Author: GBK
Date: 2018-09-17 21:33
Like many of the above, I, too, have literally done it all in music - teaching in the schools for three decades, playing professionally for 50+ years, and maintaining a very large load of private students. All of the above helped me live very comfortably, and totally debt free.
Today, I am able to play where and when I desire, and teach who I want ... turning down far more than I accept, with money being the secondary consideration.
However the current reality is that a lucrative career in music today is extremely difficult. Teaching jobs at all levels (especially college) are MUCH harder to obtain than years ago due to a glut of music majors coming out of college with advanced degrees and no place to go.
The same holds true for performing, as lucrative playing jobs have all but dried up. There are far more fine players out there scraping to get any job available than ever before as colleges continue to pump out classical music majors. Due to electronic technology and changing tastes in music, the days of playing 4-6 gigs on weekends are long gone. And as we all know, the general public's interest in classical music is in continuing decline.
I know too many music majors who became discouraged at the current state of earning a living as a musician and have either quit totally, sold their equipment and moved on to something else where they did not have to live in debt with little or no health benefits, retirement, etc...
I would not have traded my degrees in music for anything, as the training involved was important in shaping the person you do become in the future. However the reality is that it is more difficult than ever to get by and afford the things you dream of.
As someone once said - Music is a great avocation, but a lousy vocation.
...GBK
|
|
The Clarinet BBoard
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
