Majoring in Music: All the Stuff You Need to Know [Paperback]

Rich Holly (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2009

Highlights the major components for survival and success during the formative years in a college, university or conservatory and provides examples and strategies to greatly assist the student musician. With no-nonsense advice and practical tips, this guide will prepare music students (and their parents!) to meet the many challenges, and take advantage of the opportunities afforded them during the glorious college years.

Product Details

• Paperback: 88 pages
• Publisher: Meredith Music; 1 edition (February 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574631500
• ISBN-13: 978-1574631500
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #359,022 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Rich Holly is the Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University, and as a percussionist has presented workshops and performed as a guest artist more than 300 times in venues throughout the world. Rich has several published compositions and more than 150 published articles in addition to several recordings as both a performer and producer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Have for any Serious Music Student, March 19, 2009

By 

Andy Bliss - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Majoring in Music: All the Stuff You Need to Know (Paperback)

I teach collegiate level music majors and I will be requiring all incoming freshman to own and read this book. The text is well organized and fun to read while providing essential information about how to be successful in a collegiate music program. The book is also a nice length, making it feasible to browse through it several times the summer before entering college.

I think back to my undergraduate years and many of the mistakes I made or saw colleagues make are mentioned in this book. The hardest part about being a musician is balancing the music "stuff" with the rest of life - this book clears up many of the common problems related to this balancing act. I anticipate sitting down with my first-year students and discussing this text at length to make sure that their college experience starts, and continues, down a successful path.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Incredible resource!, May 17, 2009

By 

J. Yakas (Fort Worth, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Majoring in Music: All the Stuff You Need to Know (Paperback)

If you have ever known someone pursuing a degree in the arts, you know there can be many unanswered questions. Rich Holly has created an invaluable resource for students, parents and teachers that should be required reading for all involved in music in higher education. I was particularly impressed at the breadth of material Mr. Holly has covered in such a user -friendly guide. From studying/practicing tips to health tips to a section on how to utilize all of your university's resources....It's all here!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Lack of content. Auditions? Juries? Hello?, April 16, 2011

By 

CelloLuva "CelloLuva" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Majoring in Music: All the Stuff You Need to Know (Paperback)

I think this book was well intentioned, but ultimately was cranked out too fast to be complete. This only covers a tiny fraction of the possible topics a music major nets to get up to speed on. The biggest two that I COULD NOT BELIEVE weren't in there were auditions, and juries. How can you possibly publish a book about being a music major and not cover auditions and juries? This book is basically about college in general and study skills, then they slap a different major name on the front of each one to get more people to buy them. This is lacking so much content that it's short. More than $10 for a tiny book that I read in just over an hour? The book is only about the size of a large index card, and then, to top that, only about 1/4" thick and some of the pages are half blank. There is VERY LITTLE CONTENT in this book. I feel ripped off having paid so much money for a glorified college pamphlet.

In all fairness, there were a couple little nuggets of good wisdom in there, but honestly, there are way better college guides out there that will give those answers and much more. This book is on the right path and could be good if the author took the time to write a proper book with about 5 times more content. I was thinking about buying the other book "Majoring in Education", but after getting burned with this, I definitely will not be getting it.