Sing Play Survive

sound ideas to help make it through music school

We’re Still Here

Jul 21

Posted by Bryan W in Uncategorized | No Comments

Wow, it’s been a long time since anything was written here, hasn’t it? I’ve had a few people ask me what’s going on with SingPlaySurvive, so here it is, in short form:

  • I’m getting married in a few weeks. I got engaged soon after I created this site, and the timing wasn’t so great. There’s a lot to do to plan a wedding.
  • Unfortunately, that means the site took a back seat.
  • I have every intention of starting this up again soon. When I do, you can expect a new look, lots of video content, and some great new ideas to help you power through music school.

If you’d like to stay informed, you should find SingPlaySurvive on Facebook right now!

I can’t wait for the fall to arrive so I can get back to working on this site. For now, you can count on one new post each week.

Come back soon,

-bryan

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53 things to do over winter break

Dec 28

Posted by Bryan W in Free Time, Organization | No Comments

Download the printable checklist

Download the printable checklist

Congratulations, you made it to winter break! Now what are you going to do with yourself for the next few weeks? Yeah, see that’s the problem. Colleges are nice enough to give everyone time to recover after finals, but since you’re so used to being busy all the time, you don’t know what to do with yourself when you come home for break.

Well, to help fix your boredom problem, I put together a biiiiiiigggggg list of things you can do to keep yourself busy over break. Since this is blog about not only surviving music school, but kicking its sorry little butt, I focused this list on all the things you should do to to be really really really prepared for the coming semester. It might be a bit of work now, but If you complete it, you can count on heading back to school more prepared than the world’s most gung-ho boy scout. Invest a little time now, so that you don’t feel slammed through the whole next semester.

I also made a printable .pdf checklist of the whole thing, so you can track your progress as you go. Download it here, and get to work!

Fun

  • This is a pretty “serious” list, so don’t forget to visit with all your friends. Relax, party, socialize, and connect with people. When it’s March and you’re stuck in a practice room for 6 hours a day, you’ll wish you had socialized more.
  • Spend some time with your family. I know they can bug you, but they’re also an important piece of your emotional health. Don’t go home and isolate yourself for three weeks.
  • Go to a concert. You spent the whole Fall performing, now get out to a concert, sit back (or jump around, depending), and enjoy watching someone else do all the work.
  • Find a new hobby or campus club to get involved with. If you do everything else on this checklist, you’ll be better prepared for the spring, and you’ll have some time in your schedule. Don’t “wait and see” if you have time, because if you think like that, you never will. Find a club, and email the president so that you can’t back out on yourself.
  • Visit a museum. You can always find something fun there.
  • If you’re really bored, it’s not too early to start making plans for spring break. Decide if you’re going to go somewhere or stay home, and then find something good to do with that time.
  • If you’re really really bored, read every post on this site (there are only 22 as of now, so it should be too bad).

Health

  • Find a fitness routine that works for you, and start doing it. Learn the exercises now so that you feel comfortable and don’t have to fumble through them during the semester. If you get in the habit of working out now, you’ll probably have a better time sticking to it once things get busy. And, if you’re out of shape, you can deal with the initial soreness while it won’t interfere your practicing as much. Read the rest of this entry »
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Weekend Project(s): Unpack your stuff and then make something

Dec 19

Posted by Bryan W in Free Time, Weekend Project | 4 Comments

man_with_sawzallEvery Saturday, I’m going to highlight a simple, hands-on, dorm-friendly, music-related project to give you something to do besides practice and study all weekend. This week will be a little different, since it’s the start of many student’s winter break. Here are three things to do this weekend.

First (and I know this is a little boring, but please get it done now!), unpack your belongings and get settled. Seriously, this break is going to come and go before you know it, and you’ll feel much more rested if you unpack your suitcase and make yourself at home for the next few weeks. It shouldn’t take too long, but I really believe it makes a difference in how your break goes!

Next, finish (or start) any holiday shopping you need to get done.

Finally, take a little time to make something. Resist the temptation to sit on the couch and watch TV. If you start now, inertia will set in, and you’ll end up glued to the couch for the entire break. Get started on the right foot by finding a project to do this weekend. Need some ideas? How about this:

If those all seem lame to you, find something better to do, and post your ideas in the comments. Have a great weekend, and enjoy the start of a well-deserved break!

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Friday Fun: A cappella hits network TV

Dec 18

Posted by Bryan W in Free Time, Friday Fun, Music Schools, Wow! | No Comments

I have to say, I’m not a big a cappella fan, and I rarely watch TV. I just came across some of the videos from The Singoff, a new reality-contest-show-whatever on NBC. Unfortunately, most of them solidified my dislike for a cappella AND TV.

However, a link to “Come Sail Away” by the Tufts University Beelzebubs popped up. Styx performed by an a cappella group? I’m in! I didn’t like the fact that they had to trim the arrangement for the show, but I had a good time watching the clip. Like all of the videos I watched, the Bubs have some pitch problems, but I suspect that it has to do more with the monitoring situation than it does their skill (And I’m pointing this out so I don’t get any hate mail about not choosing a perfect performance). Here they are having a ton of fun on national TV.

And since TV is a bad way to REALLY know what someone can do, I also found a video from a non-televised ‘Bubs performance… It’s much better.

If you like what you see, you can vote for them on December 21st, using the instructions in the above video. You can also find them at www.bubs.com

Friday Fun is a weekly feature at singplaysurvive.com that hilights fun and distracting performances by college students and independent artists. If you’d like to suggest a group or a video, please email me at contact@bryanwegman.com.

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Things you’ll regret not doing in music school (Part III)

Dec 18

Posted by Bryan W in Free Time, Health and Wellness, Practice, Surroundings | No Comments

Well, they’re one day late, but here they are: Items 11 through 15 on the list of things you absolutely MUST do while you’re a student–or regret not doing for the rest of your life.

11. Spend time alone.

If you’re really trying to make the most out of your music school career, you’re going to be around other people almost non-stop. It’s fun to have friends, to play in ensembles, to study in groups, and hang out with your room mate late into the night. But you also need time for yourself. I’m not just talking about the alone time you get when you’re practicing or studying. I’m talking about what one friend called “naked time”–the kind of time you spend alone just for you (you can keep your clothes on if you like). Take a nice long walk now and then, catch an afternoon nap, or put on your favorite CD (NOT a listening assignment for class) and read a magazine. Just find something to give yourself a nice quiet break.

If you’re wondering why this is is important to do NOW, it’s because your schedule NOW is probably the most flexible you’ll ever have again. Most work days don’t have an hour or two in between tasks the way many students have an hour or two in between classes. Yes, those are good times to practice, study, etc., but they’re also good times to relax and de-stress a little. If you are just too busy to make this happen during the week, give yourself a little extra time to do it on the weekend.

The other reason to do it NOW is because this is a time in your life to focus on you and figure out who you are. If you’re always around other people, you’ll never get a chance to form your own identity. You do NOT want to leave college feeling like you have no idea who you are, so take a little time and figure it out!

12. Celebrate every holiday you know of.
I get it, you’re a hard-working, talented, music student–not some dumb frat-boy or -girl. Well get over yourself and have some fun now and then. It’s college! If you’re holiday calendar says Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, you’re not celebrating enough. You need a calendar that gives you a holiday for almost every day of the year. That way, you can celebrate whenever you get a little free time.

13. Take up a non-music hobby. Read the rest of this entry »

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Is finals week an excuse to eat and dress like a slob?

Dec 15

Posted by Bryan W in Free Time, Health and Wellness | No Comments

finals are funOberlin College is one of a growing number of schools that publish student, staff, and faculty blogs to help share a bit of campus life with the outside world. They seem mostly geared towards prospective students, but they’re pretty fun to look through even if you’re already in school.

I came across a cool post today called Finals are fun!, which was all about the good ways campus life changes during finals week. She points out how students attire, eating habits, sleep schedules, and even Facebook activity changes, and makes a good point that it’s actually quite liberating to spend a whole week in pajamas, eating potato chips and drinking energy drinks.

Fun? Definitely! Counterproductive? My first thought was yes. I didn’t see how eating and sleeping poorly could possibly help anyone ace a final. But, I thought a bit more and came to realize two things:

  1. All of that eating poorly, bumming around in PJs, and spending too much time on Facebook can be a great de-stresser.
  2. TO AN EXTENT, it’s probably helpful to waste some time and keep your stress level low. Let’s face it. If you haven’t learned at least some of what you need to know for finals BEFORE finals week, you’re probably not going to learn it all anyway. You’ll be better off keeping yourself relaxed and studying a little bit (ie, not cramming), than you will walking into a final all stressed out.

So yes, it’s probably FINE to let yourself go a little more than usual during finals. Even if it’s not REALLY ok, it’s so acceptable at most colleges that you probably should just enjoy it anyway! Happy testing everyone, and don’t forget to shower before your parents come to pick you up.

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Weekend Project: Turn your Guitar Hero drums into an electronic drum kit

Dec 13

Posted by Bryan W in Free Time, Wow! | No Comments

GuitarHero-Drums

Andy Lunn of vultrix.com posted a great article about how he turned a Guitar Hero drum set into a real one using his Mac, GarageBand, and an application called OSCulator. This looks like it would be perfect for anyone who lives in a small apartment or dorm room, but wants to rock out on the drums from time to time. I know it’s not QUITE like the real deal, but if you already have all the supplies, it’s a really cheap way to get a little practice drum set. If you’ve always wanted to learn to play the drums, now is your chance!

Since winter break is coming, and you’ll have a few weeks with nothing at all to do (ha!), try making one of these. Who knows, you might come back to school in the spring wanting to change your principal instrument! You can find the complete writeup at vultrix.com.

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Friday Fun: a lil’ something for everyone

Dec 11

Posted by Bryan W in Free Time, Music Schools, Wow! | 1 Comment

Happy Friday. I hope you enjoy a nice weekend. Need to unwind tonight? This video is not for you. Want to broaden your horizons and peek at a little excerpt from the wildest performance of Rite of Spring you’ll probably ever see? Here’s something you might enjoy:

Dolls On Parade from Tyler Jensen on Vimeo.

I had the bright idea of taking my girlfriend to that for one of our first dates. I promise that it was as wild (or wilder) in person than what the video can even begin to show (and lucky for me, we’re now engaged).

Now, if you feel a need to cleanse yourself of that, or just  to just watch some students play their beeehinds off, you can have a look at this:

Enjoy the weekend. Don’t study too hard!

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Things you’ll regret not doing in college (Part II)

Dec 10

Posted by Bryan W in Free Time, Health and Wellness, Practice | 4 Comments

Well it’s Thursday, and here at Sing Play Survive, that means another list of things you BETTER do while you still can. I wouldn’t recommend doing them during juries week (except for number 9), but they’ll all be great fun after.

Got some of your own to add? Please let me know in the comments.

If this is your first time here, you can also read Part I of this series.

6. Have a lazy “marathon” weekend

This is a great thing to do on a long weekend or over a holiday. Grab some friends, stock up on your favorite food and beverages, and take an entire day (or two) to do something like: watch an entire season/series of a favorite TV show, watch a movie trilogy, listen to the complete Beatles discography, have a Monopoly tournament, beat Guitar Hero on expert, etc.

There are a couple of rules for this one: save it for a weekend with bad weather, give yourself a day after to be productive and recover before starting another week of classes, and balance your Karma by spending another entire day volunteering with all of your friends.

7. Learn to function without caffeine
I’ll bet that colleges (and especially music schools) create more caffeine addicts each year than 10,000 Red Bull salesmen do in a lifetime. Between a demanding schedule, chronic sleep deprivation, and easy, campuswide access to fresh-brewed coffee and ice-cold Mountain Dew, it’s no surprise. If you’re on the road to addiction, take a few days off from caffeine here and there. Curb the habit before it owns you for life.

8. Spend time in the library (for fun)

Read the rest of this entry »

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Jury week is coming. Good Luck!

Dec 9

Posted by Bryan W in Uncategorized | No Comments

It’s everyone’s favorite time of the semester: Juries are here! I don’t have much to say on the matter other than:

  1. Break a leg. I’m sure you’ll do great!
  2. Don’t let the formalities scare you. If you know your stuff, you’ll be fine.
  3. Remember: the professors who are hearing you are your friends. They want you to do well, and they’ve heard you before. They’ll understand if your Jury doesn’t go perfectly, especially if you’re a freshman.
  4. Upperclassmen… don’t push your luck ;)

Have a great week. Eat right, get plenty of sleep, don’t stress too much, and have fun from the moment you step into the room. Your passion and enthusiasm can soften even the grumpiest professors!

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