The Stereotypes of Music Ed Majors

Here is a quick little venting session. I don't think some people realize that Music Majors know more about things other than music. Honestly, I know how wrestling and other sports work. I've seen my fair share of video games. I pay attention to politics. Why is it, that some people are under the impression that we are just music dorks and that thats what we do all day? Music isn't some "dorky" past-time. Music is another way to express feelings and emotions. It allows the audience to create their own story as they listen to the music, or; when given the story outline, can have another visual that the composer was envisioning while composing the piece. Music is a part of everyone's life in some way or another.

Also, I feel as though some people are under the impression that "us Music Majors have it easy". In high school I was the only string player. Not just high school, but k-12. I used to hear, "well getting a major in Music should be easy. You just have to play your instrument." Another thing I always heard from classmates was, "why do you always practice?" My response would be, "why do you practice everyday for football? What's the difference?"

I don't believe people really know how involved and time consuming becoming a Music Educator really is. We have an extremely heavy class/work load, rehearsals, lessons and on top of all of that, at least 2 hours of practice everyday (for instrumentalists that is). The credits for our music education k-12 minor is basically equivalent to that of a regular major. That's a lot of work. That is one of the reasons many people end up dropping their education minor and are just Music Majors. On top of that, there are the select few who are both Vocal AND Instrumental education majors. It will be a LOT of work, but I will graduate and do my student teaching in 9 semesters. Not only will I graduate from Luther with a Vocal and Instrumental Education Degree, but also a Sociology degree.