The Confident Musicianing Podcast

Get the Most Out of Your Music School Visit

• Eleanor

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When I auditioned for 12 music schools in 3 different countries, there were some important things that I learned when visiting the schools. If you are visiting schools, you might want to know about them.

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Speaker 1:

And we ended up having like a group discussion. It was so good we ended up having this group chat about music school, about life at the school, about what they had just done in oboe class just all of these amazing, interesting things. Hello and welcome to the Confident Musicianing podcast. My name is Eleanor and I am a British American oboist studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland literally my dream school and it took me a long way to get there. I applied and auditioned for 12 schools in three different countries. It was a lot of hard work but, oh my gosh, so worth it. I want you to have the confidence to work hard in achieving your goals. So come with me as we go on this journey together. So sit down, pull up a chair, take a seat or, if you're on the go, welcome to the Confident Musicianing Podcast. Hi guys, welcome back to the Confident Musicianing podcast. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much for hanging out with me. This is a lovely, cosy corner of the internet and I am so grateful to have you here.

Speaker 1:

When I auditioned for music school, I visited universities or conservatoires in the US and the UK and I had so much fun doing so like seriously, especially for the UK. I went and I saw three different schools that I had gotten into because I visited them after I got into them and you know, for other schools I visited them before, or you know, etc. Um, but the, the UK visit was so much fun. Um, I, just I it was 10 days because I was living in the states at the time, so it was just 10 days in the UK. It was absolutely mental in terms of like, how, how busy I was, I like went to three cities and we drove and it was just just incredibly hectic, but so much fun. And looking back on the UK visit and also the US visits because those I did those as well and they were also so much fun they weren't as hectic, you know, in a way like they were more spaced out because it was in the same country and it was closer by, obviously, um, but it was, it was just so much fun. And when I look back on these university visits, there are a few things that I think are really important to note if you are going to be visiting university music school, conservatoire, conservatory, you know, whatever, depending on the country. So today let's dive in to. I think I have four things, yeah, four things here that are really important to know when you are going to visit a music school.

Speaker 1:

So the first thing and I think I did this without realizing it is getting in touch with students of that school before actually visiting the school. Now, I kind of did it without thinking because I had questions. I had oboe-related questions. I had oboe related questions. There were. There was um some I guess not confusion, but some oboe related questions, um that that I needed to to sort out, um, and so I ended up talking to um music students before I got there anyway, but what I realised was when I got there, it was so much more beneficial when I actually knew some students in the school.

Speaker 1:

Now I'm going to tell you a really fun story. So basically, I was visiting the Royal Northern College of Music. It was one of the schools that I had gotten into and so I went to Manchester, I visited it and I visited the school and there was an oboist that I was in contact with and I texted her and I was like I'm in town, I'm here, let's hang out, I want to have a chat. And so she said, yes, we can have a chat, and we scheduled a time and I showed up to the school and she wasn't there. So I texted her and I said you know, I'm here, where are you, etc. And she was like, oh, I'm just finishing up oboe class, I'll be down in a minute. And so I sat there and it was, it was fine. And then I saw her coming down and she had, you know, all the other oboes there with her, all of the other oboists, and I thought, okay, she's going to say goodbye to them and then she's going to um, she's going to chat with me. But actually what happened is she walked down the stairs with all of these oboists and she turned to me, and she turned to the oboists and she said this is Eleanor. And we ended up having like a group discussion. It was so good. It was so good this group chat about music school, about life at the school, about what they had just done in oboe class, just all of these amazing, interesting things. And I think you know I'm so grateful to this person for doing that, because they did not have to do that, I did not ask them to do that, it was just a lovely kindness on their part, um, but I was, I was so, so excited about that. It was. It's, I think it's a memory that I'll just always remember from from that visit. It's just absolutely amazing.

Speaker 1:

So that's something that I think you know is a good thing to do is to just talk to people and get in contact with people before going to the music school. You can do that through many different ways. You could do that. I did that sometimes through having a trial lesson with a teacher and then asking them could you put me in touch with one of the students? You don't have to do the trial lesson, but maybe, if you've already done that or you're going to do that, but you want to have those connections beforehand, you could literally just email, maybe a teacher and say I'm looking into this school, I want to get in contact with some of the students. Could you put me in contact with a student or two? You could also maybe do it through instagram, even if you want to do that as well. Um, you could. I think I've done that before. I think, um, I don't remember, but but you could just, like you know, find a student on instagram if you like, go to like the music schools page and then maybe you can see. You know, just see if you can find a student and maybe ask them. Now that might not get as good of a response, but that's okay too. Just it's important to find a student or two before you actually go to the uni, because then you'll have so much more like insights and also you'll feel a bit more chill. You won't feel like, oh my gosh, I don't know anyone here. It's just a nicer feeling. So that's number one. Number two is getting this is kind of on the same idea getting in touch with the staff, with the teachers, professors, etc. Before visiting as well. So getting in touch with the students is the first one, getting in touch with the staff is the second one.

Speaker 1:

Now, in this I have a story from when I visited the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in Birmingham, obviously, and I was previously in contact with the Woodwind head the head of Woodwind at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, who also happens to be one of the oboe teachers and I was in contact with her and she was just absolutely lovely and I said you know I'm coming to Birmingham, I'm going to look at the school. Um, and I said you know I'm, I'm coming to Birmingham, I'm going to look at the school. And she said there was. You know, she said something that was so amazing and she did something that was so amazing. And that is she kind of created a day for me or like two days. And so when I got there even though it wasn't an open day, it wasn't like a day that was like designed for people to come look at the school, but she said, you know, there's this class on at this time, there's this class on at this time and there's also this one. You can join in on any of the classes.

Speaker 1:

And I remember just like being so extremely excited about that because I joined in on a performance class. I sat and watched it. I played in a repertoire class, like I literally joined in in a repertoire class and played, and that helped me meet the other oboists as well. So then I met students and it was great and it was great. But that was a way for me to really see what school is like there.

Speaker 1:

And if I didn't have that contact before actually going, I would have maybe walked in and looked at things and kind of maybe looked in like the library or the, you know, the theaters, maybe a classroom or two. Maybe I'd introduce myself to a few people, but I might feel a bit like I'm I don't really belong almost, or like I don't know anyone here. I feel kind of out of my depth. But since I already knew one of the oboe teachers and she was just absolutely phenomenal in creating this, this kind of this day, like she even she got me tickets for her performance at the end of the day, like it was just so wholesome and lovely, um, so that really made the difference to that visit. Um, yes, so that's number two.

Speaker 1:

Um, I think, well, I think for you, you know, just contact a teacher If you've already had a trial lesson with the teacher, then that's a way as well. And if you're maybe thinking, eleanor, what are you talking about with trial lessons? That's a good question and I will link in the description in the show show notes, a few episodes that have to do with trial lessons. If you're maybe thinking about it Basically, if you don't know, a trial lesson is a lesson you have with a teacher that's not your teacher currently, but a teacher you might want to work with to see if you guys work well with each other, and it's a two-way situation. So that teacher is seeing if they work well with you, you are seeing if you work well with them and it's just a really amazing way to get to know. Get to know a teacher and know if they are a right fit for you. It can be really, really helpful when deciding where to go. So I will link a few episodes in the description or in the show notes for you to check out on that, if that is interesting to you, so you could take a trial lesson. You could just email them and say you know, introduce yourself as well. But that is something to definitely try and do because it makes a world of difference when you are visiting.

Speaker 1:

Okay, number three schedule a trial lesson while you are there. Now, this is interesting, so you could. It depends, right. If you are going to see the school because you're auditioning and maybe you've already had a trial lesson with the teacher, then maybe scheduling a trial lesson, you know, like in the same time area as the audition, is maybe not the best idea. But if you are visiting the school to visit the school, or even if you have an audition, but maybe you're like staying there for a while, you know, etc. Maybe, if it works, scheduling a trial lesson. I mean you have to, just you need to know. You know what's best for you.

Speaker 1:

But for me, when I visited schools, just to visit them, I did trial lessons. This is so helpful as well because I mean, I just talked about trial lessons and how amazing they are, but I did a lot of my trial lessons online, especially because I was looking at schools, you know, across an ocean. So I did a lot of trial lessons online and then when I finally got to the actual, you know universe, like you know, when I actually visited the school yes, when I actually visited the school um, I was able to have a trial lesson in that environment. It is so helpful to have a trial lesson because then it's easier almost to imagine yourself there, because you've had a lesson. You know what I mean. Like you're walking through the school, you're going to a lesson, you have your lesson, you leave the lesson. Maybe you're walking through the school, you're going to a lesson, you have your lesson, you leave the lesson, maybe you're walking in the same way as some other students or some students, because you're not a student yet in that school, and it really helps. You realize, okay, like I could see myself here or I couldn't see myself here. It's so helpful. And also, you know the teaching style of the teacher face to face, in person, as opposed to maybe online as well. So these things are really important to think about. So, if you are going to a university or a conservatoire and you're visiting, think about doing a lesson I had in the 10 days. In the 10 days I was in the UK when I was visiting schools, I had four oboe lessons, which was, I mean, in the uni.

Speaker 1:

Visit the city as well. Okay, this is an important one. So not necessarily just the tourist bits of the city. I mean, you could just go to the tourist bits and have a fun time, but maybe not for this, maybe not for this. So it's important to maybe think about where you're going to be visiting the areas that you will be living near or that you will be living in. Maybe walk to a potential grocery shop or someplace that you might find yourself often going and see if you like it. Because I feel like we, as us as musicians, we need to grow in music, obviously, but we also need to grow as people as well, and if you don't have a place to grow as a person, um, how are you going to like grow as a musician. You, I mean, like we are people first, so it's important to kind of see that as well.

Speaker 1:

So don't just visit the uni. Maybe take an afternoon to look at the neighbourhoods around the uni. If you're living in student accommodation, what's it like around that student accommodation? If you are maybe living in a flat or living somewhere outside of student accommodation, what areas of the city would you want to live in? What areas would you not want to live in? What would be your path to? You know, your walk to the school Does it go through areas maybe you don't want to walk through at night, for instance? So these things are, you know, not necessarily something that you would think of when you're visiting a uni, but I think it's really important to take note of all of these elements.

Speaker 1:

Glasgow I got on the subway and I just went around Glasgow and I looked at different areas and I thought you know what are these like? And, yes, you can do tourist things if you want to, but that's not the main focus of this visit, right? This is kind of what do I see myself here? Is this something that I would be interested in doing? So that is number four, and before we do a bit of a recap. I want to tell you about something very exciting.

Speaker 1:

So if you are visiting music schools, then that probably means that you are auditioning for music schools, and I remember my music school auditions. Some of them were really good, some of them were really not good and some of them were the ones that I really learned from. Whether that's good or not, but there were a lot of things that I kind of just wished someone told me. And after I auditioned I took a, a gap year, and now I'm studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. But during that gap year I thought, you know, I auditioned and I kind of wish there were things that people told me. I want to create a resource so that you have the things that I wish I knew when I was auditioning, and so that is called the Confident Musician's Audition Guide. In it we go through so many things, including how to actually effectively plan your practice, how to work with an accompanist, how to send in like video auditions, just so many things. Audition nerves, maybe like what to do in the audition, actually to stand out from other people, celebrating after the audition, maybe also reflecting after the audition all of these things are in the guide, and this guide I made especially for you. So if you are interested in that, because it is just full of so many good nuggets of information, that is in the description that's in the show notes Please, please, please, do check it out, because it was made with love for you.

Speaker 1:

All right, let's do a bit of a recap. Number one get in touch with students before going, just like how I did with the Royal Northern College of Music, and then I ended up meeting all of the oboes, which was very exciting. Number two get in touch with the staff, with the teachers, professors, etc. Before going as well, and that way you know them as well. Number three schedule a trial lesson while you are there. That is so important as well, to kind of get a feel for the school, but also for the teacher.

Speaker 1:

And number four don't just visit the uni. Visit the areas around the uni as well. Where will you be living, what areas you would want to live in, what areas maybe you should avoid your path to wherever you're living? All of these things are so important and if you are doing an audition or if you are going through this whole university process, I wish you all the best.

Speaker 1:

Whole university process. I wish you all the best and I wish I just want to encourage you in the moment, right now, I don't know what you're doing, whether you're, you know, going for a walk, whether you're on a on a bus, whether you're maybe getting some work done. I want you to just come back, come back here for a second and just feel the encouragement, because I am sending you so much encouragement in this process. All right, that is about it for the episode. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much for hanging out. Episode will be in the show notes, from the blog post for this episode to the links about um for, to the episodes about the trial lessons and also the link for the confident musicians audition guide. I hope you have the loveliest of days and I will see you in the next episode. All right, take care bye.

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Eleanor

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