With the holidays and inevitable family gatherings approaching, undergraduate music majors will once again face the uncomfortable gauntlet of incredulous questions from friends and family.
- What are you going to do after you graduate?
- Aren’t you worried about making money?
- How are you going to pay off your student loans?
- Why don’t you just do music in your spare time?
- What will you have to *fall back* on?
- What sort of jobs are out there, anyway?

Different questions will arise, but having a few handy stock answers will certainly help your cause. Here are several useful and confident modes of answering these nasty questions.

POSSIBLE RESPONSE #1
Outreach & Education

Bemoan the state of music education in the country and express your dedication to changing and challenging young students to think critically about music, to enrich their lives with music.
Classical music education, as well as critical thinking in all genres is uniquely important in our society. Students use their music education in all other areas, opening up unused areas of the brain, abstract reasoning, etc.

POSSIBLE RESPONSE #2
Follow Your Dreams

College is the one time in my life when one can spend time doing exactly what he loves to do. Before you make any decisions which will hinder your ability to spend time playing music, you need to take your musicianship to the next level. Besides, 80% of jobs do not require a specific college degree. Okay, I just made up this statistic, but it sounds somewhat convincing.

POSSIBLE RESPONSE #3
Follow Your Dreams, but be Realistic

Yes, very few classical performers work full time as performers, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t continue as a music major! Most performers of classical music usually work part-time as performers, and part-time at something else. This 'something else' could be anything from teaching lessons to a holding a flexible office job. This is a realistic way that I can do what I love to do, but also make some money.

POSSIBLE RESPONSE #4
Baffle the interrogator with jargon

When all else fails, or as an illuminated tangent, prove that you have jumped full fathoms five into your major by throw out technical terms. Concept-drop, at a minimum, these dictums: the rules of counterpoint, scales, parallel and relative key structures, the amazing tessellating properties of our 12-note system, interval inversions and why they work, etc. Don’t forget to mention that these are the building blocks of all music, pop, classical, etc. These are the structures behind the music we all know and love!

POSSIBLE RESPONSE #5
Shop-talk with the connoisseur

In the case that you find yourself in conversation with a classical music enthusiast, wizened studio player, etc., be yourself, concept-drop, and be humble! You can prove your mettle through music talk, but beware of the trump card! If your interrogator drops, say, the formal irregularities of the first movement of Beethoven's Waldstein sonata, some minutiae about a symphony by Bruckner, or Dizzy vs. Miles philosophy, stay calm! Show that you are making a mental note of this new information. You’ll get ‘em next time, and visibly taking note helps your cred.

So You're a Music Major!

By now, you’ve proved your mettle. For next year's holiday-time friends-and-family checkup, be sure your skills have increased and your philosophies have evolved. You will probably even look forward to these annual conversations!