Nathaniel Gayle’s musical journey began when he was a child. He banged on pots and pans to make music and listened to songs his mom played while they did chores.
His childhood talent with kitchen instruments earned him a short stint in drum lessons, which opened the door to learning other instruments. He switched from drums to piano in elementary school and made the piano his permanent home.
“The song ‘Piano Man’ was the first song I really wanted to learn,” Gayle recalls.
Now, in 2024, Gayle is a jazz and gospel pianist who plays for several churches in South Florida. He played in middle and high school for concert band and jazz band and was a member of the Florida All-State Jazz Band.
However, he decided to major outside of his creative passions. As a freshman at Florida International University, he is pursuing a business degree.
“It was the summer leading to eleventh grade and I didn’t really know what I wanted to do,” Gayle said. But after spending a summer working with his grandfather’s landscaping business and taking business classes in high school, Gayle became interested in the “business perspective.”
“I want to own a business,” Gayle said. “I want to be part of that brain.”
Nyamekye Donovan, another FIU student, had a similar experience.
“At one point, I did consider majoring in music,” he stated. “However, I changed my mind because I wanted to go into the business industry.”
Donovan is a singer and a songwriter who covers different songs and tries to make music once a week. He decided to study hospitality because of his love for “interacting with people and making others feel happy.”
While Donovan and Gayle are both interested in business, Gayle’s decision to major in business was also because he didn’t want to major in music.
“As much as I wanted to, I didn’t want it to be school,” Gayle said.
Gayle described music as his “secret place.” and feared majoring in it would make it a “chore” he’d hate. He also dreaded the burnout majoring in music might create.
Burnout is the overwhelming and chronic accumulation of stress, a phenomenon that many college students experience.
According to The American Institute of Stress, 45% of American college students experience above average stress levels and only 9% experience below average or no stress.
This is especially true for students in artistic programs. Artistic majors require commitment and have demanding, rigorous and time-consuming course loads that can lead to increased symptoms of depression and higher levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization.
Nevertheless, Gayle’s love for music would not allow him to completely cut it out of his college education. After hearing about how much fun his friends were having studying music, Gayle started considering minoring or double majoring in music too.
But when Gayle contacted his academic advisor to declare a minor or double major in music, he received disappointing news. Per the general requirements of the FIU College of Business, business students can not declare a second major from outside programs. They can only pursue a minor or certificate that “does not extend the student’s time to graduation and/or exceed the required degree credit hours.”
“It sucked,” Gayle said. “When you’re playing, you get lost in a whole world. It might have motivated me and broadened [my] artistic ability.”
Music activates brain structures and has positive physical and psychological effects. Performing or listening to music improves sleep quality and reduces stress, anxiety and symptoms of depression.
“Music has brought me through some tough times,” Gayle said. “When I’m playing well, I feel really good.”
Active engagement with music improves concentration, memory, self-discipline, self-esteem and empathy. Students who engage with music also do better academically than their peers.
Donovan agrees that music has a positive impact and sees it as a “therapy treatment that can relax your mind.”
“Music has affected my life in a positive way [by] allowing me to use it as a tool to spread positive music to others,” Donovan elaborated.
However, there are also disadvantages to a music education, as it can become a source of anxiety for many who study and perform it.
“It’s kind of iffy when it comes to mental health,” Gayle said. “It’s a stress reliever and a stress inducer.”
Music majors experience increased stress and anxiety from balancing music, college and personal lives. They have the added stress of practicing their instruments to perfection, performing in ensembles, auditioning, competing, and fearing job insecurity and lack of artistic improvement.
Nevertheless, Donovan finds a music background to be beneficial.
“I believe having a background in music opens up creativity, social and communication skills, discipline, and time management,” Donovan stated.
Gayle, however, feels he will miss certain opportunities.
“I do feel like I am going to miss out on making some friends that are good [musicians] in FIU’s music department,” he said.
Gayle listed mentorship and performances, which are key to the success of music majors, as other opportunities he will miss out on.
A 2022 report from SNAAP (Strategic National Arts Alumni Project) surveyed 118 postsecondary institutions in the U.S. and reported that 38% of arts alumni felt very satisfied with opportunities to perform, exhibit, or present their work and 42% felt somewhat satisfied. Further, 51% of music alumni were very satisfied with opportunities to perform and 55% of arts alumni were very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with networking opportunities.
Gayle will not get the full musical opportunities offered to music majors or minors, but there are some ensembles he can audition for as a non-music major.
“You just have to practice,” Gayle said.
Gayle’s end goal, however, is to start his own cleaning business and nonprofit focused on tutoring and community empowerment.
While music is taking a lesser role in Gayle’s academic life, it is engraved in his soul. With or without a music degree, it will always be there for him.
“I can go anywhere with music,” Gayle said.
