Academic Research on the Internet

Exercise 2.2 page 84, The Curious Researcher

Keep Track of What You Are Finding

In this blog I used my primary inquiry question with different key words to refine my searches while doing this exercise.  I discovered many good articles that I will be able to use for my research topic of "Why you music majors not getting jobs in their field?".  I was able to go onto different websites, other than Google, to search my topic and discovered many interesting posts and articles about what other people have said about this subject.  I will link the sources that I found helpful at the bottom of this blog post.  It is also very important that you stay up to date on citing your articles so that you do not fall into plagiarism and becoming confused with which source said what and what source did you use for this particular sentence, etc. I would recommend using Bibme.com or else easybib.com.  These are both very helpful sources that can help keep you bibliography page on track.



Sources:
http://thequietus.com/articles/06914-icarus-line-music-industry
http://musicians.about.com/od/otherindustrycareers/f/getamusicjob.htm

Inquiry Question

Why do people who major in fine arts, music performance, teaching, etc. rarely get a job in that field.  I would really like to research this topic more because myself, being a music major in college have heard many negative things about majoring in music.  Some negative things that I have heard have been , "That is the worst major you could pick, you will never get a good paying job!" , "Do you know the competition out there?", and the infamous "Every musician starves and dies in poverty".  I think that even though these may be true for some, if you have the passion you have to go for it.  I hope to find some insight and answers while I research the topic of music majors and the job availability in these fields.

Exercise 1.1 Pages 25-28

PLACES: College, School, cities, concert halls, Kimmel Center, Santander Performing Arts Center, Carnegie Hall

TRENDS: Playing guitar, being in a band, singing

THINGS: instruments, violin, guitar, voice, college degree

TECHNOLOGIES: sound system, sound booth, pick-ups, electric instruments

PEOPLE: famous musicians, conductors, orchestra members, audience

CONTROVERSIES: what job can you get, how beneficial will this be, can it impact my life and others

HISTORY: instrument history, music history, background of the piece you are playing

JOBS: violin teacher, conductor, orchestra member, school teacher, concertmaster

HABITS: practicing diligently, practicing the wrong way, tapping your foot, using a metronome

HOBBIES: music, sports, extracurricular activities, time needed for hobbies

Where can you go to get a music degree?
Is the music you are producing a trend or can you grow as a musician through it?
What types of instruments should people be majoring in while looking to get a job in the music field?
How has technology helped or improved instrumentalists?
How have famous people, for example a famous musician impacted your playing or inspired you?
Will you be able to get a good and stable job with a music degree?
How does knowing music history benefit you?
What kind of jobs are out there for music majors?
How can you develop good habits while practicing?
Is playing an instrument just a hobby or can you have many and still succeed at them all and not focus on just one?
How can you know you will find a secure job once graduating with a music degree?

In this exercise that the author of The Curious Researcher had us do really made me challenge my thinking towards one broad subject.  The author, Bruce Ballenger discusses the fact that people argue that they are not interested in anything enough to write a paper.  I disagree with this just as the author does.  Everyone has a interest in something whether it is in sports, books, music,or something else you can always find new and interesting information to write about something.  This exercise really helped me break down the broad subject so that I will be able to write a better research paper on a specific topic/ question.

I believe that you should know the general idea of your thesis when starting your research paper.  This way it will help you look at the information you need and not get side-tracked and start to rant about something that does not have to do with the subject.  I have always learned that I should start a paper with your main idea, or thesis, because it will help you in the long run.  I feel like this is a good thing to keep doing.  As long as you are still open to other belief's and opinions it does not hurt to already have an idea/ thesis in mind while researching for your paper.