A Life in Music and Practicing

How do people come to play in symphony orchestras? What is life for a professional musician like?
Most musicians in symphony orchestras prepare many years for their jobs. Typically, they began studying an instrument as children and participated in school and private musical programs throughout their student years.

Often during or after high school years aspiring professional musicians study with a highly skilled instrumental teacher independently or at a conservatory or in college or university. Many musicians participate in summer music schools or camps, as well.

In addition to instruction, experience is very important. Most players who end up in a professional symphony perform in many smaller school or community orchestras throughout the years of their training. Performing in the orchestra pit for school and amateur theater groups presenting musical comedies or operas is another way young musicians get valuable experience which may lead to a career in music.

This experience helps young musicians develop in several important ways. Being a part of an ensemble (a group of musicians who perform together) helps instrumentalists improve their sense of pitch and rhythm. It also provides a chance to learn how conductors work, to follow their tempos (the speed at which a piece is played) and interpretive directions, for instance.

These steps, early study, lots of practice and experience at school and for fun, might remind you of an activity that has a lot in common with music, sports. Both require a sense of teamwork and physical and mental skill. And both are very competitive for those who hope to become professional.

One aspect of this competition is the audition, an unavoidable part of musical life for most professionals. Just as a baseball or soccer player may have to try out for a team and compete with other players for a spot, musicians have to try out or audition for a pace in an orchestra or for entrance into a music school. Sometimes the applicant provides a recording in advance, but a live performance (usually for a small number of people) is generally required. An interesting aspect of orchestral auditions is that sometimes the people listening to the audition and the auditioner cannot see one another. These are called 'blind' auditions and a screen is put up so that the music can be heard but the looks or visual impression of the player are not taken into account.

When, through a combination of talent, hard work and luck, a musician joins a large symphony orchestra, it's a full time job, with several performances per week during the season (from fall to spring, just like the school year) as well as rehearsals every week.

Some orchestras (including both the Boston Pops and the Boston Symphony) travel to perform on tour in other cities in the U.S. or abroad. When this happens every single instrument gets packed up and shipped by truck or airplane and then is unpacked and loaded in to a concert hall in a new city.

Some orchestral musicians are involved in other musical activities in addition to their job with the symphony. Often they teach or perform in smaller ensembles, for instance string quartets. They may be composers as well. Some also play other types of music, jazz for example or other instruments in addition to the one they have mastered professionally. (Many musicians of all kinds began their studies on the piano and continue to play piano their whole lives.)

What about practicing? I'd love to play in a symphony some day but do I have to practice?
Students learning how to play instruments often ask why practice? Practicing may not seem like much fun at all, and sometimes drags on and on -- no matter how good you are!

Here are a few ways to think about practicing that may make it easier: Musicians have to practice just as athletes have to practice; both must work hard to gain control over the muscles whether those are being used to shoot free throws in basketball or bow a violin.

Just as athletic teams have regular schedules for practices, setting regular times for your practicing helps a lot. Schedule up a daily block of time and ask others in your household for help in keeping to that time.

When that part of the day comes, go to a private spot -- or if you must practice in a room everyone uses, ask for as much privacy as possible. It's best not to be interrupted by distractions such as phone calls or the television.

Once you've got a routine down for a place and time, you don't have to worry about it any more. Just like brushing your teeth, it's a built in ritual that you won't have to make a decision about every day. And after that routine is in place, don't get frustrated by what seems like slow (or even no) progress. Music is tough and you may hope to hear changes in a day or two, or a week or month, but you may not hear any at all. This doesn't mean that things aren't happening, sometimes you'll make what may feel like sudden progress -- something works that wasn't working before and you've gotten better. This is because you have been making small steps -- too small to hear -- all along.

Learning music, like learning anything doesn't necessarily go fast or slow. It takes its own time and will probably surprise you if you stick with it.

Set small goals and give yourself positive feedback when you achieve them. Carnegie Hall dreams may be in your mind, but the next five measures of your piano exercise may be in front of you. Stick to learning those next five and the five after that -- and enjoy it and how it builds it to a larger piece and to better and better playing. Carnegie Hall will come along if it's meant to, and even if it hasn't you've been enjoying your music making along the way.

Use your mind when you are practicing. Really concentrating is a great way to keep things from getting boring. Pay attention to how you are playing and what the sound is like -- and really listen. Even if what you are working on is not going as you would like, you can always gain by listening every moment.

Keep a notebook of your practicing (your teacher has already probably asked you to); and in it write what you have done and what you are still working on. You can also keep track of things that worked particularly well or didn't work at all, or questions that might have come up which you would like to remember to ask your teacher.

And if you miss a day for whatever reason, don't beat yourself up about it -- or worry about making up for lost time. Just pick up the next day and keep working in your regular manner. Step by step and note by note, you'll become a musician.

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