23 Things Only Ex-Musicians Will UnderstandSkip To ContentHomepageSign InSearch BuzzFeedSearch BuzzFeedlol Badge Feedwin Badge Feedtrending Badge FeedCalifornia residents can opt out of "sales" of personal data.Do Not Sell My Personal Information 2022 BuzzFeed, Inc PressRSSPrivacyConsent PreferencesUser TermsAd ChoicesHelpContactSitemapPosted on 24 Jan 2022 23 Things Only People Who Studied Music Will Understand The enthusiasm of music teachers is truly unmatched. by Ewura-Ama QuarshieBuzzFeed StaffFacebookPinterestTwitterMailLink Hi I m Ewura-Ama and I was on a music scholarship at school If you studied music like me you ll remember everything from the long rehearsals to the even longer lessons learning instruments you don t even play anymore Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF Fox If I ve already unlocked some core memories for you read on for more things only we music kids will understand 1 We all had an over-enthusiastic music teacher who fully expected you to be just as eager Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF Paramount Pictures These teachers were SUPER passionate about music, and you better had been too! My teacher was shocked that some people preferred sports and other clubs over rehearsals. 2 And you must remember your conductor s ~lively~ movements as they bounced to the beat Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF Netflix I’m not sure why every conductor thought that their exaggerated facial expressions would make us sing better, but they really went for it. If only the audience had seen it from our perspective. 3 Having rehearsals and lessons at ungodly times was the absolute worst Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF SecondsOut For some reason, music teachers thought that they could squeeze rehearsals into any free time we had at school... And you HAD to be on time! I once got yelled at and sent out for being ten minutes late to a music class, and it hurts to this day. 4 And of course all those rehearsals led up to performing in countless school concerts Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF Universal Pictures This was THE moment and it was built up to for weeks. Usually it fell flat when someone messed up and threw everyone off. However, we did get to mess up in some amazing venues like the Union Chapel, Southbank Centre, and even Notre Dame! 5 Your parents would always cheer too loudly in the audience like you were playing at the O2 arena instead of a dingy school hall Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF Republic Records Okay, I know some people love this, but when my parents were the only ones screaming in the crowd after I performed, it felt so awkward! Their enthusiastic cheers really stuck out amongst the polite clapping. Thanks but no thanks, folks! 6 But that support always disappeared whenever this question came up – why aren t you practicing Do you know how much I pay for *insert instrument* lessons Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF Cartoon Network Parents would act like you were draining their wallets if they didn't see you playing constantly, even though they usually didn't notice when you did go and practice. Now I'm an adult, I get why they didn't want their money to go to waste, but that pressure did NOT inspire me to practice more. 7 Going on residential choir trips to different cities and even other countries was the best Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF DreamWorks Pictures We'd rehearse and perform while we there, but we also got to play games and be touristy too. Seeing all of my teachers in matching animal onesies is an image I'll never forget. 8 Who else forget their instrument once or twice and got stuck with a crusty spare Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF Nickelodeon The teacher's disappointment when you forgot to bring in your instrument was palpable, and using the school's spare one – which was usually old, damaged or the wrong size – was the height of shame. 9 Bluffing your way through rehearsal when you forgot to practice was the true talent of any music student TwoSet Violin @TwoSetViolin Me faking and air bowing on the first rehearsal because I didn’t practice 07:29 AM - 12 Jan 2021 Reply Retweet Favorite Twitter: @TwoSetViolin Awkwardly playing just as badly as last week because you forgot to practice was torture, but the good thing about ensemble rehearsals was you could just mouth the words or mime playing the notes to pretend you weren't lost. 10 And why did I not have time to practise Because SO MUCH was expected on top of all my other homework TwoSet Violin @TwoSetViolin The anthem of the Ling Ling Kingdom 12:45 PM - 17 Apr 2021 Reply Retweet Favorite Twitter: @TwoSetViolin Yes, I chose to play an instrument, but thinking about it, both my parents and my music teachers expected A LOT from a literal child who also had eight hours of school and homework from 10 different subjects to contend with! 11 And when you actually practiced it never showed when you needed it to TwoSet Violin @TwoSetViolin Playing at home VS playing for teacher 12:22 PM - 16 Jun 2021 Reply Retweet Favorite Twitter: @TwoSetViolin It was so frustrating when you really did put the effort in, and you then slipped up in front of a teacher. Don't even get me started on playing a wrong note in a grade exam after working towards it for months! 12 Sore fingers from holding down strings buttons gripping your instrument were a regular fixture of our lives Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF Warner Bros. Pictures Why was stretching to reach the notes so uncomfortable? Why are the strings made of such harsh materials? And why were teachers so blasé about it? "You'll get used to it" – okay, how about WHEN? 13 It was a super fun time working out your voice type in choir Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF Universal Pictures Puberty + range of choir sections = vocal chaos. Over the years, many of my choir friends changed sections when they realised the part they were singing was too high or low for them. I did feel for all the boys whose voices were breaking. 14 Anyone else recall composing and recording music with programs like Sibelius or Logic Pro Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF Fuji TV (Noitamina) Learning to navigate these programs on the old school computers felt like a whole sport, especially when it counted towards your music GCSE grade. Painstakingly recording each part only to find that the rhythms didn't match up was so frustrating. 15 Compulsory learning was a drag but we loved to learn popular songs for fun Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF Warner Bros. Pictures & The Vitaphone Corporation Whether you played the piano or not, you were always around them. Did anyone else learn "Heart and Soul" or "Fur Elise"? Bonus points if you teamed up with a friend for a duet. Oh, and of course, "Wonderwall" made an appearance in every guitarist's repertoire. 16 Discovering a bunch of listening tricks for identifying a key genre or time signature by ear was a necessary evil Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF CBC Television Everyone was told that minor keys sound sad, meanwhile major keys sound happy. One teacher taught us that the word "strawberry" fits into a 3/4 beat and "rutabaga" fits 4/4. An entire classroom chanting "straw-be-rry, straw-be-rry, straw-be-rry" to a waltz probably looked quite weird out of context. 17 As was using endless acronyms to remember everything from note orders to the spaces in staves Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF Curved Light Productions There was so much to remember when studying music that it was inevitable acronyms and mnemonics would rule the day. Some classics were All Cows Eat Grass for the spaces in the bass clef, and FACE for the spaces in the treble clef. 18 Doing silly vocal warm-ups at the start of each rehearsal was good fun though Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF Jay Versace Someone please tell me they also had to sing "I have a very nice bottom... note". We'd sing stuff like this whist trying to hit those low notes, and then there were tongue twisters like "red lorry, yellow lorry" to also contend with. 19 I loved whenever we would sing rounds which were pretty catchy tbf Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF CBS "Rose, Rose", "There's a hole in my head, the rain's coming in", and "Hey Ho nobody home" – there were a lot of these rounds, and it was pretty cool how they slotted together to create a harmony, even with everyone singing the same tune! 20 And no choir s repertoire was complete without many many religious pieces Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF Buena Vista Pictures Distribution So. Many. Religious. Songs. I actually learnt that there was a boom of Christian choral music in the Renaissance. How did I learn? Because we had to sing a TON of them. 21 Remember being told to bend your knees to hit high notes in rehearsal Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF Universal Pictures/Buena Vista International This trick actually worked, though I still don't know why. Either way, the choir teachers knew what they were talking about with this one. 22 We all had to memorise a ton of terms for music theory Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF CBC Teachers insisted that you absolutely needed to know words like rallentando, even if you never ever saw them on your sheet music. I'm willing to bet no-one remembers what that means now. 23 And finally something most music students will remember is developing a specific music-based sense of humour TwoSet Violin @TwoSetViolin Did you just move from the V to the I? 04:32 PM - 18 Apr 2021 Reply Retweet Favorite Twitter: @TwoSetViolin The V – I chord progression is called a perfect cadence, in case you didn't get this stellar dad joke. H T to @TwoSetViolin for making the most relatable music oriented videos I ve ever seen TwoSet Violin @TwoSetViolin When you hope you can just wing it in music lessons 06:49 AM - 29 Apr 2021 Reply Retweet Favorite Twitter: @TwoSetViolin Don t forget to share your memories of studying music in the comments below Share This ArticleFacebookPinterestTwitterMailLink