If you/your child played an instrument to a high level but did not go on to study/have a career in music…

[Lakel]

… what did you/your child do about keeping it up as a hobby at university? Or did you/they drop it completely, maybe picking it up again as an adult?

16 year old DD is diploma level in piano and grade 5/6 ish level in cello, and I have been pondering how it will go post A-levels. I like to think she will be able to play for pleasure in the future, join orchestras as an adult etc, she gets a lot out of that kind of stuff now.

Obviously she won’t be able to take her piano with her to uni. The cello is more portable but bulky to have in a student room.

I’m not particularly invested in what she does, completely up to her. I was just thinking back to my student days and can’t remember anyone who did stuff like that.

DH was this student! Diploma piano, grade 8 violin.

I’ve just asked him. He played piano a couple of times a week in two of the music rooms but yes, it fell by the wayside a bit and he concentrated more on his electric guitar and violin. He joined the student orchestra but they never really did much.

This was the late 90s so might not be at all relevant today.

As an adult he plays every day and is in bands but music isn’t his career.

I did to Grade 8 in flute at school. I wanted to go to music school and work in an orchestra but the day i auditioned I had bronchitis so it did not work!

I don't play now. But I still love music and take my Dcs to every classical concert I can possibly afford to go to. It's a source of huge pleasure to me. Neither of my Dcs have had any interest in learning to play. But they both enjoy music and concerts.

DC1 went to Imperial College - they only teach STEM subjects there. Some of their friends were in various orchestras, choirs, a cappella groups etc and used to gave public performances.

One of mine had a bursary for participation in Uni music groups like orchestra and jazz group. I can't recall the amount, quite a few hundred quid, there were criteria to fulfil (performance at x number of events per term, not many)

Continues with jazz group as an adult, career in their field of study ( not music)

Well I'm 51, passed Grade 8 flute at 17 but pretty much stopped playing regularly after I left university (didn't study music) and life got in the way. Although my career involves working with a lot of musicians so still in that general world. I picked it up to play at home now and then just to prove I still could then 18 months ago I found a flute group mostly full of 'adult returners' like me and it's lovely to be playing again. I'm not the standard I once was but I'm still pretty good and it's a very enjoyable hobby.

I was very good at music, played clarinet from age 7 to grade 6 level. Grade A at GCSE. This was mid 90s. I left school and never played it since. I went straight into work, discovered pubs, made new friends. Totally regret it now and wish I continued. It was the only thing I was good at!

Dd was grade 8 piano and singing and grade 5 cello when she left school.

She hasn't done any music at all at university in a year and a half. Not a single note. 😢

However, the minute she gets home in the holidays, she goes straight to the piano and sings and plays for a couple of hours and does it every day until she goes back. So it's still all there, it's just not her priority at the moment.

I'm confident she'll come back to it at some point in the future.

DH was grade 8, a music scholar and hasn’t touched his main instrument since school.

I think he has vague ideas of picking it up again in retirement but I never got the impression he was all that passionate about it.

Thanks, an interesting range. I would have thought dropping it completely was the usual, so interesting to hear about student orchestras and music rooms and things.

@RaspberryScrubs how did your dc get involved with the bursary? Was it something they knew about/applied for before they went?

I didn’t play to a particularly high level but lots of my friends did and joined all sorts of orchestras/ensembles/groups/choirs whilst at uni. There’s loads of opportunities if they’re interested enough to keep it going.

DD played piano and another couple of more portable instruments. When considering universities, she investigated what music societies they had and whether they were generally available to non-music students. At some universities, the main bands / orchestras were mainly music students.

She is currently happily involved in a few band / orchestras with her portable instruments. She also plays piano for the musical theatre group sometimes.

Although there are music practice rooms available, she decided to take an electronic piano so she could play as and when - the piano is her go to for stress release! It fitted okay in her room in halls.

It was on the uni website, in amongst the "what else we do here" info, with a link to follow.

Applied once the A level results were in. Simple online form, including uploading highest grade certificate (I think grade 6)

Joined the uni band as soon as she got there. She is now working in uni city and is still in the band as alumni . It helps that both uni bands in the city are very active , sociable and have battle of the bands annually .

And a letter from the music teacher attesting to their proficiency in their instrument.

Imperial also offers music scholarships for tuition at the Royal College of Music, which is next door.

I pretty much gave up music at university because I found other passions and my teenage arch nemesis was the conductor but there were plenty of very high level music opportunities. I came back to it as a postgraduate and still play a lot now.

My DC stopped playing classical music at university but explored other types of music, playing in bands, folk groups etc. One tried gamelan! They still make music now as a regular hobby. There was lots of music going on at their universities, much more than at school, and many non music students who played at a post grade 8 level.

DD plays in her university band (trumpet)

Dh continued to play the piano and still does.

I was very active musically at school, but never brilliant enough to consider a career in music (although I did do A Level music). Grade 8 and Grade 7 in my orchestral instruments, Grade 5-ish in piano (I had a couple of years lessons whilst I was doing A Level music to help with composition) and I sang as well.

I was a choral scholar at university but pretty much never picked up either of my main instruments ever again - which I still find odd as it was such a massive part of my life at school and the vast majority of my friends outside school were music related.

The only instrument I ever play now is the piano occasionally as the DC have lessons. And I have to tune DD1's violin for her (which is actually my old violin). I've been toying with joining a choir, but yet to find one that is convenient and does the sort of music I love singing. I do listen to a wide variety of music though.

This is great, I had no idea there were music scholarships for those not studying music, I am glad I started this thread now 😄

Handmademitlove,
Can I ask which electric piano?
Dd plays in uni orchestra but also likes piano.
She has tried out the pianos in music rooms but the booking system is not great, she said.
Thinking of maybe getting electric piano when she moves away from campus.
She is grade 8, and used to a good piano from home.

DS(Y13) aims to complete Grade 8 in his two instruments this year, and is applying for a choral scholarship alongside a STEM degree. We'll see what happens when he's at uni, but he's interested in a jazz band and a bookable grand piano at this stage.

DS got Grade 8 Trumpet, took his instrument with him to Uni in the 1st year but never played it. It has lived in his wardrobe at home ever since. I think he may have had it out twice a few years ago just to see if he could still play it! He's moved out now and the trumpet remains here. He's 28. I live in hope that one day he will pick it up again after the thousands we spent on lessons and exams.

I did grade 6 piano and cello at 6th form. Didn't follow it up at uni but loved playing our piano when I visited home and also had a piano to tinker on in my 3rd year halls. Joined orchestra in postgraduate uni, and a chamber orchestra after uni in my local area. You always have it, if it was a real interest. I notice cello when I hear it on TV etc. My daughter's been watching Wednesday this week in which cello features a lot.

The friend I most envied at university was grade 8 violin, she joined or created a string quartet to play at weddings. She made more money doing a few hours once or twice a month than any of the rest of us in our bar and retail jobs.

I think it probably will depend where they go to university, I was a woodwind grade 8, played in the county orchestra, toured Europe, we were on radio 4 et cetera and I only didn't go to music college because my dad wouldn't let me. My university wasn't particularly big, and I did play in the orchestra, but all the main opportunities went to the music students and those of us not doing music degrees got whatever was left over. In some universities there were orchestras in the halls of residence, which gave more opportunities but not a particularly high standard. I'm not sure whether they still exist given that so many fewer kids play anything these days.

When I was doing my A-levels, I had lots of opportunity to play in the nearby town and cities in various shows, musical theatre etc., but I went to university in London and there's so many musicians there that those same type of opportunities weren't available. I did go busking!

I didn't play much for a while, but as an older adult I have played in community orchestras, which has been really enjoyable.

It also depends what instruments you play, a flute is much more versatile and I can imagine playing it in more social gatherings than if you play the bassoon or the tuba. Playing the piano is obviously good for a singalong, it's more difficult to think that you might take your cello to the pub or a party!