Welcome to another episode of TwoSet Violin.

Du-Shh!

Okay, about a week ago or a few days ago...

I can't remember when.

We did an Instagram story asking you guys...

Ow, that hurt.

Uh... To ask us any questions regarding...

Music conservatory life or music college life.

So we're just gonna go through some of them now.

On that note, accent the like button.

Music gang.

Asks...

- Now, all of the classes were music related. - It's music related.

Well...

Well, loosely...

- Music related. - They're meant to be music related.

How much some of these classes achieve that goal...

- Is questionable... - Yeah.

But I have heard...

- Yeah, they added more like... - In some colleges...

Different curriculums or different courses.

- Yeah. - That you have to take.

As a musician that makes me very sad

because we just want to get good at our art.

- We don't want to know how to write essays. - Oh, I think someone like took language classes.

Yeah and essays, it's like...

We just want to get better at our instrument.

And look, music research. We had to do that, you know?

I have to research about Bach.

But you can at least see the connection there.

One class that was kind of funny though...

That was compulsory for first years for us.

- Oh, yeah... - It was choir.

So we had to sing.

La la la la~

Maybe it's for people that have literally never

performed in an ensemble before, I don't know.

That's true, I feel like some classes out there just...

So everyone can get the scope of everything.

I mean, we went into music college

with prior experience.

- Mhm. - With music.

Yeah.

We kind of knew what was going on

and we went there cause we want to practice more.

Yeah, but for some people that haven't experienced

- some of these things, it could be really cool. - Makes sense.

- Yeah. - Cool.

Says...

Well, we did do performance major.

Yeah, so we played almost every week.

But in our uni, weekly workshops was optional.

So what ended up happening was

Brett and I played every week...

Maybe one or two others will play every second week.

And the majority of students never performed.

Which is really a waste, in my opinion.

Actually, if you have performance opportunity, I think...

- You should take it. - Any performance opportunity.

I know it's tricky, you get performance anxiety. But...

If you want to become a musician to perform,

you can't skip that process,

So you just do it while you can.

While you're with your peers.

It's something we do miss, you know.

You don't even have to try and get an audience.

They're already there because they have to get their...

Attendance marks.

So I think, give it a shot.

Half of practice is performing.

Now, going back to the question.

If you're not a performance major...

I don't know.

I don't think so.

Nah, you don't have to.

I think you just need more references in your essays.

Yeah...

- Yeah, say that, I think I said the name wrong. - Yaraakar.

Depending on your music college, the standard as well.

And depending how much you pay them.

Just kidding.

- Or am I? Am I kidding? - Cha-ching. Cha-ching.

- I don't know. I don't know. - Well...

- Some universities really like their cha-ching, cha-ching. - I only hear rumors about how this world works.

Where are you from?

International student, oh!

Ohhohoho!

Serious answer to that though...

Depends on the level of the university and

what level is around you as well.

Because obviously, it's a lot harder to get into Curtis...

Than it is to get into...

- Well, the music university we got into. - Yeah.

Curtis accepts like what, three people a year?

- With everyone applying from all over the world. - And you have to be like under 12.

Yeah, something ridiculous.

For those of you that don't know, Curtis is where...

Hilary Hahn and Ray Chen and all of them studied at.

Usually, the process though, is you have an audition.

So you're really being selected amongst

the peers that audition that year.

You know we did the ABRSM video recently, right?

That gives you an idea of the grades.

We both did the equivalent of the highest grade

when we were like 12.

- Yeah, yeah, 12, 13, I think. - 12, 13? Probably 13.

At that level though...

The highest level, you would get in.

Yeah. Oh, yeah, for sure.

So...

Probably, you know those like exams...

That you probably have in your country...

AMEB, ABRSM, RCM, whatever.

The highest or second-highest grade

will probably get you into a standard music university.

- Yeah. - But then, if you're going for...

One of the more competitive or prestigious schools...

You might have to be either really good or...

- Be really rich. - Connections...

There's three options, really good, really rich, really good conne -

- I'm just joking. Maybe cut them out. - Just kidding.

But if our editor forgets to cut it out, it's not our fault.

Yeah, it's not our fault, yeah.

I think it depends...

I was lucky enough to have a teacher

that was quite open-minded...

And encouraged me to think for myself.

I did wish I had a bit more confidence

in thinking for myself back then.

But my suggestion would be try to understand

not so much just what they're teaching you,

but the principles behind why they teach you something.

Why are they trying to give you this technique?

What are you trying to achieve?

- Yes. - Is it better tone? Is it better phrasing?

Is it better articulation, whatever it is...

Yeah, always try to internalize for yourself, like...

Don't rush.

Why shouldn't I rush?

Oh, okay, it's because rushing creates this effect

in the music that's not good, you know.

I have heard of some teachers

that force you to play a certain way.

Okay, if a teacher force you to play a certain way...

- That's not good. - That's questionable.

Even if they have all the experiences in the world.

Because not everyone plays the same.

- At the end of the day, use your ears. - Yes.

Actually, just listen to the sound.

Record yourself. Do something.

Like listen, use your ears.

And I think you'll find your answers there.

Actually the most -

More important question is, did you practice?

Yeah, did you practice!

Cause at the end of the day, if you practiced,

- you're gonna get pretty good. - Yeah.

If you don't practice, then wishful thinking.

Yes.

40 hours a day.

Duh.

Yeah, duh.

Um, we did like 4-5 hours a day.

Depending on the circumstances.

Yeah, I still suck.

I still remember that room 1.11.

Yeah. Yeah.

With the big acoustics.

- So you go in there to think you sound better. - You sound good, yeah, yeah.

And always looking for a practice room.

Actually, half the time,

practicing is looking for a practice room.

Dude, we just practice outside at the end.

I think we pissed some people off.

I don't care, like I need to practice.

Yeah, all the rooms are gone, I have a class in one hour,

what am I gonna do, I need to practice.

Some students don't practice,

but some students also practice a lot.

We knew a guy that practiced like eight hours a day.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I think it's also about practicing smart.

You do have to practice a lot...

But don't stress practice.

Stress practice is one of the most

ineffective things you could probably do.

Some people under stress perform better,

but I'm talking about the ones where they're just like...

"Oh my god. Oh my god, audition is tomorrow."

And they're not really processing what's going on.

That's not good.

- That's actually really counterproductive, yeah. - Counterproductive.

Asks...

- Yeah... - Love you too.

Thanks for the love.

Oh, ****.

Hello?

- All right, guys. Video is finished. - Time to go.

Please like and subscribe.

Joking.

What's the admission process like?

Um...

All right, you apply.

They send you an invitation to audition.

You audition by playing...

Depending on the uni, but for our case,

it was like two pieces.

Yeah, two pieces.

And then they ask you a few questions like a...

Five-minute interview and then you get your results.

Very straightforward.

Well, actually I never did an audition.

I did it in my lesson.

Connections...

To be fair, um...

I don't know if I got in because of connections,

but I had already known my teacher

- before going into the uni. - Yeah, yeah exactly.

But we're also - To be fair though - We also played okay.

- Like... Our playing was good enough for it. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

- It's not like we sucked. - Sucked. Yeah.

- I mean... - But I mean, we suck...

But we're not, yeah.

We don't suck suck.

Uh, watch more prodigies.

Ten-year-old destroys our self-esteem.

Destroy your self-esteem. You have no more self-esteem.

You just go for it.

You're like, "who the hell cares, let's go."

Rather than trying to build a self-esteem...

Just let go.

- Just let go. Get rid of it. There's no self-esteem - - Have no self-esteem.

Self-esteem is just is.

- The ego is gone. - Yes.

Yes. I don't really wanna talk about it.

Oh yeah, he was a...

Interesting...

Situation.

But yeah, I had to take eight months off playing

and I got into a wheelchair.

Yeah, gotta be careful.

Do your stretches.

One became a Youtuber.

Ahahahaha.

- A lot of them are teaching. - Teaching. A lot teaching, some -

Some in orchestra.

And also, a lot of them are doing something else.

Sometimes music related,

sometimes they just go completely to engineering.

Yeah, I think it can go either way.

It's probably the same for most -

I get the feeling with most courses as well.

Cause you might do it and

you might not like it after awhile.

Yeah.

Asks...

Depends on the subject.

You have aural class, where they give you aural exams.

They'll play like a tune on the piano,

you have to dictate it, write it out.