I just came back from our KMTA conference where one of the college faculty on a panel answered the question, “How do you prepare a student who wants to study music?” with a “Well, I honestly don’t know if I would recommend a career in music these days.” While what she said might have been shocking to some, she went on to say some very valuable things about developing all the interests you have when you are college age and then seeing where that takes you rather than choosing too early to only focus on just one thing. Jobs are hard to come by now in the arts was her main point.
So, I was very excited to get this article by Bradley Sowash who speaks to this exact point. Please read this excellent article to help your own career as well as the career path of your students.
The Paradoxical Music Life
Sometimes the seemingly random path we travel as musicians comes around to reveal a larger, more organized pattern in hindsight. Let me illustrate how my own experience came around sideways to lifelong goals. My childhood dream was to be the next Aaron Copland or George Gershwin – an American composer that doesn’t just live here but in the fuller sense, writes concert music influenced by our American traditions. After college, I was naively surprised upon moving to New York City with a music degree and a box of compositions that the job category of “full-time freelance American composer” didn’t exist. So, I worked as a jazz pianist and dance accompanist for the next 20 years building a reputation along the way as a “concert” concert and recording artist who played in art centers and churches and not just behind fica trees in restaurants and lobbies.Of course, I continued to compose during this time – mostly solo piano for myself but also for choreographers, independent filmmakers and church musicians, but the bulk of my music making necessarily centered around gigs in order to make a living.
Over the last 10 years, my focus has gradually shifted away from performing to teaching. I still play concerts but with a full roster or students and a waiting list, I can afford to be picky about what performing invitations I accept. The success of my studio is due to my expertise in helping recovering, slave-to-the-page classical musicians as well as still-impressionable younger students become more comfortable improvising and making music creatively – a teaching approach that would not have been possible without the real world experience of playing real world jazz gigs. Simultaneously, I’ve gained a deeper foothold as a composer with exciting commissions from big bands, choirs, orchestras and perhaps, most notably, the fast rising Carpe Diem String Quartet who has been performing my music all over the place due to my ability to integrate formal classical composition techniques learned in music school with the hot licks, vamps, blues patterns and grooves acquired on the bandstand.
The ironic lesson here is that, apparently, every musical activity we do has some bearing on our overall musicianship. For me, what felt like a side path paradoxically moved my composing and teaching further forward. In other words, though I wouldn’t have guessed it at the time, my performing background eventually enabled new teaching and composing opportunities. By playing in every possible setting from raucous rock clubs to candlelit jazz havens and classical concert halls I gained a wider stylistic range and a better understanding of how musicians think and what is possible on their instruments which resulted in higher-paying students and commissions.
Music careers are not built rung-by-rung like corporate ladders. Rather, opportunities arise from below or sideways as often as they come from above. Given the inherent unpredictability of the music business, it makes sense to have a plan but it has to flexible or you’ll miss unanticipated opportunities that may lead to new directions. So, as musicians and teachers, we might ask ourselves, what seemingly sideways musical activities are we doing today that may paradoxically influence our personal or students’ musical journeys tomorrow? And when the seemingly sideways call comes to teach, perform or write in unfamiliar styles and settings,say, “Yes, I’ll give it a try.” Then embrace, develop, and learn from it. You can never tell where it will lead for you or your students.
Very nicely said. More articles of this caliber are needed…
Dorla
Ahhh…you seem to always get it “write”! Thank you for your continued inspiration at the keys for my own playing and my teaching too.
Interesting how the article states that “Music careers are not built rung-by-rung like corporate ladders. ” I am currently in a corporate job but also have a music teaching business on the side. I experience a very significant difference between the two types of professions. The biggest thing I’ve learned is that music teachers do it because they love music. Although it may pay less than some corporate jobs, the passion and fulfillment it provides is worth more than any sum of money.