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Music exams can be daunting for many students, regardless of instrument, age, or ability. Just the thought of someone other than the teacher listening to them play can cripple the most accomplished musician. Never fear! After taking many exams myself, and entering many students for exams, I would like to share my experience with you, whether you are the teacher or the student.

Exams taken through one of the international examining boards, such as Trinity Guildhall College of Music, or The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, have very clear guidelines and advice as to what to play and how to play it. But they don’t give much advice on how to make sure you are mentally prepared for a music exam. Here are some basic tips that might help.

Firstly, your music exam is not about someone testing you. It does seem like that, with marks and certificates and so on, but your exam is really an opportunity for you to show off. Everyone who plays an instrument likes to share their talent with their friends and family. Think of the examiner as someone who is expecting to be impressed by your talent, just like your family. The examiner is not the bogey man out to get you. He or she will listen to you critically and in your report give advice that will help you improve.

Secondly, your exam is your opportunity to really enjoy what you play. If you are an instrumentalist who rarely gets the opportunity to play with an accompanist, enjoy the experience. Music is about playing together, and your exam is a chance to make music with others. If you are a pianist and therefore doing a solo exam, your exam is your concert debut. Enjoy the challenge of playing your musical selection to an audience with a trained ear.

A master’s degree gives students training and education in a specialized field of expertise with greater depth than studying for a bachelors degree. Students pursuing a master’s degree traditionally need to hold a bachelors degree and commit to one to six years of study in a particular field. Online education masters degree programs make it easier for working business professionals to complete their education and attain advanced positions in their field.

Masters degrees definitely afford individuals an opportunity to increase their earning potential. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the average weekly earnings for a masters degree holder are $1,102, which is $200 more than people holding a bachelors degree. These statistics further reveal that only 5.9 percent of adults in America hold a masters degree.

Online education masters degree programs may consist of any combination of advanced study courses, internships and independent research, such as a thesis. Some master’s degree programs enable students to go directly into a career, others require internships or additional credentials and some prepare students to enter doctoral degree programs. To fulfill the requirements of a masters degree program, students must attend between 30 to 60 semester hours, which may be completed online between 15 and 36 months.

Masters degrees are differentiated by post-nominal letters that indicated the level of academic achievement, honor or office a student has earned. The most common areas of online education masters degree study are:

Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.). The National Postsecondary Student Aid Study determined that about one in five students seeking to earn a master’s degree pursue an M.B.A. The masters degree in business administration is research-oriented and involves independent study and achievement. Online education masters degree programs give business executives the ability to fit educational advancement into their schedules at their convenience. Further, according to “Taking the E-Train” by Douglas Bartholomew there are quite a few opportunities for business networking and making professional connections through online education.

Conducting research can be fun, exciting, and frustrating all at the same time. Whether an individual is researching for a school project or for their own self-curiosity, unexpected things can be found which enriches a person’s own learning as well as those that they choose to share their findings with. That being said, it is common that once one question is answered, at least three or four others surface. This is the frustrating part (or the exciting part, depending on how you look at it!). However, never fear. There are many things that one can do while researching to take away some of the headaches that one may encounter.

1) Cite. Keep a record of every resource you look at, regardless if you decide to use it in your essay or a bibliography. Better to be safe than sorry and who knows, you might find further down the road that something you need was actually in some obscure resource you nearly tossed out early on.

2) Use others’ bibliographies. One could spend a lifetime just looking up the other articles that a researcher cites within their own work. Just flip to the back of the article and take a look at their bibliography and search for what applies to your own topic of study.

3) Use databases. Databases are your friends. Most colleges and universities and many high schools subscribe to databases that can be used to look up scholarly peer-reviewed articles. Ask at your library how to access these databases. Learning how to work the databases is beyond the scope of this article, but a general tip is to familiarize yourself with using a Boolean search.

Many businesses are jumping on the bandwagon to start their own blog. The problem many people have when they start a blog is they do not have any readers or followers. You may have a writing services company write your web content or you are writing it yourself. Here are four tips to increase traffic flow to your blog.

Networking

To increase traffic flow to your blog, you need to start networking with other people and businesses. Look up social forums and business networking websites, and create a profile to talk about your business. Include links to your blog in every posting. You can also email old coworkers, friends, and family members about your blog. The more you network, the more traffic your site will potentially have. Place your blog website link everywhere you can to increase traffic.

Read Other People’s Blogs

People who write blogs want their articles to be read. Start reading other business blogs. Post comments on other individual’s blogs, which drives traffic to your own blog. This is a good way for your blog to get noticed by other people. This is a free service to use. Write interesting comments about a posting, which engages other readers to want to read what you have to say on your blog.

Promoting Your Site

If you do not promote your site, you will not increase traffic. Post your blog address everywhere so you will get noticed. Post the address in your email signature, on your website, in social forums, comments, and social networking websites. You can also put your link address on letterheads, brochures, business cards, and any other business advertisement you send to your potential and current customers.

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