# Can you study classical music by yourself?



## PresenTense (May 7, 2016)

Is that possible? Can I study classical music by myself? Without being in a conservatory? What do you think of that?


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## Chordalrock (Jan 21, 2014)

Lectures were invented back when there were no books. These days there are books, recordings, and the internet. If you somehow can't study by yourself in 2016, then something's amiss. In my opinion, doing school today is a huge waste of time. You can learn everything faster and better on your own.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Not sure if I agree with Chordalrock. You *can* learn by yourself, but I suspect there are advantages to having an instructor and classmates. 

What specifically are you trying to study? Performance, theory, history...?


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

PresenTense said:


> Is that possible? Can I study classical music by myself? Without being in a conservatory? What do you think of that?


Only if your superman / woman.....


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## PresenTense (May 7, 2016)

Pugg said:


> Only if your superman / woman.....


Really? Is it that impossible? haha


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## Il_Penseroso (Nov 20, 2010)

Self-taught musician here, practiced music from medieval to modern era. No regret at all.


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## rspader (May 14, 2014)

You can study ANYTHING by yourself. It is a question of how proficient you wish to become. Feedback from others is very valuable.


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## Bruckner Anton (Mar 10, 2016)

The key courses are harmony and counterpoint. Maybe you can attain the former one by yourself, but you do need a professional advisor on the latter.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I agree with Rspader. I know of a Julliard trained singer who, after 15 years post-schooling, still takes lessons.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Manxfeeder said:


> I agree with Rspader. I know of a Julliard trained singer who, after 15 years post-schooling, still takes lessons.


I know a retired teacher who's still learning :tiphat:


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## Guest (Jul 5, 2016)

PresenTense said:


> Is that possible? Can I study classical music by myself? Without being in a conservatory? What do you think of that?


Do you mean how to play it? How to write it? The history of it? The technical features that characterise it?


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## Xenakiboy (May 8, 2016)

My opinion is that you can learn *ANYTHING* if you put the time into it, you don't need a conservatory or university *BUT* if you want a career as a composer/musician/conducter it's near impossible to create or be part of a community without something like a conservatory/university because people realistically want to work with/perform works from people who have qualifications, as like a requirement. If I could get around that I would, but I don't see many other options either. That's me next year anyway! :tiphat:


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## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

Well, with regards to composition, Kevin Volans, says you must study and study and study some more with someone

https://www.cmc.ie/features/if-you-need-audience-we-dont-need-you

_What young composers need, more than commissions and even concerts, is more education. Composition takes as long or longer to learn than playing the violin, for example. For most people, at least 10 years of intensive study. I did a 4 year degree and then 9 years of intensive post graduate study. (That's not counting of course, the composing I did earlier, from the age of 12.) When I was with Stockhausen, we had 14 hours of tuition a week - at least 50 times the current post-graduate norm at Trinity College, Dublin, of about 10 to 15 hours a year. [Think about that for a minute - to get the same amount of tuition as we did in 3 and a half years in the Stockhausen class, you would have to spend at least 175 years on your PhD]. And I think the intense tuition paid off: many if not most of Stockhausen's students went on to have significant careers, Wolfgang Rihm, Clarence Barlow, Claude Vivier, Gerald Barry, to name a few._


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## Aurelian (Sep 9, 2011)

Vasks said:


> Well, with regards to composition, Kevin Volans, says you must study and study and study some more with someone
> 
> https://www.cmc.ie/features/if-you-need-audience-we-dont-need-you
> 
> _What young composers need, more than commissions and even concerts, is more education. Composition takes as long or longer to learn than playing the violin, for example. For most people, at least 10 years of intensive study. I did a 4 year degree and then 9 years of intensive post graduate study. (That's not counting of course, the composing I did earlier, from the age of 12.) When I was with Stockhausen, we had 14 hours of tuition a week - at least 50 times the current post-graduate norm at Trinity College, Dublin, of about 10 to 15 hours a year. [Think about that for a minute - to get the same amount of tuition as we did in 3 and a half years in the Stockhausen class, you would have to spend at least 175 years on your PhD]. And I think the intense tuition paid off: many if not most of Stockhausen's students went on to have significant careers, Wolfgang Rihm, Clarence Barlow, Claude Vivier, Gerald Barry, to name a few._


Now I have a clearer understanding why Ravel spent 16 years at the Conservatory.

I have the Piston/DeVoto book about harmony. Learning harmony by reading about it is like learning to fly a big plane only by reading about it.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Some can, some can't. But with or without teachers, if we're not motivated to do our own exploring we won't learn much.

To learn how to write music, nothing beats writing it. It's a solitary pursuit.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

MacLeod said:


> Do you mean how to play it? How to write it? The history of it? The technical features that characterise it?


I look every time if O.P has response yet, alas in vain.


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## OldFashionedGirl (Jul 21, 2013)

Probably you will don't have the level of preparation of a conservatory student, but with interest and dedication you can learn about classical music.


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

PresenTense said:


> Is that possible? Can I study classical music by myself? Without being in a conservatory? What do you think of that?


Arnold Schoenberg
Toru Takamitsu
Georg Philip Telemann 
Edgar Elgar 
Gunther Schuller didn't even finish high school


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