Surviving the Ph.D. journey with the violin!

June 4, 2006 at 7:48 AM

Hello all =)

I started playing the violin when I was 11 and, 14 years later, still look to it as my ever-present friend. None of my other friends have ever been able to accomplish this feat. Although, to be fair, none of my other friends have resided in my room/apartment 24/7 for the past 14 years. And it can be difficult to find a friend willing to talk or be with me at 3:00 AM. They generally follow the socially acceptable behavior of being asleep at this hour (as they should!). For this 4th-year Ph.D. student, 3:00 usually means I'm debugging my thousand-line computer programs. And just when I'm ready to go look for a hammer, I see my violin and wisely decide to start burning off energy on it. So, for another night, my computer's life is spared.

So, I spent my childhood in Texas, attended Texas A&M for two years before getting my B.S. in chemical engineering (2001), and then worked for ChevronTexaco in New Orleans immediately after. In September 2003, I moved cross-country to start Ph.D. work at Rutgers University in New Jersey. The free way to earning a M.S., though at at a heavy price. 5 years is a long time and there's a reason why so few people pursue the doctorate. Who wants to still be in school after 25?

It's a long, mostly frustrating journey, and chances are that most people (read: friends, family, people at random social events) won't be able to understand even the fundamentals of what one's thesis work is based on. It's a lonely journey. At the same time, the promise of additional job security is alluring. At 20, I was earning just under 60K working for ChevronTexaco. At 27, with the Ph.D., it will be $65-80K.

When I was 18, I was told that it took exceptional talent to be a professional violinist who could command salaries competitive with what I eventually earned as a process engineer. Somehow I doubt I could have earned this much at my respective ages of 20 and 27...Does anyone know what the average salary is for a prof. musician? Is it a realistic scenario for a professional violinist to command a salary in the $50-80K range while still in their 20s?

Seven years later, I don't regret my decision to pursue chemical engineering instead of music. I of course kept my violin, practiced whenever I could, and learned new music styles as my life took me to New Orleans and New Jersey. Both Cajun and Irish fiddling are very enjoyable ways to spend an hour, though it's really quite an interesting experience to play a Baroque, Romantic, and fiddling piece without any breaks in between.

Example: Earlier this evening, I tried the Vivaldi A Minor (Suzuki 4), Perpetuo Mobile, Accolay A Minor (Solos for Young Violinists, 3), and a Cajun fiddling piece J'Ete au Bal (I Went to the Dance). Three styles of music, same instrument, same bow. One of the best practices I've had in a long time =)

Technically, I'm able to play pieces at the Suzuki 7 and Barber 3 level. I'm guessing that the technical aptitude varies among all the bloggers here, so hopefully my own technical competency falls somewhere within this range - it certainly would be nice to meet a community of other violinists with whom I don't feel completely outclassed in ability, even though I might not fall under the usual categories of the people posting (e.g. high school, music major, professional violinist, teacher).

From Pauline Lerner
Posted on June 4, 2006 at 9:06 AM

Hi and welcome to v.com. You and I have some interesting things in common. I slaved in grad school for years to earn a Ph.D. in biochemistry, but I've never made a lot of money. Now I'm unemployed. I love to play classical, folk, trad., world, Celtic, and other genres of music. Someone once told me, "No matter what your mood is, your instrument always understands." I'm sure you've heard the philosophical question about what you'd save if your house caught fire. Something like that happened to me once when I was in grad school. The alarm went off in the middle of the night. I got up, put on a coat, and stumbled out the door before I could wake up and think. Once I was safely outside, I looked at my hands to see what I had grabbed. I had my violin in one hand and my research notebook in another.

Welcome again. I look forward to hearing more from you.

From John Chew
Posted on June 4, 2006 at 11:58 AM

Aren't many scientists violinists? Welcome to the board.

From Karin Lin
Posted on June 4, 2006 at 8:27 PM

Another science Ph.D. here. :) I'm also glad I didn't pursue music professionally; even if I'd had the talent, the fact is that you can achieve much more financial security in other fields. My violin's always there when I want it, which seems to be all the time these days. Welcome to V.com!

From Richard Hellinger
Posted on June 5, 2006 at 2:59 AM

I play at a level 7 suzuki too!! I love suzuki I have all books up to 10... my teacher said that I should just buy them all in one giant bundle pack because she plans on getting through them all by college, i hope:)

From Eddie Davis
Posted on June 5, 2006 at 4:44 AM

Thanks for the greetings! It's really quite nice to meet an international community of violinists...=)

From Emily Ellis
Posted on June 5, 2006 at 2:53 PM

Welcome to the board from yet another scientist! I didn't realise there were so many of us

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