You Know You're a Music Major if...

Original Post Date: December 1, 2007

We're music majors, meaning we spend our college years on the brink of death at all times.

You know you're a music major if:

*You try to talk to your non-music major friends about your classes but you give up because they just don't understand
*You had to convince your parents that your life would be ok if you majored in music instead of bussiness
*You're pretty sure you're probably going to be kind of broke for the rest of your life because you majored in something you actually liked
*You've ever had to sing to yourself in class to understand the point the teacher was trying to make
*Someone's cell phone goes off in class and people try to name the interval, including the professor
*You took more semesters of keyboarding than you can count, and you STILL can't play the piano
*You're pretty sure it's going to take you more than four years to graduate college
*Everybody in your department knows everyone else, if not by name then at least by face and instrument
*Two people in your department start dating, and it's all anyone can talk about for the next week
*You've ever turned down a good time because you had to practice
*You actually know what "juries" mean, and no, it has nothing to do with the law
*Recital attendance credit will be the death of you
*You actually have some classical music and show tunes on your iPod
*You know the difference in between baroque, classical, and romantic music, and that Beethoven did not write all three
*You know the beauty of manuscript of paper, one packet can last you for years
*Your reputation has become defined by your instrument or voice part
*You understand there is a silent war between the vocalists and the instrumentalists
*You've wondered if God created more than one semester of music theory simply to torture you
*Your classes are randomly interrupted by the sound of someone loudly practicing down the hallway
*Someone says the words "sight-singing and ear training" and you feel a sudden urge to cry
*Even if you try to stay under the radar, most of the professors in your department actually know who you are
*You decided to skip one your classes for the day, so you had to skip them all. They were all in the music building and you would get caught by the professor who's class you were skipping
*You have more than one class with the same professor on the same day
*You've ever turned a pop song into an opera or classical piece*You get excited when key modulations occur
*You know what a key modulation is
*You've ever had to write a paper that was more than five pages long on a freakin piece of music
*You feel like less of a musican just because you'll be getting a B.A. in Music instead of a B.M. in whatever
*You understood what that just meant
*You're brave enough to eat lunch in the music building when you're skipping a music class to eat your lunch. You don't know where else to go.
*You've pretty much been in classes with all the same people since your freshman year
*You would count your private instructor as one of the people who know you best in this world
*You've been in music history for a few semesters now and you still haven't bought those NAWM cds
*You know what NAWM means
*Sometimes you pretty much hate making music, but it's such a part of you that you know you're not changing your major
*You've ever gotten dressed, slept, or gotten busy in the music building
*You could consider the music building as one of your residencies
*When you tell people you're a music major they give you a sceptic look and ask "What do you plan on doing with that . . . teaching?" If you say no, they look kind of sad for you
*You keep catching yourself randomly conducting music, even if it's "Money Maker" or "Bye Bye Bye"
*You've ever laughed at a really corny joke that used a musical term
*You've ever MADE a really corny joke that used a musical term, then actually laughed at your own stupid joke
*Meter changes in pop music make you cheer
*You even realize a pop song just had a meter change
*The most common pick-up lines you hear are "You want to play a duet sometime?" and "Do you need an Aural Skills tutor?"
* You associate Beethoven Symphonies with certain moods during your day
* You laugh when TV ads come on that have instruments in them and you know that the person is holding it wrong.
* You know that the person on TV playing the music but rather, Joshua Bell, or YO-yo ma dubbed over the person.
*You've ever spent more than an hour in the music reference/musical scores section of the library
*You know where the music reference/musical scores section is
*You and your library's local copy machine are very, very good friends
*There's all kinds of randomly assorted furniture around your department's building
*You own some type of clothing or accessory that clearly indicates that you are a musican: Anything with a musical note or symbol all over it, anything that says "Rock on," a guitar tshirt, and you're a freakin singer!