The most important thing I learned in music school was that I didn’t want to be a professional musician. I have loved playing recorder for 50 years since then, just for fun.
I agree. “Playing music is supposed to be fun. It's about heart, it's about feeling moving people, and something beautiful, and it's not about notes on a page. I can teach you notes on a page, I can't teach you that other stuff.” - Glenn Holland from the 1995 movie “Mr. Holland’s Opus” 😊 ♫
Just to say that when your muscle memory has vanished as you've aged, you really begin to wish you had learned EVERY musical fact, EVERY instrument and EVERY piece of music in your teens and twenties because those are still secure! Stuff your brains, little ones - in your sixties you will be grateful!
this video came in the right exact time! because in about two weeks my classes in conservatoire start and I was veeery nervous but now after hearing all this I’m feeling a bit better ♥️
I’m glad that you made a small comment about it being okay if you try for months or years and discover it isn’t for you. I started training in performance singing, then realised that the teaching was mainly for opera and that was never a direction I wanted to take. I think I have second-guessed my decision since because it led to a lot of changes in my life; some positive, some negative. But your video twelve years later has helped me realise that it is okay to have tried and then realised that wasn’t for me. Thank you.
So true about taking all your classes with enthusiasm, even if you think they will be boring. I took that approach with all my engineering courses except one. I just didn’t care about the topic, but it was required. Years later it was the one thing I needed for a project at work, and I really wished I had had a better foundation in it. So my advice is to go with gusto in all your classes and learn as much as you can. You never know when you’ll need it!
One time when I was studying at Ohio State University, I happened to be at the music library. Tired of studying, I happened to notice a row of books that combined looked like a World Book or other series. Each had a year listed on the binding. I opened a book to a random page and saw a series of pictures. Under each picture was a listing of the person's name and music-related degree, usually an instrument they were receiving. Each picture was of a graduate. They all were very nicely dressed but on each face their eyes betrayed a sense of impending terror as they asked themselves: "I'm graduating with a music degree. What am I going to do now?"
Many thanks Sarah your advice was really insightful and helpful - i was listening because i was interested in what you had to say and walked away with some helpful tips i can apply in other spheres as well as Music
I've just sent this to my oboe teacher daughter who is contemplating resuming work after having a baby. Getting a first in performance means nothing to her - she still suffers from 'imposter syndrome'! Thanks for backing up what I said to her about loads of people feeling it in the music world! Great video!
That was great advice. I know a lot of professionals and your words are solid and to the point. The only ones who are going to disagree are probably some of those those who are / want to be top notch professional concert soloists. Those are competitive ones and they want it all, now with cheers and confettis. No setback is tolerable for them. I only wish my love for musich had begun earlier, when I was in time to be more than an amateur. But then again, music is an individual journey and I'm making the best of what I can do now and try to enjoy the ride fully.
Ah, that took me back 20 years...but I agree with everything you said. From a performance standpoint, I was always "better than average but still not good enough," but from a teaching standpoint, I proved myself successful right out of the gate, my vague point being there are 100s of "careers in music" and they are all measured successful in just as many ways. Your musician friends becoming doctors: Yep. I have heard from my musician-turned-doctor friends that pre-med and then med school was way, way easier than being a music major. :)
Hey, I stumbled onto your videos and am now bingeing lots of them, they and you are the absolute vicar’s knickers. I had a little giggle thinking that you look SO like a recorder player, just like those recorder girls in Birmingham (hurr durr), before quickly realising that the joke’s on me, I was actually thinking of you back in Birmingham... I think we were in an elective Medieval/Renaissance class together c:a 2006, led by William Lyons. If you happen to remember a random singer among the early music people playing shawms and racketts, that was me XD
While watching yours, The Flute Channel and Twosetviolin videos, I regret so much I gave up on studying music professionally. Hope I can still try it after finishing my bachelor's degree at Faculty of Arts.
Good tips. I studied at the RAM, and then other places. But my daughter is now looking to study dance at conservatoire (auditions starting soon) and it is interesting to see someone closer to her age give some sound advice.
Thank you! This video really helped me💗💗I am 13 years old and in 1 1/2 month I’ll start studying at the conservatory in my country😇I was being so nervous the last few months because I thought do I really belong there? I heard some of the other pianists play and they play really really good😮 I thought I’d need to practice and learn everything now, so I could be like the others, but I’ll learn everything in my new school! So I can go there and learn about music, there is no need to learn everything now☺️I decided to apply for the conservatory last year, and back then I was not good in playing piano😬my piano teacher brought me to a professor at the conservatory and I had a lesson once a month at the conservatory😅my audition was in february and i got accepted :) my new professor talked to my father and she told him that she didn’t think i could do it at the beginning, but i developed really fast and apparently i have the potential to become a good pianist😊that’s making me really happy, but I saw videos of the other piano players and then I was a bit down lately🥺 Your video really inspired me and I know I can get better! I don’t have to be scared and anxious about it so I’ll look forward to the conservatory❣️Thank you so much😭💓
This would have been excellent advice to me in 1973. And you never know where life will take you - My second career in music and broadcasting started after retirement. At nearly seventy - I'm still learning about performance.
thanks for this video, i found it quite interesting even though i won't be going to a conservatoire for a few years. i will hopefully be going to Birmingham conservatoire to study piano performance but I'll be sure to bring my recorders with me!
Emily that's so exciting! What made you decide on Birmingham?? I'm doing some research into what factors go into students picking a specific place to study and any info would be a huge help!
@@heatherhawken Well I was looking on their website and it looks like they have a good piano department and I'd be much more likely to get a place there than RCM or something. I'm trying to get into a conservatoire rather than doing music at a regular university because I'm more interested in performance than studying music as a subject like at A-level, and I think a conservatoire is the best place to do that, plus there would be many more ensembles and opportunities than at a uni. I was also looking at leeds college of music because it would be easier to get into and they have a lot of variety with courses but I don't think their classical course is as good as birmingham. I hope this helped.
@@emilynightingale7758 Ok fair enough! But I would say, don't just look at places that you think will be easy to get into... They'll all have rigerous audition processes and you may find that you're able to rise to the challenge of a college that you find inspiring :)
Thank you. Please tell us how you did a double Bachelors in, two different countries &, presumably, 2 languages. Why did you choose Amsterdam and what was your experience learning Dutch ?
I didn’t do a double bachelors! I did a four year bachelors in the UK, and then afterwards a 3 year bachelors in NL. Wanna say this was a good few years ago (started in 2003!) so my study fees were a tiny fraction of what they would be now!!
I chose Amsterdam because of its reputation for contemporary music 😊 Learning Dutch was quite easy coming from English (they are relatively similar) but the hard thing was practising, as everyone speaks such good English! So I tried to always stay a bit ahead of the curve (“oh, your dutch is good for one month”, “your dutch is good for one year” etc), and working with kids where I could (babysitting and later teachibg) as that’s an effective way to learn!
5 лет назад
Thank you so much Sarah. And I wish someone said to me 20 years ago.
Hi Sarah - Do you know the tune, "The Shepard's Flute"? It appears in a recorder tutorial I have and I'm trying to get the feel of a 5/4. If you know this tune could you post a playing of it? Thanks!
Hi Sara, I'm currently studying the recorder at the conservatory of Milan. But I would like to do an erasmus, or my masters in england, what places would you recommend? And do you know any of them that provide scholarships? I thank you in advance!
I can of course recommend the Royal College of music, as I’m a professor there! We have 3 specialist professors (for baroque, renaissance, and contemporary), and a lot of chamber music. There is quite a lot of scholarship support, though I don’t have anything to do with that- the admissions department will be able to help you. There are also recorder departments at Royal Academy, Guildhall, Royal Birmingham and Royal Northern. Good luck with your search and email me if you have further questions!
Thank you for your great videos. Because of them I startet recorder playing and felt imminently in love with this wonderful Instrument. I have an idea for a video: Something about practice with a metronome and practice rhythm
The most important thing I learned in music school was that I didn’t want to be a professional musician. I have loved playing recorder for 50 years since then, just for fun.
I agree. “Playing music is supposed to be fun. It's about heart, it's about feeling moving people, and something beautiful, and it's not about notes on a page. I can teach you notes on a page, I can't teach you that other stuff.”
- Glenn Holland from the 1995 movie “Mr. Holland’s Opus” 😊 ♫
Don't worry if you can't be like Ling Ling and practice 40 hours a day
100%! I think one of the biggest mistakes that music students make is not differentiating between good practice and lots of practice...
Just to say that when your muscle memory has vanished as you've aged, you really begin to wish you had learned EVERY musical fact, EVERY instrument and EVERY piece of music in your teens and twenties because those are still secure! Stuff your brains, little ones - in your sixties you will be grateful!
this video came in the right exact time! because in about two weeks my classes in conservatoire start and I was veeery nervous but now after hearing all this I’m feeling a bit better ♥️
So exciting! How's it gone so far??
I’m glad that you made a small comment about it being okay if you try for months or years and discover it isn’t for you. I started training in performance singing, then realised that the teaching was mainly for opera and that was never a direction I wanted to take. I think I have second-guessed my decision since because it led to a lot of changes in my life; some positive, some negative. But your video twelve years later has helped me realise that it is okay to have tried and then realised that wasn’t for me. Thank you.
Excellent advice! And I love hearing B's squeals in the background. Baby + Music = Happiest Days!
So true about taking all your classes with enthusiasm, even if you think they will be boring. I took that approach with all my engineering courses except one. I just didn’t care about the topic, but it was required. Years later it was the one thing I needed for a project at work, and I really wished I had had a better foundation in it. So my advice is to go with gusto in all your classes and learn as much as you can. You never know when you’ll need it!
One time when I was studying at Ohio State University, I happened to be at the music library. Tired of studying, I happened to notice a row of books that combined looked like a World Book or other series. Each had a year listed on the binding. I opened a book to a random page and saw a series of pictures. Under each picture was a listing of the person's name and music-related degree, usually an instrument they were receiving. Each picture was of a graduate. They all were very nicely dressed but on each face their eyes betrayed a sense of impending terror as they asked themselves: "I'm graduating with a music degree. What am I going to do now?"
Great advice applicable to life in general, I wished someone said this to me 10 years ago
Yes! I'm so excited that more information about music college is out in the world now
Many thanks Sarah your advice was really insightful and helpful - i was listening because i was interested in what you had to say and walked away with some helpful tips i can apply in other spheres as well as Music
I've just sent this to my oboe teacher daughter who is contemplating resuming work after having a baby. Getting a first in performance means nothing to her - she still suffers from 'imposter syndrome'! Thanks for backing up what I said to her about loads of people feeling it in the music world! Great video!
To all Ling Ling wannabes 5:43
That was great advice. I know a lot of professionals and your words are solid and to the point.
The only ones who are going to disagree are probably some of those those who are / want to be top notch professional concert soloists. Those are competitive ones and they want it all, now with cheers and confettis. No setback is tolerable for them.
I only wish my love for musich had begun earlier, when I was in time to be more than an amateur. But then again, music is an individual journey and I'm making the best of what I can do now and try to enjoy the ride fully.
Ah, that took me back 20 years...but I agree with everything you said. From a performance standpoint, I was always "better than average but still not good enough," but from a teaching standpoint, I proved myself successful right out of the gate, my vague point being there are 100s of "careers in music" and they are all measured successful in just as many ways. Your musician friends becoming doctors: Yep. I have heard from my musician-turned-doctor friends that pre-med and then med school was way, way easier than being a music major. :)
don't disregard this, this is pretty good for lots of uni degrees.
Sarah Jeffery was a LEGEND when she was in school.
Hey, I stumbled onto your videos and am now bingeing lots of them, they and you are the absolute vicar’s knickers. I had a little giggle thinking that you look SO like a recorder player, just like those recorder girls in Birmingham (hurr durr), before quickly realising that the joke’s on me, I was actually thinking of you back in Birmingham... I think we were in an elective Medieval/Renaissance class together c:a 2006, led by William Lyons. If you happen to remember a random singer among the early music people playing shawms and racketts, that was me XD
While watching yours, The Flute Channel and Twosetviolin videos, I regret so much I gave up on studying music professionally. Hope I can still try it after finishing my bachelor's degree at Faculty of Arts.
Would have been great to have had this advice when I started undergraduate in 1969! Then again for conservatory in 1973.
Good tips. I studied at the RAM, and then other places. But my daughter is now looking to study dance at conservatoire (auditions starting soon) and it is interesting to see someone closer to her age give some sound advice.
Thank you! This video really helped me💗💗I am 13 years old and in 1 1/2 month I’ll start studying at the conservatory in my country😇I was being so nervous the last few months because I thought do I really belong there? I heard some of the other pianists play and they play really really good😮 I thought I’d need to practice and learn everything now, so I could be like the others, but I’ll learn everything in my new school! So I can go there and learn about music, there is no need to learn everything now☺️I decided to apply for the conservatory last year, and back then I was not good in playing piano😬my piano teacher brought me to a professor at the conservatory and I had a lesson once a month at the conservatory😅my audition was in february and i got accepted :) my new professor talked to my father and she told him that she didn’t think i could do it at the beginning, but i developed really fast and apparently i have the potential to become a good pianist😊that’s making me really happy, but I saw videos of the other piano players and then I was a bit down lately🥺
Your video really inspired me and I know I can get better! I don’t have to be scared and anxious about it so I’ll look forward to the conservatory❣️Thank you so much😭💓
That’s amazing!! Good luck you are gonna be great! Remember to enjoy it 😉😘
This would have been excellent advice to me in 1973. And you never know where life will take you - My second career in music and broadcasting started after retirement. At nearly seventy - I'm still learning about performance.
You forgot some of us were watching it because we felt nostalgic for 40 odd years ago lol!
thanks for this video, i found it quite interesting even though i won't be going to a conservatoire for a few years. i will hopefully be going to Birmingham conservatoire to study piano performance but I'll be sure to bring my recorders with me!
Emily that's so exciting! What made you decide on Birmingham?? I'm doing some research into what factors go into students picking a specific place to study and any info would be a huge help!
@@heatherhawken Well I was looking on their website and it looks like they have a good piano department and I'd be much more likely to get a place there than RCM or something. I'm trying to get into a conservatoire rather than doing music at a regular university because I'm more interested in performance than studying music as a subject like at A-level, and I think a conservatoire is the best place to do that, plus there would be many more ensembles and opportunities than at a uni.
I was also looking at leeds college of music because it would be easier to get into and they have a lot of variety with courses but I don't think their classical course is as good as birmingham.
I hope this helped.
@@emilynightingale7758 Amazing, yes that's really helpful thank you! x
@@emilynightingale7758 Ok fair enough! But I would say, don't just look at places that you think will be easy to get into... They'll all have rigerous audition processes and you may find that you're able to rise to the challenge of a college that you find inspiring :)
Thank you. Please tell us how you did a double Bachelors in, two different countries &, presumably, 2 languages. Why did you choose Amsterdam and what was your experience learning Dutch ?
I didn’t do a double bachelors! I did a four year bachelors in the UK, and then afterwards a 3 year bachelors in NL. Wanna say this was a good few years ago (started in 2003!) so my study fees were a tiny fraction of what they would be now!!
I chose Amsterdam because of its reputation for contemporary music 😊 Learning Dutch was quite easy coming from English (they are relatively similar) but the hard thing was practising, as everyone speaks such good English! So I tried to always stay a bit ahead of the curve (“oh, your dutch is good for one month”, “your dutch is good for one year” etc), and working with kids where I could (babysitting and later teachibg) as that’s an effective way to learn!
Thank you so much Sarah. And I wish someone said to me 20 years ago.
Hi Sarah - Do you know the tune, "The Shepard's Flute"? It appears in a recorder tutorial I have and I'm trying to get the feel of a 5/4. If you know this tune could you post a playing of it? Thanks!
I don't play recorder but enjoy your videos anyway. Regards from Slovenia
I don't play recorder but enjoy your videos anyway. Regards from France.
So, is the Italian Language a subject of study? Because so many, if not all, musical terms are in Italian.
Hi Sara, I'm currently studying the recorder at the conservatory of Milan. But I would like to do an erasmus, or my masters in england, what places would you recommend? And do you know any of them that provide scholarships? I thank you in advance!
I can of course recommend the Royal College of music, as I’m a professor there! We have 3 specialist professors (for baroque, renaissance, and contemporary), and a lot of chamber music. There is quite a lot of scholarship support, though I don’t have anything to do with that- the admissions department will be able to help you. There are also recorder departments at Royal Academy, Guildhall, Royal Birmingham and Royal Northern. Good luck with your search and email me if you have further questions!
So it is allowed to study a music bachelor twice on different schools? Do you think it also would have been allowed twice in the same country?
Hmm good question! I did my 2 bachelors in 2 different countries so didnt run into that...
I don't know which shall i play? Tin whistle or recorder 😵😵😵
Tin whistle is diatonic. Recorder is chromatic and therefore you can play in all the keys.
Both? :)
Umm...
Why pick one? Why not both?
I am going to RBC!!!
Thank you for your great videos. Because of them I startet recorder playing and felt imminently in love with this wonderful Instrument.
I have an idea for a video: Something about practice with a metronome and practice rhythm
MY FIRST COMMENT EVER!!!
Pity your channel wasn't around when I was 16....
I just discoverd this channel and i just went wait people play recorder after 4th grade and it sounds decent well its still not a real instrument