For many, the dream of making a living out of doing what you love overrules everything and for many is an everyday reality of playing music for a living. For those striving to earn their crust from their instrument, there are various ways to make money along side playing in a live band.
From teaching an instrument to theatre pit work, musicians are needed in every day life and the strings of the hypothetical bow can be numerous. Those serious about maintaining a musical career need to eat, live and breathe their instrument retaining the utmost level of musicianship.
Perform in more than one band
Through performing, musicians will naturally get to know others and begin to find themselves presented with opportunities to maximise their workload.
Whilst performing in a working band can act as a musician’s daily bread, playing with other bands will allow musicians to constantly improve their craft. This is particularly popular among horn players who not only perform in big 12 piece bands, but also in smaller groups such as jazz trios.
Many musicians, particularly in the jazz genre also choose to hire themselves out as a solo musician for weddings and other functions this works especially well for pianists, as their talents are versatile enough to be used in big bands, smaller groups and solo. By performing in a variety of different ensembles, musicians are able to network thereby getting more work in the process.
Get session work
Session work is perfect for highly skilled, experienced musicians and can earn a musician a lot of money in the right circumstances. Whilst it takes years of hard work to become a recommended and established session player, session work allows musicians to add to their portfolio and network with other musicians whilst also opening further doors to more gigs and opportunities.
Music teaching
Those with experience will find that teaching music is a great source of income and watching others develop with their instrument means that job satisfaction is at a high.
When choosing a music teacher, many choose those with qualifications, such as Grades in musical theory and practice over those who have merely taught themselves so whilst taking exams in music practice and theory is bound to be tiresome to many, the certificates will reassure clients of a teacher’s capability.
There’s no harm in mentioning any other musical successes such as the popularity of a band whilst promoting a teaching service either.
Work in theatre
Entering into the world of theatre pit work is virtually impossible for those with no prior experience so musicians must ‘deputise’ to ‘hold a chair’ in a show.
As it’s not unusual for theatre musicians to take time off during the run of a production, ‘deps’ are regularly needed to fill in.
Usually chosen by an MU approved orchestral fixer, all musicians are expected to be able to sight-read sheet music to an extremely high level and be proficient at more than one instrument.
It’s also useful if the ‘dep’ has played with, or at least knows some of the other musicians in the orchestra.
