Do you want to pursue the music career of your dreams? Are you someone who probably won’t land a professor or orchestral gig? Consider becoming a part-time musician so that you can enjoy music and make a good living.
Working part-time as a musician can be great. You can enjoy the benefits of performing and teaching. But you don’t have to stress about your next paycheck.
Continue reading “Can You Be a Part-Time Musician?”Do you want to be a professional musician? Is getting a full-time professorship or orchestral job basically out of the question? Consider some ideas to build a portfolio career!
A portfolio career is a career that involves many different gigs and income streams. It’s a great option for musicians currently in school, just out of school, or well into their career.
Consider a few ways you can earn money in your music portfolio career.
But first, this post contains affiliate links. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.
Of course, I have to start by talking about performing as part of your portfolio career. Whether you have a performance degree or not, you have skills in performance, so you can put them to use.
Now, most of us probably won’t get a full-time orchestral gig. Many of won’t even get a part-time orchestral job or make a sub list, even after a successful audition. But there are plenty of other ways you can perform:
You can get creative when it comes to performing. And since the pandemic has made online performances more common, you don’t need to worry about finding a venue. As long as you have a clean space at home, you can use that.
Of course, performing requires practice, which can be hard when you’re busy with your other work as a musician. However, I’ve done a few paid performance gigs at churches, and they’re a great option for a busy schedule.
You can teach music in a lot of different ways. For one, you can teach in a public K-12 school system with a music education degree. Another option is to teach music at a private school.
If you’re willing to get your masters and doctorate, you can also look into teaching at a college or university. Some of these jobs, especially the full-time tenure track jobs, are competitive. But it’s another option to consider.
You can also teach private lessons on your main instrument and/or a secondary instrument. Group lessons are another way to teach, such as with a program like Musikgarten or Kindermusik.
If you want to teach even more people, you can create an online course. Some people want to learn to play music but can’t afford private lessons. A course can be a great way to reach those people.
Want to learn more about deciding where you should teach? Get your copy of the Where to Teach Workbook today!
Next on the list of portfolio career ideas is composing and arranging. You can do one or the other or both if you like.
Composing is where you write a new piece of music from scratch. Arranging involves taking an existing piece of music and re-working it to fit a new instrumentation or making some other major change.
You can start selling sheet music on your website or on a site like Sheet Music Plus. The Sheet Music Plus program SMP Press lets you create an account and upload your music to sell.
Creating and selling sheet music takes work, and it may be a while before you see a profit, unless you get a commission project. But it can be a great source of passive
If you like writing words as opposed to music, consider writing as part of your portfolio career. You can write about music for publications, music companies, or individual musicians.
Writing can involve blog posts or journalistic articles. Or you can focus on academic writing and work as a researcher.
I’ve made money writing about music, but a lot of my writing is on related or unrelated topics. Being able to work as a writer is great because it’s flexible. You can make it work with any other music career.
Writing is especially great if you have interests outside of music. If you write blog posts and articles, you can write for a variety of publications and companies in different niches.
Coaching and consulting are great additions to any portfolio career, music or not. When you set up your own coaching or consulting service, you can make it whatever you want, as long as there’s a need for it.
A great way to get ideas for your coaching or consulting practice is to look for problems musicians face that you’ve overcome. Perhaps you’ve struggled with performance anxiety but know how to manage it.
I, personally, offer consultations in time management for working musicians. So if you need help managing your portfolio career and everything that comes with it, I can help!
Make sure whatever you consult on is something you’re passionate about. That way, you can really get into the sessions with your clients. Then, you can be the best coach or consultant you can be.
These are just a few portfolio career ideas. If you like something else, feel free to add it, even if it’s not directly related to music. It’s becoming more and more acceptable to do a mix of things.
Do you know you want to teach as part of your portfolio career? Check out my Where to Teach Workbook!
Knowing where to teach private music lessons can be difficult. And choosing the wrong place will make it harder for you to get experience and grow your career. So, should you teach for a community music school or on your own?
Both options have pros and cons, but one may be better for you. Consider what you want to get out of teaching and how a specific teaching option can help you do that.
Continue reading “Should You Teach for a Community Music School or On Your Own?”Do you want to teach music lessons? Have you had a hard time deciding where and how to teach? Consider online and in person because neither option is always better than the other.
You should think about what you enjoy, your schedule, and where you live. Then, you can decide if you should teach online, in person, or both.
Keep reading to learn about the pros and cons of each option.
Continue reading “Teaching Music Lessons Online or In Person: Pros and Cons”Last week, I wrote about the benefits of freelancing. I still stand by everything I said, but I also felt the need to cover some freelancing cons. That way, you can figure out if this is the right type of work for you.
For many musicians and creatives, freelancing is one of the easiest ways to start in your career. But it can take a lot of work, especially if you want to earn a lot of money from it.
Continue reading “Freelancing Cons for Musicians and Creatives”