Just Play

Home for the summer now, and honestly, I could not have asked for a better semester. I've grown so close to my friends and learned so much that I was actually sad to leave.

But one of the most important things that I kept getting reminded of this past year goes along with something I wrote about back in January: so many of us forget why we're in music.

You're in music school. Yes, it's school, but look around you: as a music major, you spend 12 hours a day (sometimes more) surrounded by other people who sing and play instruments at a college level, and want to get better at performing just as much as you do. So why are you not taking advantage of this?! Find a friend who's sitting out in the hall, go on IMSLP, print out a duet, and read it! Play duets, trios, quartets....transpose parts if you have to, but just get out your instruments and play something. Most likely, you'll never be in an environment like this again, so use this opportunity to make the most of it.

Or, just improvise something! We need more of that in our music programs. The ability to improvise shows a real level of creativity, musicality and understanding that many college programs don't stress as much as they should, and it has so many benefits - listening improves, intonation improves, internal rhythm improves, expression improves...and it's tons of fun! You make friends while becoming a better musician. Isn't that why you're here? So when you have a spare 15 minutes, take advantage of where you are and just make music.♫