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A Career in Music – What Does It Really Take?
By Janis Weller
Ah, no quick or easy answers here. There are as many answers to this question as there are musicians in the field. Each musician makes his/her own way, creates opportunities, continually discovers new abilities, interests, and passions, and assembles the smorgasbord of activities that together produce a rewarding musical career. Ultimately, you just have to live it to understand what it really takes, but going in with some idea of what to expect can sure help.
There is lots of information throughout this website. To start, here are a few important realities of the music world to keep in mind—
“Jobs” are scarce.
That is, there are many, many more highly qualified applicants for most formal job openings in music than there are jobs in the first place. That’s just a fact. On the other hand, someone does have to fill the jobs that open—why not you? For an impartial look at the music job scene, check out the Occupational Outlook Handbook (http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos095.htm) from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. They treat music jobs just like any other work—accounting, engineering, etc.— commenting on job tasks, working conditions, prospects for employment and the like. It’s a little dry to read, but it’s useful and direct information for gaining some perspective.
Virtually no musician devotes all her time and energy to only one line of work or place of employment.
Even musicians in major symphony orchestras (where salaries, prestige, and time demands are high) often teach, play chamber music, do recording gigs and the like. Most musicians craft a diverse array of work activities that mesh with their interests, experience, skills, and goals.
Some types of work are steadier (like teaching) and other activities may primarily lay the groundwork for future career opportunities (perhaps self-producing a first CD, for example). Some of the more ‘glamorous’ performances may pay very little or not at all, while some ‘background’ gigs can be quite lucrative. Not only will your schedule most likely be different every day, you may have many “bosses” and lots of different co-workers in vastly different settings and situations. Persistence, creativity, resilience (there will be lots of rejection along the way, most likely), and flexibility are all traits that will serve you well in creating a satisfying career.
And yes, some days you may do more marketing and promotion than practicing or teaching. One trick is balance—keeping your eye on the big picture while taking care of day-to-day details. Another key is knowing yourself—what you’re good at, what you love to do, and how you want to live your life. There are lots of resources on this site in the Articles and Links for exploring these ideas.
Musicians are entrepreneurs.
Every musician is unique and must, over time, create a personal career package that makes sense. More than likely, the look of that total career won’t be immediately clear to you as you set out, but will evolve gradually over your entire career. The more skills you can develop to a high level, the more open you are to new ideas and opportunities, then the more likely it is that you may create and sustain a satisfying musical career. If you are a terrific musician, “play well with others,” and think like an entrepreneur, your chances of success go up dramatically, regardless of your specialty areas.
So how do I get started?
Develop your skills and artistry — enter college with as high a musical skill level as possible. Develop your ear, keyboard skills, and fundamentals of music theory in addition to your major performing emphasis. In other words, practice, practice, practice. (see The Musician’s Challenge: Enter College as an Expert)
Carefully research and seek out colleges, universities or conservatories that could be a good fit for you personally, musically, and academically. This research will really pay off. (see Choosing a Music School)
Research private teachers. No matter what your musical/academic focus in college, you will work intensively, one-on-one, with an applied teacher during your college years, honing your skills and artistry in one performing medium. Your studio teacher can be an important influence musically, personally and professionally both during college and once you’re out in the field. Request an interview or, better yet, a consultation lesson with prospective teachers if possible.
Get out in the music world early and often—attend concerts, network, play gigs, join professional organizations, subscribe to journals. If you have the resources (or can find support or scholarships), attend summer programs, master classes, youth music programs. (see The Art of Networking: Hustle and Self-Promotion 101)
Copyright 2004 Janis Weller. All Rights Reserved
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The Young Musician's Challenge:
Enter College as an "Expert"
By Janis Weller
Unlike most incoming students, performing arts majors are expected to enter college already somewhat “experts” in their field, with lots of formal training and high skill levels. In music, this often means many years of private instruction in at least one performing medium, acquiring expensive instruments, perhaps traveling to summer festivals, camps and master classes, and regularly attending professional concerts, recitals, operas and other musical events. You may also participate in community music programs like youth orchestras, choruses or preparatory programs (for examples and ideas, see The Prelude Program at MacPhail Center for Music and National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts). You may also study a second instrument, along with music theory or solfege. Considerable resources of time of money may have been invested in your musical training long before you actually enter college.
Think about it: while good grades in the right classes and appropriate scores on standardized tests (SAT or ACT) will basically get you into college as an English, math or psychology major, a strong GPA/SAT alone is not sufficient in the arts. As an incoming freshman musician, you are expected to have a variety of skills already honed to a high level. If you are deficient in one or more areas, you will be expected to take remedial coursework (translation: it’ll cost you in time and money) to catch up. Weak skills in some areas might even keep you out of the school you most want to attend.
So here are some of the skills you’ll want to develop before you go off to music school—
Major performing area: Your college audition will focus primarily on your skills as a performer even if that’s not your intended focus area. To prepare, seek out the best private teachers you can find (look for scholarships and financial aid) as early as you can, then study and practice hard. Look for performing opportunities everywhere—as a soloist, in ensembles, competitions, summer camps and classes. Not every college will require an entrance audition (conservatories definitely will, universities and liberal arts colleges vary in their requirements). Some auditions will also determine scholarships.
Keyboard skills are incredibly useful throughout your life as a musician, so plan to develop expertise beyond what it takes to slip past the piano proficiency exam. Keyboard skills provide harmonic awareness and both an aural and visual understanding of musical architecture that is very helpful in college music theory courses, particularly for musicians who play/sing single line instruments like violin, flute, voice or trumpet. Conductors, voice teachers, choir directors, composers, arrangers, church musicians, classroom music teachers, music therapists, piano tuner/technicians all need and use strong piano skills throughout their musical work on a daily basis. On a practical level, keyboard skills will—
enhance your harmonic understanding (a huge help on theory, counterpoint and composition assignments – especially if you normally read a single line of music)
help you read through an accompaniment to a sonata you’re working on
enable you to harmonize a melody at church or in a teaching situation
give you skills to arrange a piece for your chamber ensemble
make it possible for you to play accompaniments for your students
Ideally, start learning piano as early as you can. But if you haven’t started yet as you read this, don’t panic. It’s not too late, just don’t delay. Find a teacher who will understand your goals at the piano. A traditional approach to piano lessons may not be the best approach for the student looking for practical piano skills. Tell the instructor that you’re preparing to be a college music major, and want to work on functional piano skills like music theory, chord progressions, sight-reading, ear-training, improvisation, transposition and more.
Music theory and Ear-Training are core components of every music curriculum and these are the classes that often cause the most anxiety for students. Each college tends to have their own methods and vocabulary for teaching music theory, so at a minimum in high school, get a solid grounding in music fundamentals and elementary analysis, both on paper and by ear. You will then be well prepared to confidently jump into a fast-paced college theory and ear-training curriculum. Here are some ways to work on these basic skills:
piano lessons (see above)
computer software programs. Check out MiBac Music Lessons.
programmed learning texts. A good basic one is Scales, Intervals, Keys, Triads, Rhythm & Meter by John Clough and Joyce Conley. Norton, N.Y. 1983.
private instruction or classes in theory, solfege and ear-training. Check with local music schools and colleges, your high school teachers and your private teacher for teachers or classes in your area. Here are a couple of links to get you started from Indiana University and Berklee College of Music: Berklee Shares
Advanced Placement Music Theory provides rigorous preparation for college theory/ear-training
If music theory is a strong interest or you want to study conducting or composition, you will want to enter college with a higher level of understanding. In addition to the list above, you might want to look for college level summer school or correspondence theory courses in your area or via the internet. If your state offers Post Secondary Enrollment Options, you may even be able to enroll in college theory while still in high school.
Finally, music theory is particularly useful to performers and teachers when you learn to apply it to your own music making. Ask your teachers, conductors and other musicians you work with to incorporate music theory into lessons, rehearsals and conversations to help you integrate the basic concepts into your practicing and performing.
The human voice was the very first musical ‘instrument’; gaining some skill and getting comfortable with your own voice is very useful for every musician. Accurately singing a musical line aids music reading and intonation. You will need to sing in theory class and later may need to sing to a classroom of students or sing a phrasing to the orchestra you are conducting. Easy ways to start singing in high school include participating in school or church choirs, or taking a solfege class or a group voice class to learn the basics. You don’t need to have a great voice, just learn to sing accurately. Plus, it’s fun.
Focus areas like composition and conducting will have additional requirements—a portfolio of original works or a video of your conducting may be required, for example. Check the requirements of the schools you are interested in attending, then work with your teachers to prepare appropriately.
As early as possible, review the entrance requirements for schools you have a possible interest in attending. These requirements can be found in their catalogs or websites. Each music school will have their own standards and expectations, but most include:
Proficiency on a primary instrument/voice demonstrated by audition. Committees look first for potential—those students who are highly teachable and musical. They generally are not looking for already fully polished performers.
Music theory placement test. Your score will determine whether you are prepared to begin the theory sequence of courses or whether you will need remedial work in music fundamentals. The test is usually for placement only—in general, theory test scores are not used to determine admission to a school.
Satisfactory SAT/ACT scores. The standard for ‘satisfactory’ varies a great deal between schools—plan ahead.
Appropriate high school coursework, grade point average (GPA), and class rank. Again, the variations in expectations are wide between schools. Conservatories will often emphasize your audition over high school grades. Universities and liberal arts schools may emphasize academics.
Check out National Association of Schools of Music for some more great prep guidelines for future music majors. Especially notice their emphasis on the benefits of good communication skills and a broad general education.
Copyright 2004 Janis Weller. All Rights Reserved
Contact author Janis Weller for seminars, workshops, course development, and
individual coaching information at jweller@elisioninstitute.org or 763 - 522 - 8544
Source: http://www.elisioninstitute.org/youth-reallytake.html
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