"Majoring in Music: All the Stuff You Need to Know" Book by Rich Holly

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Majoring in Music: All the Stuff You Need to Know by Rich Holly, book info and interview

July 16th, 2009 by James Voss Grumish

College
[photos by Luke Wisley, Amanda Spak, Björn Láczay, and Michael Coté are shared]

If you are a music major or would someday like to be, you should invest in a copy of Majoring in Music: All the Stuff You Need to Know.

More than just tips, this book has survival skills to help you succeed as a music major in a college, university, or conservatory. Learn to be ready to meet the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities thrown at you during this important, stressful, and exhilarating period of your life.

Just how good is the advice? Majoring in Music is written by Rich Holly. Holly is the Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University and has been an advisor to college students for almost 30 years.

Rich Holly knows so much about guiding students to be great musicians that he wrote the book on it… literally.

We asked Holly about the book and a few other music major related questions. The answers are amazing. Enjoy the interview.

FreeDrum.Info: Who is Majoring in Music written for - current music majors or prospective/potential music majors?

Rich Holly: It’s actually written for both of those populations. Without a doubt, the people who will benefit the most from the book are high school seniors who have decided to major in music – by reading the book during the summer before they begin their college experience, they’ll start their first semester armed with a great deal of important knowledge relative to succeeding as a college music major.

But there are also a considerable number of topics covered in the book from which all music majors will benefit, from freshman to senior year. I’ve had students who have already completed a year or two of school as a music major comment to me that several of the topics covered in the book helped to clear up some things for them, and that’s what the book is intended to do – smooth the way for all music majors.

FD.I: What compelled you to write the book?

Holly: Virtually every day I meet with at least one student who hasn’t yet figured out all the responsibilities they have as a music major in college. Some of these responsibilities are the same as for any college students, and some are particular to being a music major. Most importantly, I’ve found that there’s a sizeable population of students who don’t ask questions until something becomes a problem.

FD.I: Majoring in Music has three areas of focus - Academic, Musical, and Life. Which area do students have the most difficulty adjusting? Which has the most misconceptions?

Holly: I wrote all three sections because there are students who need help with any one of those, any two of those, and in some cases, all three of those. No two students will need help with exactly the same items, but in a general sense all music students will need to pay attention to all three areas if they truly wish to succeed.

In terms of misconceptions, this I believe we can generalize – far too many music students come to college having been structured by the way high schools schedule their classes and by their parents being involved during the hours they were not at high school. The great misconception is that they can just continue going through life as they know it once they get to college.

FD.I: What qualifies you to offer your advice for music majors?

Holly: I’ve served as an academic advisor my entire career in higher education, currently at 29 years. For many of those years, I was a full-time music faculty member, and every faculty member had advising duties. For the past 15 years I’ve served in a number of arts administrative roles, and academic advising has always been part of my responsibilities. For 12 of those years, I coordinated advising first for the School of Music at Northern Illinois University and then for the entire College of Visual and Performing Arts at NIU, which also encompasses art, theater and dance students.

FD.I: What’s the most important piece of advice for a successful college music audition?

Holly: To play music that you can play beautifully.

I have heard dozens if not hundreds of auditions in which the student attempted to play music that was too difficult for their current level of expertise. The only thing that shows the faculty on the auditioning panel is that you can’t play those pieces – it does not show what you CAN do. Music faculty members everywhere are looking for students who can demonstrate an understanding of music making – clear phrases, attention to dynamics and form, knowledge of the style of the piece, and of course, accuracy of pitches.

FD.I: Can a student considering a school send an email to the college music faculty? Is it intrusive to find a simple introduction and a few questions in your inbox?

Holly: I actually highly recommend that students do that. Making a decision on where to attend college as a music major is not only a very important decision, but one that has several facets to it. It must be a good fit for both the student and the school. The audition process helps the school to determine if the student is a good fit for them. But the student must consider proximity to home, the type and size of town the school is in, the size of the overall institution and the size of the music school, the costs involved, the facilities, the number of performing opportunities both in the school as well as in the surrounding areas, the success of the graduates, and very importantly, who their private teacher would be. This is where contacting a faculty member ahead of time is extremely helpful – even from just the response to the email the student can begin to get an idea of how friendly, helpful, and professional (or not!) the faculty member is.

FD.I: How should a student approach the decision between majoring in music education and music performance?

Holly: This is one of the most common questions I hear, and students and parents both have concerns. And before I answer, I can tell you that I have colleagues who would disagree with me.

I believe – first and foremost – that all college students (not only music students) should pursue their dream. What many students and parents will say is that at least with a music education degree, the student “has something to fall back on.” Well, I for one don’t want my kids taking any class in their public school experience from a teacher who is only there because it was “something to fall back on.” I want public school teachers who LOVE what they’re doing. So, if a music major has passion about being a band director, a choir director, an orchestra director or a general music teacher, then by all means they should be enrolled as a music education major. But for those students who chose to be a music major because playing their instrument gives them an amazing amount of joy and teaching seems like a chore, they should be a performance major. There are also majors in composition, recording technology, music business, and a broader Bachelor of Arts degree – all of which should enroll majors who really love that particular field.

FD.I: Have you ever known any college faculty or staff, at your institution or others, who check and consider a student’s online profile(s), e.g. Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, YouTube, or Twitter, as part of the application process?

Holly: Well, it would not surprise me to learn that some faculty members are doing this, but not a single faculty member has ever mentioned it to me. The proliferation of social networking sites can be marvelous or damning – I would suggest to prospective college students that they edit their online pages before applying to colleges and universities – you just never know who’s looking!

FD.I: Where can people buy a copy of the book?

Majoring in Music can be found at Amazon.com for less than $15.

FreeDrum.Info would like to thank Rich Holly for his insight. Any students wishing to consider Northern Illinois University can find more information at the Northern Illinois University School of Music website.

Rich Holly

Rich Holly currently holds the position of Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University. A Professor of Percussion at NIU since 1983, he served as Associate Dean of the College for more than seven years and has also held administrative positions within the NIU School of Music as Director of the Jazz Camp, Graduate Coordinator, and Assistant Director.

Rich remains active as a solo performer and clinician, and has appeared over 300 times at schools, colleges, universities, conventions and festivals throughout the United States, Europe, Canada and Asia. Rich received his formal training at the State University of New York at Potsdam and East Carolina University. His principal teachers were Henry Gates, Howie Mann, James Petercsak, and Harold Jones. In addition, Rich studied Brazilian percussion with Manoel Monteiro, Afro-Cuban drumming with Frank Malabe, and West African drumming with Abraham Adzenyah and Famoudou Konate. Rich was a founding member of the Abraxas Percussion Group, and has performed with the Long Island Holiday Festival Orchestra, the Lyric Opera of New York, and the North Carolina Symphony. For 11 seasons Rich was Timpanist of the Illinois Chamber Symphony.

As a drumset artist, Rich has appeared with Allen Vizzutti, John Fedchock, Dave Samuels, Bill Molenhof, Ethel Merman, Red Skelton, Bob McGrath and Sesame Street and many others. From 1984 to 2000 Rich played drumset and percussion with Inner City recording artists Rhythmic Union.

Rich’s numerous articles have appeared in almost every major music journal, and from 1986 to 2002 he was Associate Editor for Percussive Notes magazine. His published percussion compositions are sold around the world, and he is a Past President of the Percussive Arts Society, the world’s largest society for percussionists with over 9000 members in 75 chapters worldwide. His guest appearances are sponsored in part by Yamaha Music Corporation of America, Sabian Cymbals, Ltd., and Innovative Percussion sticks and mallets, and he is a member of the Latin Percussion Educational Advisory Board.

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