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I know there have been several recent discussions on music burnouts and taking breaks from playing for a while.

I have run into a situation where I feel like my burnout for music is fairly permenant or at least will last awhile. Music is no longer fun for me it is only frustrating. I understand that nothing is fun all the time but I think that it should be bearable and enjoyable at least some of the time.

So anyway my question is as a college music major it really isn't possible fro me to take a break for a while at least not until the end of the semester. I then plan to take the summer or at least part of it off rom music completely and think about what I want to do and eventually come back to music as a hobby ( I think). so I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of ways I could find to combat burnout for the short term.

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of ways I could find to combat burnout for the short term

Holy Crap let me chime in.

This is going to ruffle some feathers, but whatever. I was having a discussion about this will collegues yesterday so it is on my mind.


Man it pains me to hear things like this…

It is probably not the music that is burning you out, it is probably the environment and philosophies applied therein.

Maybe what you need is a break from teaching methods/a college program that teaches self-loathing and frustration. (I don’t know where you go to school, but these things are SO ruthlessly common in the academic pseudo-world)

Discover what music is organic to you – find music that is true to YOU and play THAT. Seriously. You have to do what is YOU or you will never be happy. Be that what it is, take the time you need to discover it.

Realize that the music world is much bigger and much more dynamic than the music department at your school… and no, there are not any rules.

Find what is you and do that. You won’t feel burned then.


So many think and teach that success only comes from surviving agony. This could not be further from the truth. We all have dues to pay, but you don’t need to sacrifice your _____ (insert: sanity, relationships, well being etc) to do so. Anyone who tells you otherwise is not successful.

Find another teacher or program – find a situation where the vibe is positive, supportive and creative.

It took me a long time to learn this lesson.




The life I love is making music with my friends. -Willie Nelson

AMEN Tubajoe..... could not have been put better

Hi,Amy,
You took the trouble to consel me about my lip problem and I would like to add a thought to the excellent advice given in the posts before mine.
In my burnout scenario,I felt that music was controlling me and that I was powerless to affect any change that might improve things.I wound up taking a "straight"job.This gave me security,bought me time,and gave me the opportunity to play "fun"music.
If music isn't fun,It's so much harder to play it effectively and comvincingly.We all have to deal with this and character will dictate the solution to the problem.Some changes must be made and we,your tubenet buddies, are pulling for you.
Regards,
Dennis Gray

tubajoe wrote:

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of ways I could find to combat burnout for the short term

Holy Crap let me chime in.

Find another teacher or program – find a situation where the vibe is positive, supportive and creative.

The life I love is making music with my friends. -Willie Nelson

Ditto. Before you give it up completely (and I am one who did) transfer elsewhere. Take a year off if you need to, to find a program that suits you better. I was a violin major at IU and the place ate me alive; I had half the years of study as the people I was competing with, and should have been elsewhere. My teacher never even learned my name!!

All that said....I was not and am not suited personality-wise to being a professional musician. I do much better as an amateur, because I need the intellectual workout that engineering provides.

MA

Tuba players have a problem than most other instruments don't: many tuba parts are bloody boring beyond belief and offer little challenge, especially if you are in a band that's not at a high level of musicianship. I hate to say it because I enjoyed both sets of groups in many ways, but both my high school and college bands (at both colleges) were not particularly good. We did not do much music that offered a technical challenge.

Even if you try to your utmost to play every piece as musically nuanced as possible, there's only so much you can do with whole notes and oompah bass parts. When music does finally get challenging, there's little transitional music for tuba between fiendishly difficult and extremely easy, so you go from being bored to death to suddenly sweating the part and working like a dog. Now sweating the part and having to work like a dog is good for you musically, but it would be nice to work up to the difficult stuff rather than be simply thrown into the frying pan.

Most of my trouble in college was the feast-or-famine problem, and most of the music we did in band was way too dull and simple. If you work like a dog to raise your level of musical ability and can't use it outside of your own solo efforts, it's ultimately frustrating and leads to burnout. I never enjoyed solo work but really loved playing in ensembles, so I eventually grew tired of playing tuba and picked up several instruments, which helped my morale a lot.

1. That's why it's called work! :(
2. Change it up, find other stuff to play! 8)
3. If you own your horn, borrow a tuba the school owns (a crappy one) and play a couple days on it. Then go back to yours and be amazed at how much easier yours is and how much music you're making! :D

Thanks guys for all the advice. This has given me a lot more to consider and think about.

Amy

Hey, I think we've all been there at some time. As others have said perhaps it's not the music overloading you but all the other things that go with it. I felt much as you did and spent the last part of my undergraduate career just trying to finish the degree and get out. Ten years later I'm totally obsessed with playing and am considering going back for my masters. Eight years in a factory job or other mundane work will cause a greater amount of burnout than college overload. Stick in there - a few years down the road you will have forgotten most of the negative aspects about college and will be glad that you persevered. Also - make a concerted effort to really enjoy your friends and collegues, this may make all the difference in your life. Take care- Jason