractors, principally because of its predominant focus on finger independance/equality and lack of musicality.

But in life, nothing is as blackandwhite as it seems: what is an advantage is also a disadvantage and vice versa.

It is however not true that Chopin's technical studies makes Hanon's superfluous. Both teach finger dexterity and independence; something that those who came much later eg. Amy Whitehouse, Taubman etc underplay. The principal objection that Chopin had was that Hanon stressed finger equality whereas he stressed that every finger had a different "colour". So, Chopin was in favour of finger independence after all.

The problem I see with Amy Whitehouse's theory and those that followed (e.g. Taubman) is that even in fast passages they had to deal with finger dexterity. There is no way that that the forearm can exert any influence once the forearm is already in place (when notes are consecutive for example). And those pesky rotations etc cannot happen quickly enough in chromatic scales for example.

I still play Hanon occasionally when I need to brush up on certain technique. The benefit of Hanon is that you don't have to expand your time learning notes... that is its simplicity (and hence also its downfall). As long as you know that every job has its tool, and there is no such thing as a universal tool.

[lazyfingers]

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