Musician Roll Call

[laurad1125]

I was excited to read about others here who would like to get/finish a degree in music in the "What would you study if you went back to school?" thread. It made me wonder about the other musicians here on the board.

 

So who's out there? What do you play and how do you work your music into your current life? What would you like to do with it "someday?"

 

I play the cello and have since I was 12. I also play flute, a bit of piano and a bit of guitar. I tried the oboe but it gave me headaches. I still dream about playing that.

 

I played through college and then stopped for about 15 years. (Though I played quite a bit of flute during this time and played the cello off and on then.) I picked my cello up again about 2 years ago and am currently playing in a regional symphony. We rehearse once a week and play 6 concerts a year. I am also working on my own development, taking lessons periodically. I'm teaching my ds7 to play the cello as part of his school.

 

I'd love to reach the level of being able to play at a semi-professional level which to me means being able to play some of the standard repertoire (concertos and the like) and possibly play in a quartet at weddings and such. Who knows if I'll get there. I hope to get a degree in music after my kids finish college.

[FaithManor]

Triple Major in piano performance, music education, and philosophy. I was also accomplished on the flute and as an alto/second soprano.

 

I've played professionally and when you don't have a family, that's great. Once the babies came, OH MY WORD...I was a rehearsal accompanist for opera...let me just say I've had my fill of termperamental choreographers, directors, conductors, and SOPRANOS WITH A HIGHLY INFLATED VIEW OF JUST HOW WONDERFUL THEY ARE IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THE MUSICAL WORLD!

 

DD, an accomplished pianist, and I are working on the the Sibelius Concerto (highlighted during the Fantasia 2000 scene with the toy soldiers). She really wanted to tackle it and I play the orchestral reduction. My second piano really needs to be replaced/upgraded and I hope to do that this summer.

 

Currently, I just do church music. The homeschooling, dh's job requiring 75-80 hours per week, etc. has made it exhausting for me to also try to work in performing without being able to rely on him to pick up the slack here. Someday, the last one will graduate and I may head to grad school. I've got a while before I'll be able to think about that.

 

Faith

[1bassoon]

Hey y'all -

 

Music Ed major here, with a concentration in Music Therapy.

 

Right now, I take all the bassoon gigs I can get (just got a job to play a Mozart opera in April - YAY) and am carrying 9 piano students.

 

That's my story, and I'm sticking with it!

[Chocolate Rose]

I got a double degree in music performance and education. My instrument is flute. After college I played in a community symphony and also a wind quintet, both of which did quite a bit of performing. My dream was to be a performer. I played at weddings, etc occasionally. We moved away from that area about 12 years ago and I have really done nothing musically. Life has gotten in the way. I keep hoping to get back to it at some point. I even go so far as to order music that I've wanted to learn, but then it just sits because, again, life gets in the way. I'm still hopeful that at some point I will be able to start playing again.

Edited March 5, 2011 by Stacy in WA

[Dmmetler]

Musicology/Woodwind studies undergrad with a music ed/elementary ed graduate degree. I'm an Orff-Schelwerk trained music teacher, and have done some Kodaly and Dalcroze, although not nearly as much as I'd like.

 

I play saxophone, clarinet, recorder, and piano, and have voice training. I currently teach early childhood music classes, direct a children's choir, and write early childhood music curriculum. All while homeschooling a child who much prefers dance to music.

[1bassoon]

Musicology/Woodwind studies undergrad with a music ed/elementary ed graduate degree. I'm an Orff-Schelwerk trained music teacher, and have done some Kodaly and Dalcroze, although not nearly as much as I'd like.

 

I play saxophone, clarinet, recorder, and piano, and have voice training. I currently teach early childhood music classes, direct a children's choir, and write early childhood music curriculum. All while homeschooling a child who much prefers dance to music.

 

No kidding!

 

I did a fair amount of Orff/Kodaly/Dalcroze as well. . . . I'd love to market music classes to homeschoolers, but no one seems interested. Sigh.

 

And my eldest prefers dance to music, too!!! Interesting

[KristinaBreece]

I have half of a Music Ed degree with a French horn major. I also play the saxophone, and I really enjoy playing jazz trombone. I can't wait for my kids to be a little older, so I can get back into ensemble playing. Arranging regular to semi-regular childcare for 2 kids under 5 on a single income is tricky.

[Peek a Boo]

no degree, just marching band. ;)

 

clarinet.

we use little mountain ocarinas here and take them all over. the little things are great for everyday use....

 

made by a homeschool dad who uses it as a business for his special needs kids to help out with.

 

mountainocarinas.com

[FO4UR]

I'd love to market music classes to homeschoolers, but no one seems interested. Sigh.

 

 

me too. I'd love to teach small classes, like 6dc or so in some general music. I had a little class in my living room when ds8 was about 3 and it was highly fun, but not many people want to pay for music classes. I'd barter for science at this point...LOL

 

My degree is BSE Music Ed - vocal. I started a Master's in church music, and decided I didn't want a Master's in church music.

 

Right now, I'm using my degree to teach a class of 3.:001_smile: I'd like to get a Master's in performance and be the diva that Faith loves so much.:tongue_smilie::lol:

 

Actually, when I was a teenager I wanted to do Disney voices...I still think that would be just crazy-fun!

[Jean in Newcastle]

Started out as a vocal major before I switched to special education. I continued to study voice on my own - with a nationally known coloratura that I met in concert and a local opera singer (and she was a diva!) The good thing was that I got free opera tickets while I studied with her.

 

I took Orff Schelwerk classes on my own after college. And studied some Kodaly too.

 

In the past I've directed an adult church choir, a kid's church choir.

 

I dropped violin in 10th grade. I'd love to pick that back up some day.

 

I do a tiny bit of singing now but would love to pick that back up too.

 

I'm teaching myself to play the piano.

[BarbecueMom]

I've played professionally and when you don't have a family, that's great. Once the babies came, OH MY WORD...I was a rehearsal accompanist for opera...let me just say I've had my fill of termperamental choreographers, directors, conductors, and SOPRANOS WITH A HIGHLY INFLATED VIEW OF JUST HOW WONDERFUL THEY ARE IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THE MUSICAL WORLD!

 

:lol: How many sopranos does it take to change a lightbulb? Two, one to hold her Diet Coke and the other to make her accompanist do it.

 

I majored in Music (trumpet). Started out as music education, but several things derailed that and I switched to a more general degree with a music history emphasis. When I was 18, the thought of spending seven days a week, 12-14 hours a day at a high school with hundreds of dramatic, moody teenagers sounded great! After all, that's what I'd been doing for the last four years! At 21, when I was planning my wedding, thinking about having kids, and discovering homeschooling, I got some sense knocked into me.

 

I've been on a break from it for about five years. It's been a good rest, but it needs to end. The oldest will start piano in a couple years, and I'm rusty.

[I talk to the trees]

I think it's pretty obvious what my primary instrument is! I started my MM in flute, but wound up having a baby instead of a degree- and I wouldn't have it any other way! I did freelance work for a while, and taught at the local college. Then I made the mistake of standing up for myself at a department meeting. To make a long story short: small town + spiteful prof = out of work musician. It's very difficult, because dh (who is also a musician) just doesn't understand why I don't play anymore. *sigh* Maybe someday....

[mom2jjka]

I was originally going for a major in music ed and a minor in child development. My senior year I flip-flopped them. I'd love to go back and complete the music degree some day.

 

Voice was my emphasis, but I also play bassoon, flute and piano.

[KDoty]

I sing and play the guitar (not so great on the guitar). I have, in the past, volunteered for Hospice playing and singing to terminally ill patients (which was very fulfilling). I would love to one day learn how to play the guitar well and play any place that people would let me :001_smile:. I would love to have a degree of some sort in music, but there is not a school that offers music degrees anywhere near me. I'm currently out of practice:001_huh:. I miss it :crying:.

[KristinaBreece]

I sing and play the guitar (not so great on the guitar). I have, in the past, volunteered for Hospice playing and singing to terminally ill patients (which was very fulfilling). I would love to one day learn how to play the guitar well and play any place that people would let me :001_smile:. I would love to have a degree of some sort in music, but there is not a school that offers music degrees anywhere near me. I'm currently out of practice:001_huh:. I miss it :crying:.

 

My goal in life was to move to NYC, get a job anywhere I could find one, and spend my free time playing my horn on the steps of the Met. Museum of Art.

[FO4UR]

:lol: How many sopranos does it take to change a lightbulb? Two, one to hold her Diet Coke and the other to make her accompanist do it.

 

 

 

 

Hey now...thems there fightin' words!!!! ...and I resemble that remark!

 

 

Now, where is my Diet Coke!!!

 

j/k I was always nice to my accompanists...even the really bad ones:tongue_smilie::lol:

[ElizabethB]

10 years of trumpet, 3 years of piano.

 

After having 2 piano teachers for my daughter in 2 different states, and not liking parts of how each of them taught her, I am now teaching her and will add in my son soon. I did learn a few things I liked from each of them, though!

 

I have also played flugelhorn and a 2 valve trumpet in drum and bugle corp.

 

I sometimes play trumpet at church for Christmas and Easter, depending on the needs of the church, how it would fit in with the style, and my time availability. Before we had children, I played almost every week at our church for 3 years. I started back up after 15 years of not playing! I had saved my silver trumpet, though. My dad worked really hard to find a good used one for me, and saved up money for it. I got it and a sweater for Christmas my Sophomore year of high school.

[FaithManor]

3Blessingmom,

 

If you treated your accompanists with respect, then I would have gladly accompanied you. Accompanying is my specialty - I'm VERY intuitive and can follow anyone - and I sight read like a dream. One of those few things that I still grin about when someone says, "Do you think you could play this?" I was once a rehearsal accompanist for a guy who entered a concerto competition, he paid me to play the orchestral reduction ten hours per week. He hated that on the first rehearsal, having conveniently forgotten to get the music to me ahead of time, I never needed to stop and go over anything. Hated it! I just grinned....love that sight reading ability.

 

OH, and don't start me on bad accompanists. I've seen a few, tried to coach a few, and ultimately, in my younger more competitive not so mature days, destroyed a few. I had no patience for it back then. "If you can't do the job right, get out of the business" was my motto. I'm a much nicer, sweeter, more sensitive and patient soul now! LOL I was a musical terror before marriage and kids!

 

But, I do still have one quirk that hasn't really eased...I can't STAND bad page turners. If you can't recognize a simple nod of the head, if you don't get the fundamental truth that I read ahead and so when I nod a measure in advance I really mean "TURN THE )(*&^% PAGE" then step away from the piano!!! Dh won't turn pages for me anymore. It's a relief. The man is just too slow (though he's a pretty decent pianist in his own right) and can't turn the page before I'M ON THE NEXT PAGE! He's had his hand slapped more than once and now won't turn for me...WHEW...ds 14 is a wonderful page turner.

 

Faith

[Ibbygirl]

I play cello, bass, guitar and was teaching myself piano, but haven't done it in awhile. I mostly play guitar these days. I would like to learn drums as well. I tinker a lot and sometimes play around with recording equipment. If I could play drums then I could lay all the parts of the tracks myself and that would be fun. Beat boxes are nice, but they sound like beat boxes, kwim?

[Ibbygirl]

I sing and play the guitar (not so great on the guitar). I have, in the past, volunteered for Hospice playing and singing to terminally ill patients (which was very fulfilling). I would love to one day learn how to play the guitar well and play any place that people would let me :001_smile:. I would love to have a degree of some sort in music, but there is not a school that offers music degrees anywhere near me. I'm currently out of practice:001_huh:. I miss it :crying:.

 

That's awesome! :grouphug: I sometimes go with my class (I teach a group of girls at church) to nursing homes and we sing and play for them. It's fun. The girls love it too. We're going back for Easter. :)

[mamajudy]

Flutist here. No degree, but music was my life in highschool (where I met my musician husband of 31 years). We play duets professionally. I also play at church and sing soprano in our church choir.

[Jen in NY]

So excited to see other trumpeter moms in the list.

 

I have a BMusEd from Ithaca college. Right now I have one (!) tpt student, play in two community wind bands (concert tonight!), occasionally play in pits for musicals around town, and took my first lesson in 20 years just a week or so ago. The teacher was so amazing that I can hardly wait the six days until my next lesson with her.

 

I also play guitar and write songs in my spare time (he, he) - and I am sometimes seen singing backup with the band my husband's in. I'd like to start a recorder group for some of the older kids in our hs community - around here it can be a challenge to find ensemble experiences if you are hsed.

 

In the future I'd love to do weddings, play in a quintet, and do many more musicals. I have never really stopped playing the trumpet but I can just now start seeing a future where it can become a larger part of my life again --- now that the kids are older.

 

Loved reading everyone's responses!

:001_smile:

[FO4UR]

3Blessingmom,

 

If you treated your accompanists with respect, then I would have gladly accompanied you. Accompanying is my specialty - I'm VERY intuitive and can follow anyone - and I sight read like a dream. One of those few things that I still grin about when someone says, "Do you think you could play this?" I was once a rehearsal accompanist for a guy who entered a concerto competition, he paid me to play the orchestral reduction ten hours per week. He hated that on the first rehearsal, having conveniently forgotten to get the music to me ahead of time, I never needed to stop and go over anything. Hated it! I just grinned....love that sight reading ability.

 

OH, and don't start me on bad accompanists. I've seen a few, tried to coach a few, and ultimately, in my younger more competitive not so mature days, destroyed a few. I had no patience for it back then. "If you can't do the job right, get out of the business" was my motto. I'm a much nicer, sweeter, more sensitive and patient soul now! LOL I was a musical terror before marriage and kids!

 

But, I do still have one quirk that hasn't really eased...I can't STAND bad page turners. If you can't recognize a simple nod of the head, if you don't get the fundamental truth that I read ahead and so when I nod a measure in advance I really mean "TURN THE )(*&^% PAGE" then step away from the piano!!! Dh won't turn pages for me anymore. It's a relief. The man is just too slow (though he's a pretty decent pianist in his own right) and can't turn the page before I'M ON THE NEXT PAGE! He's had his hand slapped more than once and now won't turn for me...WHEW...ds 14 is a wonderful page turner.

 

Faith

 

 

irl - We would make fast friends.:001_smile:

 

I am :rofl: over your page turning...I feel the same way about "sound guys" who think they know what they are doing up there b/c they are "techy." Nothing like singing a Sunday Morning special to make you never want to volunteer to sing AGAIN!:glare: (And the comments if I sing anything but twang or pop...:lol::lol::lol:...seriously people! It wasn't "Opera"!:confused:)

 

Most of my acc. have been worth their weight in gold. I did have one who had no musicality whatsoever...drove me nuts! Even so, I miss *real* music so much I'd settle for a bad acc. at this point....sigh...

 

 

ETA: I also played violin as a kid - but I only remember a few fingerings - Suzuki...and I played saxophone for several years before focusing in on voice. I have the violins I used as a kid in my basement, and keep waiting to have the $ to fix them up for my dc....gotta do that before they are all too big.

Edited March 4, 2011 by 3blessingmom

[Kirch]

Music ed degree, voice major. I play the piano and sax, though I haven't touched the sax in ages. Right now I lead music at my church (praise team and choir) and teach voice lessons. I'm surprised at how fulfilling the voice lessons have been--I'm enjoying it much more than I thought I would. I would love to start/lead a community or regional children's choir someday.

[KDoty]

My goal in life was to move to NYC, get a job anywhere I could find one, and spend my free time playing my horn on the steps of the Met. Museum of Art.

 

 

:)

[KDoty]

That's awesome! :grouphug: I sometimes go with my class (I teach a group of girls at church) to nursing homes and we sing and play for them. It's fun. The girls love it too. We're going back for Easter. :)

 

That's great; very rewarding isn't it :)?

[tearose]

Performance was never my primary thing (although I played the piano and harp), but I have a PhD in music (concentrated in music history--baroque, 17th-c.). I have totally left the academic track, though, and am now a SAHM. Sometimes I consider applying for positions semi-locally, but aside from more elite institutions, most places want someone who will lead the jazz band, teach brass, AND teach music history/theory--and they're willing to sacrifice in the quality of the third to fill their hodgepodge needs. However, I don't regret not pursuing a career in academia because rather than following a particular job, we live in an area we love and aren't too far from family. Also, we wanted to have a lot of kids, and that's not really compatible with the tenure-track route. My DH and I met in our graduate program, got married part-way through, and graduated at the same time, so it's nice to be married to someone who loves early music as much as I do. Sometimes in hindsight, I wish that I had left after getting my MA (two years, as opposed to 5.5), but I do think that I became a much better writer after writing my dissertation, so I guess that's a plus.

[laurad1125]

Wow! It's awesome to find so many musicians here!:)

[KristinaBreece]

Performance was never my primary thing (although I played the piano and harp), but I have a PhD in music (concentrated in music history--baroque, 17th-c.). I have totally left the academic track, though, and am now a SAHM. Sometimes I consider applying for positions semi-locally, but aside from more elite institutions, most places want someone who will lead the jazz band, teach brass, AND teach music history/theory--and they're willing to sacrifice in the quality of the third to fill their hodgepodge needs. However, I don't regret not pursuing a career in academia because rather than following a particular job, we live in an area we love and aren't too far from family. Also, we wanted to have a lot of kids, and that's not really compatible with the tenure-track route. My DH and I met in our graduate program, got married part-way through, and graduated at the same time, so it's nice to be married to someone who loves early music as much as I do. Sometimes in hindsight, I wish that I had left after getting my MA (two years, as opposed to 5.5), but I do think that I became a much better writer after writing my dissertation, so I guess that's a plus.

 

The Bold: I hate the idea of sacrificing the quality of any aspect of a musical education, especially at the college level. (As much as I hated music history III, I would have hated it more if the professor hadn't been passionate about it.)

[radiobrain]

I studied Voice/Opera privately for many years.

 

I then moved to Cincinnati to go to their fabulous Conservatory and chickened out.

 

I started a band, and learned to play the guitar (and other instruments) on the spot, and we had lots of fun playing, making albums and going on sad, little mini-tours. After the second kid (and our Bass player had her second kid, too) we called it quits.

 

Now, I am back to singing classically, and I am the soprano soloist in the choir at the church at the end of my street, and get to sing all sorts of awesome stuff. A few years ago I got to sing a solo part that ended up having 45 min. of soprano solo stuff, when I timed it. With a paid, professional Baritone. I generally get to sing with a professional, which makes me feel good.

 

I occasionally sing on my husband's albums, and for any other bands around town who ask me. I am always about 3 feet from starting a new band. My "other half" (music-wise) has continued to play and his band now just released their newest record this past Tuesday. Jealous me.

[Mama Anna]

Wow! It's awesome to find so many musicians here!:)

 

I agree!!

 

I have a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and a Master of Music in Church Music. So I use it to make up little songs to get me and my dds through the day.:) Actually, just this semester we've been in one place long enough for people to get to know me well enough that I've been able to get an adjunct job teaching voice. I love it! I credit my dd7 with training me to be a better teacher through homeschooling - I did a little teaching of non-majors during my Master's (before dc) and frankly stunk. Now I feel like I have a much better base of teaching ability to work with, at least with beginners.

 

I do miss performing, though. I often get roped in for campus choir performances in the last couple of rehearsals, but I don't feel I can do a performance full justice unless I can be at all the rehearsals, too. <sigh> Someday dd7 will be old enough to babysit and I'll be able to do weekly rehearsals. It's so . . . refreshing to rehearse for a few hours with a good conductor. (I'm such a choir geek!:tongue_smilie:)

 

I also play tenor saxophone and a bit of clarinet. I can play enough piano to help me learn songs, but not enough to be worth listening. Musically, that's my Achilles' heel.

 

Mama Anna

[annlaura]

Harp Performance major here. I had a very active flute and harp duo going when I became preggo with my first son. We were booked far in advance, so I was very busy after he was born. With my second son, I started to pull back on performing and teaching early so as not to be so busy with two littles. I've been quite enjoying it, but am ready to start performing a little more often again, and add a couple more students. I also play piano and organ.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

I was excited to read about others here who would like to get/finish a degree in music in the "What would you study if you went back to school?" thread. It made me wonder about the other musicians here on the board.

 

So who's out there? What do you play and how do you work your music into your current life? What would you like to do with it "someday?"

 

I play the cello and have since I was 12. I also play flute, a bit of piano and a bit of guitar. I tried the oboe but it gave me headaches. I still dream about playing that.

 

I played through college and then stopped for about 15 years. (Though I played quite a bit of flute during this time and played the cello off and on then.) I picked my cello up again about 2 years ago and am currently playing in a regional symphony. We rehearse once a week and play 6 concerts a year. I am also working on my own development, taking lessons periodically. I'm teaching my ds7 to play the cello as part of his school.

 

I'd love to reach the level of being able to play at a semi-professional level which to me means being able to play some of the standard repertoire (concertos and the like) and possibly play in a quartet at weddings and such. Who knows if I'll get there. I hope to get a degree in music after my kids finish college.

 

I play the fiddle and honestly, I feel that just being able to take lessons and play is such a gift that I would truly like to give back somehow. I don't think I would ever give lessons or anything so that wouldn't be it. Playing for the nursing homes/et c maybe but I'm sure they wouldn't want me. They wouldn't right now, by any means but someday . . .

 

I would also like to be able to play in fiddle circles and at events (not as the entertainment but at get-togethers where ppl play for fun, compete, et c).

[tearose]

The Bold: I hate the idea of sacrificing the quality of any aspect of a musical education, especially at the college level. (As much as I hated music history III, I would have hated it more if the professor hadn't been passionate about it.)

 

It's a vicious cycle, too. After a subpar instructor, students think that history and theory are boring or dumb and decide not to take additional history/theory courses.

[KristinaBreece]

It's a vicious cycle, too. After a subpar instructor, students think that history and theory are boring or dumb and decide not to take additional history/theory courses.

 

That makes me sad. I adore music theory. I was just an average sight singing student, but I adored theory.

[CandaceC]

I took piano lessons from age 4yrs all the way through college. My undergraduate degree is General Music with an emphasis in voice and piano.

 

I have done various things...played for churches pretty much since i was a teenager, played for weddings, sung at weddings, taught music at a private school, taught piano lessons for several years...

 

Now that I'm homeschooling I don't really have the extra time to teach piano lessons, but I did enjoy that, maybe again someday. :)

 

I love singing with our choir and praise team at church, I fill in for our pianist but can't play regularly, just too time consuming...plus it is a big church and our regular pianist is phenomenal. :D

 

I have written music from time to time and would love to have more time to concentrate on that. (my house is too loud now to even sit at the piano and think!!)

 

I also love leading worship for women's Bible studies and such...I"d love to do that regularly once my life calms down...or once homeschooling is done for me, whichever comes first. ha!

[KDoty]

I agree!!

 

I have a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and a Master of Music in Church Music. So I use it to make up little songs to get me and my dds through the day.:) Actually, just this semester we've been in one place long enough for people to get to know me well enough that I've been able to get an adjunct job teaching voice. I love it! I credit my dd7 with training me to be a better teacher through homeschooling - I did a little teaching of non-majors during my Master's (before dc) and frankly stunk. Now I feel like I have a much better base of teaching ability to work with, at least with beginners.

 

I do miss performing, though. I often get roped in for campus choir performances in the last couple of rehearsals, but I don't feel I can do a performance full justice unless I can be at all the rehearsals, too. <sigh> Someday dd7 will be old enough to babysit and I'll be able to do weekly rehearsals. It's so . . . refreshing to rehearse for a few hours with a good conductor. (I'm such a choir geek!:tongue_smilie:)

 

I also play tenor saxophone and a bit of clarinet. I can play enough piano to help me learn songs, but not enough to be worth listening. Musically, that's my Achilles' heel.

 

Mama Anna

 

 

I'm a choir geek too:D. I used to sing on the worship team at my church and LOVED it. I miss it soooooooooooooooo much :).

[NancyNellen]

My degree is in music education with an emphasis in flute. I met my pianist husband in music school while he was getting advanced degrees/certificates in composition and conducting. Currently I don't play much (I just got braces!) but my husband and I love to play together and I am looking forward to some post-braces jams.

 

My husband is still very active with his music. You can see/hear his handiwork here and here. I am pretty proud of him!

[laurad1125]

That makes me sad. I adore music theory. I was just an average sight singing student, but I adored theory.

 

I love music theory though I never took it in school. I did try my hand at composing and really, really enjoyed that. My senior year in high school, and got some friends from both band and orchestra to play it at an IUL competition. That was awesome!!!! For Christmas last year, I got Auralia 4 and Musition 4 software. Too cool!

[Ibbygirl]

That's great; very rewarding isn't it :)?

 

It really is. :) For Easter I'm going to do a lot of Old School type hymns. I know a lot of them will be new to the kids, but the nursing home residents will know them and I love it when they sing along. Their little faces beaming and hearing their elderly voices singing along with ours is just awesome! :)

[Holly]

I played the bassoon. I get it out once in awhile, which is a shame because I have such a nice instrument. I may find a community band when my kids are older. No degree, but I was working on a music minor in college when I met DH.

 

I've been teaching myself piano over the years and haven't gone too far...It's only taken 7 years to get to Alfred book 3. :lol:

[Sara in AZ]

Fun thread! I have a bachelor's in piano perf and a master's in piano perf/pedagogy. I taught in a pre-college program at the university for about 8 years before I started homeschooling. Now I maintain a very small studio at home, mainly so that I will be motivated to teach my own children (two of whom are my students.) I adjudicate a few times a year for a state festival. I sang in a community choir for a season recently. But now my musical energy mostly goes into practicing with/teaching my kids who take piano, violin, and cello lessons. I do a fair amount of accompanying at church. When my kids are grown I would LOVE to go back and get a second Master's degree in accompanying. I love collaborating with other musicians.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I play piano, but not in public. Plus, I get a backache when I play too much (too much being more than an hour).

 

I would love to finish my music degree, but major is voice. I love to sing. The past ten years, I have only sung in church, and for occasional weddings and funerals, or fundraisers and ball games. I would love to get back into it more seriously, though.

 

One reason I haven't, though, is that I really don't know what I'd do with it. I have no desire to travel and live the performer's lifestyle. I don't really want to teach voice because, though I probably play piano well enough to get by, I really don't like to play for people. Maybe I need to just get over that. I don't really want to lead church choir, or teach in a classroom.

 

So, what would I do with a music degree, besides just add it to my other unused credentials? I don't know.

[newlifemom]

Does flunking out of college as a music major count? :P. I played the flute and oboe. Never got to far, I do like sing as muchas I am able. Right now that means in my kitchen, while making dinner and church Sunday morning. :). I have been in some community choirs and had begun to sing classical pieces with them. That was awesome. (sigh). It's only a season, right?

[LittleIzumi]

I'm not but dh is. He actually is just now learning how to read notes but he has a fabulous ear & rhythm & pretty much teaches himself how to play anything just by messing around with it. So far I've seen him play piano/keyboard, drums, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, drum machine, synth programs, child accordion, tambourine, & spirit flute :tongue_smilie:. Pretty much if he picks it up, he figures out how to play it. It's fun to watch. Oh, he's sung in his brother's band too but he doesn't "count" that.

[m0mmaBuck]

I was a concert pianist in high school and college but my career aspirations went elsewhere (BS is Psychology with a MS in Physical Therapy). I also played the drums in marching band and the saxaphone in jazz band back in the day. Now I still play the piano but mostly for weddings and Church services and I'm learning to play the guitar (very slowly). Oh, and I play drums when the kids play Rock Band. :tongue_smilie:

[Kristiana]

I play the cello too! I was a cello performance/pedagogy major in college and still play as much as I can, but am finding it harder with children. ;)

 

I've been teaching privately since high school and still have about 7 students even though I haven't advertised in several years. I really enjoy one on one teaching. I taught jr. high and high school orchestra for one year, only because they were desperate for a teacher and I absolutely hated it. So I'm really glad I didn't go into music ed.

 

I also play in a local (volunteer) symphony. We rehearse 3 hours every Tuesday night and perform about every 5-6 weeks. I love it. We do justice to some quite challenging music, which is more than you can say for a lot of community orchestras around here. Our next concert is Shostakovich Symphony #5.

 

I also play with a piano trio for weddings, although I don't think we've had a gig in over a year. The pianist actually wanted to start working on more serious music just for fun, but I had just had a baby last winter and it wasn't the best timing. I really enjoy chamber music though and would like to play more of it. I'd also like to take cello lessons again sometime, but right now I don't feel like the money I would pay for lessons is worth it for the amount of time I can put into practicing with younger children around, but maybe down the road. I'd love to prepare a solo recital again. I haven't done one since right before I got married 13 years ago.

 

I really enjoy singing too, although I'm not really trained at all. I did a lot with choir in high school because my dad was the choral director. I don't sing much anymore other than in church, but my dad still asks me to accompany his community choir (on the cello) every couple of years.

 

Interesting post!

[3lilreds in NC]

I don't have a music degree, but I play the flute and piano, and I LOVE to sing. The church we go to right now lets me sing on their praise team and I LOVE IT. It's what's keeping me sane. The people there tell me they enjoy hearing me. I'm going to sing until they ask me to stop. :D

 

I would love to get new pads put on my flute and see if that helps it sound better. It couldn't possibly be that I'm out of practice. :lol:

 

I just started taking piano lessons again along with my girls. We found the world's most fabulous piano teacher here - she has an actual degree and is teaching me so much! I love it!

[HeathenMom]

i've played the cello since i was 12. i played in a local community symphony when we lived across town about 4 years ago, unfortunately i haven't found a group to play with out here. my intention was to major in music performance, but life didn't quite work out that way...

 

my daughter has taken piano for about a year and a half now and i just started her on cello last month. i'm teaching my son violin as well.

 

i would like to find a local orchestra to play with, i really miss it.

[Susan in TN]

I'm a violinist w/ BMPerf. I play piano a bit - enough to teach my kids. Currently I play in a local university/community orchestra and play for church services on occassion. Once in a while I get a call for free-lance work, but that has gone down quite a bit since my kids have come along. I'm sure it will pick up again in a few years.

 

I started learning the harp 1 1/2 years ago - I got a 34 string lever harp for my birthday. It's fabulous. I love learning and look forward to being able to play for church, family, and friends, and hopefully nursing homes and hospice-type situations.