Posted by MikeBrooke on March 10, 2003 at 07:37:06:
In Reply to: Re: A couple of euphonium questions..... posted by Rick Denney on March 09, 2003 at 18:55:56:
Heather,
I think Rick and Doug make very good points, so I'll add my 2 cents. 17 years ago, I had the same choice that you have. I was seriously considering majoring in music at the Univeristy of Md. At that time I was studying with Dr. Bowman and he was teaching at U of M. I was a pretty dcent player and though music would be a really fun major. But, then I started to think about things. Making a living in music, especially euph., is not the easiest thing in the world. For every Dr. Bowman or Steve Mead, there are thousands of competent players that can't compete at the highest levels. I went to high school with a guy that was a superb player. He majored in perfomance at North Western U., tried out for the Marine Band and didn't make the cut. The last I heard, he was a band director at a high school.
I had to ask myself: Why do love to play my horn? Is it for fun and enjoyment or is it something that I would want to make into a career? There's a big difference between the two. For me the choice was to play for fun and enjoyment. After college, I layed off for a number of 10 years during law school, but have recently started playing again. I find that when I play now, I'm much more focused than when I was younger.
My ultimate advice is, don't tie yourself down at this point. Take classes from various areas and see what you like. Also, if you have a private teacher ask him or her what their honest opinion is of your potential as a performer. While this isn't the last word, I truly believe that much of ones success comes from natual ability. If your teacher believes that you have the capability and you have the determination to succeed and make sacrifices, then maybe you could make it as a perfomance major. Otherwise, you can certainly major in other areas of music or other subjects and maintain your playing at a high level.