Three Paths For Harp Study In College

You’ve invested a lot of time, money and effort into your passion for playing the harp. While other kids were playing hockey or soccer, you were practicing and playing concerts.  (Or maybe you played sports too, which makes you a rockstar!) But now college is on the horizon and it’s time to choose a path to continue your harp playing. Here’s a brief summary of your options:

Harp Major: As a harp major at a university or conservatory, you will be spending most of your time in the music department with other music students like you. Of course, in addition to the music theory and history classes, ensembles, orchestra rehearsals and lessons, you will have some regular academic classes as well. On top of that, you will be expected to practice about 4 hours a day. If you’re serious about playing or teaching the harp as a career, this is the path for you. 

Harp Minor: As a harp minor, your music requirements, including the practice requirement will be a little less, but it will be offset by additional coursework for your major area of study. This can be a great option for students who are serious harpists but have another area of study they want to pursue too.
 

Elective: Different schools call elective study by different names, but this is essentially lessons for credit. If you want to keep up with your harp playing but want to major in something else, this might be perfect for you. The school gets a harpist, you get lessons; it’s a win-win!

The best part about college is that there are so many choices you can make. The one certainty is that you’ve spent too much time and effort on your harp playing - and you love it too much! - to stop now. 

So which path will you choose?