All things considered, it’s a pretty well-known fact that here at Nerd Overload, we love to talk about classical music and playing instruments. In fact, it’s so well-known that if you don’t know this, have you even read our tagline? We don’t cater to country fans, but you can’t do everything!
So it should come as no surprise that we’re back at giving more unhelpful advice on your favorite topic with this post on the five basic stages all musicians experience. Music discriminates against none—and when we’re talking about these stages, we do mean everyone, from tuba players to violin players to flute players to, yes, you.
A Side Note on Decimals
This list of stages is by no means comprehensive, and oftentimes people will fall in between stages. I call these subcategories decimals because you can label them as 4.3 or 2.4 or whatever, depending on what two stages you fall between.
Stage 1: Newbie Extraordinaire
When you are on this stage, chances are you have only been playing for a few milliseconds to a year or so. You are still in the process of learning the notes and fingerings and how to even make a sound, getting acquainted with your new best friend (aka. The Instrument), and it’s very much a trial period of “Will I Forge On, Or Will I Quit?” I’m willing to bet you produce sounds reminiscent of a dying cat or someone being dragged over a bumpy road. It’s okay, though because it will get better. This is one of the toughest stages.
Main Things You Are Learning:
- Proper playing posture, because as long as you look like you can do it, people won’t be able to tell the difference between you and a professional, much.
- How to change between pitches/rhythms and where to place/move your bodily parts to change to the aforementioned pitches/rhythms. Basically: how to play notes.
- Simple notation, such as repeats signs, staccato, slurs, etc.
- Simple dynamics (piano, forte, mezzo piano, etc.)
- How to read sheet music, how to read the notes and basic rhythms, etc.
Things You Have Mastered:
Um…at this point? Not much yet. Except for starting an instrument, I suppose. That’s an achievement all by itself.
Stage 2: I Can Do It. Sort Of. Ugh.
After you get out of the initial newbie stage, you enter a second stage full of sort-of’s, maybe’s, and try it out but no promises. Sure, you have the basic stuff, but slightly harder music than you’re used to is your worst enemy. You can play your fair share of pieces on your instrument, but most of the things you want to do are beyond your capabilities. Each day, it gets harder to find motivation to practice, even though you know that you have to if you want to get better. This is the stage where most non-serious musicians drop out.
Main Things You Are Learning:
- More complicated rhythms, dynamics and notation, such as ledger lines, triplets, pianissimo, first and second endings, D. C. al fine, etc.
- Basic music theory, like scales, cadences, and chord progressions
- Really understanding the music you play rather than just playing the notes
- Some people are able to do simple sight reading by now; others wait until the beginning of the next stage. Same goes for playing by ear.
Things You Have Mastered:
- Reading and identifying notes, though for ledger lines, this may take some time.
- Basic rhythms and notation, dynamics to an extent.
Stage 3: Love-Hate Relationship
Being in the middle is almost never a good thing. The middle of your life has a type of crisis named after it, and the middle of your teens are always the craziest years, and in the middle of your couch cushions is, most likely, a million things that you thought you ‘lost’. Seriously, just look. It makes sense, then, that this stage is by far the toughest. You know and can play well enough to be considered good, but not enough to feel good all the time. Your playing is 75% satisfactory, but the rest is utter junk. Sometimes you want to throw your instrument out the window, other times you cradle it in your arms. It’s a weird life.
Main Things You Are Learning:
- Harder, faster passages with more complicated techniques and articulations
- Playing the original, unedited versions of repertoire and entering competitions
- Advanced techniques used in harder solos and duets, maybe ensemble pieces
- Sight reading and music theory. In this stage, it’s emphasized in particular.
- Getting a nice sound quality every time you play
- Really just perfecting everything that you have learned in the past and making sure you know everything you learn down to a tee
Things You Have Mastered:
- At this point, note-reading and the vast majority of rhythms, including forms of syncopation, should be a piece of cake for you.
- You should be able to sight read pieces that are extremely under your level
- You can play simple melodies by ear after only a few repetitions
- Musical notation, articulation, and dynamics, even the rarer ones
Stage 4: Higher Education
Let me just say a congratulations for making it this far. Most musicians will never truly reach this level, and you are at the top of the top for getting up here. You are an accomplished musician with a couple claims to fame under your belt and a high command for your instrument. You’re good at it, there’s no more doubt. You are able to or could be able to successfully mentor a stage one or stage two student—maybe even a three if you’re really good. There’s almost nothing you haven’t mastered or aren’t about to master.
Main Things You Are Learning:
- How to make your sound more musical by thinking in phrases and waves
- Playing from the heart, harnessing your passion into your playing
- Some musicians have yet to learn about the occasional marking. Every once in a while, there will be something that you will not know how to do.
- Learning pieces mostly by yourself, without guidance or with minimal guidance. If you don’t know how to do something, you can usually figure it out by yourself.
Things You Have Mastered
- Articulation, dynamics, notation, and other elements
- Sight reading pieces that are below or on your skill level, with little to no mistakes
- Getting a good quality sound each and every time you play
- You can get complicated passages right within the first few tries
- Music theory, history, and you can play well by ear
Stage 5: The Professional Musician
Remember when I said every musician would experience these five stages? Well, I was wrong, because if stage four is hard to crack, this stage is even harder. Not only do you have to have extraordinary dedication to your instrument, but you also have to just be plain better than everyone else. Classical music is a highly competitive field, and becoming a professional concert musician is the music equivalent of going to the Olympics. Orchestral musicians are easier to become, because the demand is higher, but you’ll still need to be the top of the crop. If any of you do become a millionaire, though, remember me.
Thank you for sticking around, and do tell me what instrument you play and what stage you fall in according to this list. I hope you’ll check out more of my classical music content on this blog. Until next week! ♥
