What Does a Degree in Music Get You?

I meant to write about this a few days ago when the Game-A-Thon was more fresh in mind. As I had mentioned, Rock Band was a very popular game during our event. It was going on for much of the afternoon and evening. The game combines the mechanics of Guitar Hero along with a drum set and a microphone. During the course of the evening I tried everything out, but the vocals intrigued me.

I grabbed the microphone for one song. I definitely felt a little nervous and self-conscious. This may surprise you because in college I was a music major and my primary instrument was voice. I was trained to be a singer. Well...things did not go so well. I managed to get through Highway Star OK. However, when I tried to sing Gimme Shelter it got pretty bad. We failed...because of me.

The mechanics for the singing component are interesting. It recognizes tone differences regarding of how high or low you are singing. Thus, it doesn't matter if you sing pretty or not. You just have to be within the pitch zone. This is a tough transition for a music major and one I'm not sure I can get over. Usually my game instincts kick in, but I am so busy trying to sound authentic to the song that I only make it worse. Curse this music education! ;)