Hi Aska, is there anyone who has transferred midway (I am in 2nd year) to a completely new major in the Faculty of Arts and Science. How likely is it to finish a whole 7 credits in the span of 2 years? If it helps, it is the Music major under the Faculty of Arts and Science, and I want to finish all 7 credits in 2 years. Are the prerequisites really strict or can i take different year courses at the same time? Thanks!

——————————————

hey there,

is there anyone who’s transferred to a completely new major in the faculty of arts and science after second year? well, i’m not a good place janet, so i can’t tell you for certain, but it doesn’t seem implausible to me.

aaand i’m also very clearly not a good place janet because i learned, today, that there’s a music degree under the big ol’ artsci umbrella. as in, separate from the faculty of music? huhhhh ok.

to my knowledge, it should be perfectly doable to finish 7 FCEs over the span of two years. that is, 7 miscellaneous FCEs. it gets a little more complicated when you’re dealing with 7 program requirement FCEs, because then you have pesky things to think about like prereqs. let’s try to unravel that whole mess right here and now so we can get a sense of the feasibility of what you wanna do:

oh boy. okay. so i’m giving you my feedback in real time, which is a new thing i’m trying, and my guess is that you hit the same wall i did. in other words, you did the thing where you look up the music major program, cool cool cool, here it is, and then you click on the music major requirements. first year, higher years, all there. everything looks normal. but then you take it to the next stage, and literally none of the first year requirements are in the current calendar. 

try ’em. HMU111H1, HMU126H1, TMU115H1, TMU140Y1 … nothing. why? if this major was a place, it would be one of those desert oasis mirages. looks legit while you’re on your way there, but when you get down to it and want what it has, poof.

so um, it appears we have hit a dead end. i even tried looking up HMU courses on the fall/winter timetable, also with literally no results. what is going ON?

all right, all right. i would recommend that you reach out to either the registrar or assistant registrar of the faculty of music, then, and see if they know anything about the ultra-mysterious HMU program. does it exist? does it… not? is course registration so exclusive that you literally can’t figure out what you’re getting into until you’re already in? if they know anything, they’ll probably be your best bet at figuring out whether you’ll be able to finish all 7 credits in 2 years.

best of luck!! what a MYSTERY i hope the music registrars can help you figure it out. sorry i couldn’t be more useful– my powers can feel so dreadfully limited at times like these.

be Boundless,

aska

Does uft offer music instrument lessons? If not is there a way to find a student to teach you a particular instrument? (lessons are so expensive!!!!)

———————————————

hey,

i love that you asked this question. i answer so many questions about GPA’s and transfers that it leaves my head spinning! finally, a question about music!

on a side note- musician rant: charging people a lot for lessons is totally justified!

i agree with you that lessons ARE expensive, but they are expensive for a good reason. as someone who took music lessons for about 15 years, i was reminded by my mother on a daily basis that lessons cost a ton! if i were to teach now, i’d definitely charge a lot to make up for how much i had to pay when i was a student. getting certified as a teacher under the royal conservatory of music is an expensive and arduous process- it’s hard to put a price on the hours and hours of practicing and studying for theory exams, but if you had to put a price on your musical education, it makes sense that it would be quite hefty.

***most of this rant stems from my frustration at not being paid enough as a hired musician at weddings and other functions. always pay musicians generously to play at functions!***

anyways, my answer for you is: U of T doesn’t offer music lessons for students outside of the faculty of music. (boo.) while there are tons of clubs for people who play instruments such as string ensembles and orchestras, i haven’t been able to find any music lessons that are offered by the school.

i asked my friends in the faculty and even reached out to pedagogy profs about your question but no one gave me any advice as to how to go about looking for cheap music lessons. i was hoping that there would be some kind of online resource where students in the faculty of music can advertise their teaching services, but unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to exist.

so behold: here are some askastudent ways to solicit music lessons:

1) university settlement music and arts school. this school provides affordable music lessons to people of all ages and incomes. their philosophy is that music is a right, not a privilege,
(which i think is a fantastic philosophy) and that people shouldn’t be limited if they don’t have the means to pay for expensive lessons. how wonderful. be sure to check them out.

2) U of T facebook groups. people who frequent these groups are always happy to show off the fact that they play an instrument and are good at it. make a post in one of the many U of T facebook groups (accepted: class of 2019) and ask if any one of the 10,737 people in the group are willing to teach you an instrument. sit, wait and watch the comments will roll in.

3) find a jam session happening at your college. my college has a club where everyone brings instruments to jam and most of the time, students end up teaching their peers how to play certain instruments. it’s definitely a good place to start.

4) BUNZ. bunz is a free website/ app/ community where you can trade items and services. the good thing about this is that no exchange of money is allowed, which is perfect for people who can’t afford lessons. people on bunz really like food so you could probably trade a couple of jars of pasta sauce for a lesson! the possibilities are endless.

5) kijiji and craigslist. pretty self explanatory, but use these with caution. these can be super sketchy.

6) good ol bulletin boards. bulletin boards on campus often have flyers for music lessons. vocal lessons are probably the ones i’ve seen the most, but i’m sure if you dug deep enough, you’ll be able to find what you’re looking for. some notable bulletin boards are located at hart house (basement, near sammy’s student exchange cafe), robarts 2nd floor, and the faculty of music building.

WARNING: be smart about meeting up with people from the internet. take all the steps to make sure that they aren’t going to kidnap you. meet in a public place first and have a friend hanging around to make sure you are safe.

i hope this helped at least a little bit. definitely look into the university settlement music program- i’ve heard good things!

if all else fails, i’ll teach you!

peace, love, and happy major chords all around,

aska