Good day to all, I'm coming here today with a question about attending a conservatory. Summarised: I want to go to music school and get a career in music really badly, and although I've talked myself out of it before those arguments hold up a lot less now. I'm looking for opinions on this, and in the rest of this post I will explain my current position and my arguments for and against going. This is going to be long, I'm sorry, but this is a very big thing for me right now.
Let me introduce myself first: I'm eighteen years old, and I play guitar, mandolin and I sing. I really like to write and although I struggle with lyrics I have already written a few instrumental tunes and parts I'm quite proud of. Currently, I'm enrolled in university, studying chemistry - first year. I like the subject, and I think I like it enough to fuel a career in it. Problem is: I like music a hell of a lot more, almost obsessively. To illustrate my point: one time I was in a biochemical lab using a table centrifuge, and I found myself harmonising with its humming. There's almost nothing I want more than to have a successful career in music as a performer (maybe educating on the side, I've been told I'm a good teacher), but I've talked myself out of this multiple times already. I know how hard it is to get a stable career that can support living costs comfortably, and how unstable the career path can be. Being a chemist gives a much better picture of your future, and so I reasoned that I really should just go do that and keep music a hobby. But it's been itching, harder and harder.
The story peaked last Thursday, when I got into a conversation with a teacher at the conservatory of the city I study at when on the train. We talked for over half an hour until I had to get off, talking about music and education. And she mentioned something I found fascinating, and that derails my arguments against going to music school considerably. It was about the pop academy, and how the students there are taught classes in music production and marketing to help them get into a career atop the expected classes in theory and performance. And it was that part of the conversation that stuck the most.
I'm currently struggling quite badly on a thermodynamics course, and it's amplifying some of my mental health issues to the point where I need to consider changing pace. My psyche is fairly stable, but fragile. Because of this almost forced change combined with the conversation I had in the train, I've found myself thinking about going to music school almost obsessively again. This time, not because of the interesting things I might learn, but because it will kick-start a career.
The one thing I've been dreaming of for years is getting within reach, and if I practice hard I might be able to attend the auditions to start next autumn. It's a very risky choice however, and I'm scared to make it. I know that in the likely situation where I'll struggle I'll think to myself that I should have just continued chemistry, but I also know that if I don't get into music I'll regret it 'till the day I die, and that is not an exaggeration.
I'm going to lay contact with a dean of the university, and I'll keep thinking hard, but I'm curious as to what all of you think. Are there people among you who have been in a similar situation as me, and how did you manage? Or are there teachers here who have had students like me?
Thank you for your consideration and have a wonderful day.
Submitted February 20, 2022 at 04:11PM by PTvE_Design https://www.reddit.com/r/Learnmusic/comments/sx8rbx/i_cant_stop_thinking_about_going_to_music_school/?utm_source=ifttt