Music Degree

My next 'bit' of formal study was my music degree, which I completed in 2009. I majored in the violin. The lessons and daily practice sessions (more than two hours a day, which mostly seemed to pass in no time!) were very much hands-on. So was Aural and Practical Musicianship, which included 36 hours of playing in one or more groups each term. I played in different ensembles, local orchestras and was part of a bush band over the course of the degree, often performing in public.

When I first started, I had close to zero computer experience. I was shocked when I found out that all the course material was online and that lecturers preferred e-mail over phone conversations. I had no choice but to figure out, often with the help of my youngest son, how everything works.

I did conduction and learned how to use 'Sibelius', an excellent notation program. I learned to record music with 'Protools'. In my favourite assignment I arranged a piano piece for full orchestra and became so engaged that I forgot about meals and everything else in the world. The whole rather complex arrangement was completed in only a few days. For another assignment I wrote and recorded a song.

Then there was music theory and history.