Hi, i just wanted to know, from those people who do not/do not plan to take music on as a profession. Perhaps at some point, you may have realised that you're never going to be a concert pianist, or a professional orchestra member, or that music wont work for you as a career, or that you want to persue other talents e.t.c, but you still love music wholeheartedly.....

There is a huge contrast between school and university, where your workload increases by huge amounts-Did/do you have time to devote as much to music as you did while you were at school? And what about afterwards? When you start your career in another area, did/do/will music still be as big a part of you as before? What happens to 'music' in general? Is it still there, real and vivid as it was when you were younger, or does it just lurk in the background to be remembered on odd occasions?

Just want to know what people do when they dont choose music as a career but still have a huge passion for it...

I never thought about music as a career even when I first started to play.
It's always been an important part of my life though. I was in the brass band at school but my first love is my piano which was always a personal thing and I never imagined playing in front of or with other people.
Now I play in church, teach and take part in forum concerts. I'm still having piano lessons and I'm going to be accompanying an exam for the first time this week. I sang in a local choir for 25 years and recently started playing clarinet in a local orchestra. I've met some great people through my music and made some good friends (many from the forum).
When I was getting married the first thing to get moved into our house was the piano!

There are times when it feels like it's a lot of effort for little improvement and when I wonder why I carry on but that's life..... you can't be always full of enthusiasm but it's a big part of what I am.

I'm not a great example. I studied music at university and piano with a Prof from the RAM until I was 21. At 21 I then decided not to pursue a career in music - concerns over not being good enough - not earning enough etc etc. I've spent the last 16 years in a very rewarding job, however, constantly wondering what would have happened if I'd pursued music as a career.

I'm now going back to college and hoping to have a second career in music. I'm tired of 'wondering' if I could have made it. If it doesn't work out - well - at least I gave it my best shot, and won't have regrets when I retire. If it works - fantastic.

In the meantime, I've kept playing the piano - mainly for my own enjoyment - sometimes in piano bars when I've been out with friends. I've always felt sad inside though, that I wasn't pursuing it.

Music never was my career, but I played piano and oboe until I was eighteen, kept both going for a few years at university until my oboe broke, bought a descant, then a treble recorder and taught myself off and on. During the early years in my career as a doctor I was pretty exhausted most of the time, and played less often; when I got married I moved into a harpsichord museum and had more opportunity to play, but was frustrated by lack of progress and embarrassment at being overheard (some very good musicians play in concerts there). Having small kids kept me busy, and kept the music at the fringes, though I did play lots of kids' songs on the piano for them, and traditional folk songs so that they would hear these, as they no longer teach them at school. Only in the last three or four years has music really taken off for me, thanks to an inspiring teacher, and the kids have to put up with my practice and the occasional session with other musicians. My playing has improved dramatically in that time, from an uncertain grade 6-ish to associate diploma level, and the kick I get out of playing is enormous. I'm not good enough to turn professional, but am at a level where I could play in the occasional modest concert and acquit myself well enough - strangely enough, the more music I do, the more driven I feel to continue.

Music forever? I do hope so.

I played the cello for many years and took it as my main study at Music College, and then gave a couple of very bad concerts before deciding that it was not for me. I was at a very good standard with my singing and recorder playing though, and a useful pianist and to keep all four going was too much by far. I put away my cello one day and have not played one since. The sense of relief was amazing! I was never going to be as good as I wanted to be on it. It was really was not my instrument.
I knew from a young age that I wanted to have a career in music and wish that I had been advised to give up the cello years before. The only supportive person at the time was my old cello teacher, a wonderful lady, who realized that I would be far happier concentrating on my recorders. For some people music can be a wonderfully fulfilling hobby but for me it was all or nothing.

I'm thinking about it, but If I don't, I'm always going to be a amature pianist/violinist/oboest whaen I'm much older.

I gave up music aged 15 because I didn't think I would ever be good enough to be a performer. Aged 30 on the dole I realised that music was a good way to prove that I still had some capability and the people I met through music were pretty nice. I'm now way past the stage of berating myself for not being good enough to be a virtuoso. By most people's standard I'm pretty good and I do get a lot of fun out of playing.

I only wish I could go back and cousel the poor teenager I was and persuade her that playing music is still worthwhile even if you don't get paid for it. Amateur music is good and I'm sure we amateurs make the most appreciative audiences for the pros.

At first, my parent wishes I can pursue music when I graduated from high school, but, that time I wish I can explore more, I have that thought music career is just student and boring stuff.  I gave myself a try to choose IT as my career path, but, that time thanks to my piano teacher, who keep encouraged me to continue the music, so, I become part-time piano teacher while I working as IT specialist.

After 8 years working in IT line, I feel so exhausted and I found out my passion is lost, with the management politic, nasty user requirement, tons of defect system etc. I met few of my musician friends, they are success now, and they proved to me actually music is not just teaching, it still have a lot of thing you can do, and you can meet more friends than I working as IT specialist!

Due to the work transferred and my husband, I moved from Malaysia to Singapore, I decided to continue my piano diploma course. I saved the money and bought my 1st piano in Singapore, I feel I’m alive!

Definitely I can’t just quit my job just like that, due to the commitment, so, I have to do some research in Singapore, and try to teach some part-time. I wish I can involve more music network, and know some new friends, due to I just starting my life in Singapore last year. Hopefully though this forum, I can know more friends.

I never considered music as a career either. I enjoyed piano and French horn at school; continued piano and stumbled into percussion at university. I've taught, conducted, accompanied and directed, with varying degrees of success! I do still occasionally perform, I continue to learn but have no teacher currently.

I've recently started working, and have moved house. The piano is in place but not yet in tune. Such a shame I'm too tired to play many nights! Now I'm married I'm hoping to drag hubby into my world of music, if only to encourage me to play more.

I've seen a poster for an amateur music/drama group already & the local music shop owner has already asked if I'm available to teach....soon I tell myself, soon. I'm sure music is forever - how it fills your days just changes with time

That's really made me think- i would love to persue a career in music, but i dont think that im ever going to get anywhere with it, and there are other areas that i would also like to go into. But at this stage, music is such a big part of me, that i, like you did, wonder what will happen if i do/dont choose it as a career path.

As im spending most of the time in engineering at uni, i will probably do something related to engineering / financial banking if i transfer to manufacturing engineering next year.

If there is time i will be teaching piano as a part time career.

maTThew

The advice any young person gets from either my wife or myself is to become a professional performer only if you can't bear doing anything else. I had no difficulty knowing that professional music was not for me: I was not a good enough performer (I'm better now, but still not of a standard for a performing career) and aeronautical engineering looked very interesting and financially more reliable. In this country we have a wealth of amateur musical activity in many genres and with a wide range of standards, though there are still gaps in the more sparsely populated counties. Amateur music making has satisfied my musical obsession throughout most of my life and continues to do so. After I retired I took a music degree for entertainment and thoroughly enjoyed it.

That said, performing is not the only music related profession, and the others have less of an all-or-nothing character to them. I look forward to a reverse of the Government insistence that teachers should spend most of their time filling in assessment forms, so that teaching becomes an attractive profession again. Then it should become accepted wisdom that every primary school needs at least one musically trained person on its staff; even better would be for the majority of primary teachers to be musically trained, with some being university graduates.

Some other jobs with musical content:

Organist and choirmaster (not many of these with full-time salary);
Peripatetic teacher (conditions very variable);
Arts administrator;
Agent for free-lance performers;
Repetiteur (less exposure to the public than a performer and usually in one place, but you do need a piano technique equal to that of a professional performer, and very good musical ear - perfect pitch or equally accurate)

Hi There

I played guitar when I was younger but it was just a hobby and I practised mostly to pass exams. My ambition was always to pursue a career that would leave me financially secure. Looking back, there was usually time at school, university, during most of my career and family life to play the guitar if I wanted to but I chose not to. I can only think of 2 instances when it was pretty impossible to play even if I truly wanted to (studying for accountancy exams whilst working full time and looking after a young baby).

I started playing guitar again recently because I really needed to do something for myself (I'm a full time Mum). Like Anacrusis, my enthusiasm for music has increased massively the more I put into it. My guitar playing means a huge amount to me now.

Even if one doesn't pursue music as a career, one will always find time for it if it means enough.

Good luck to you which ever career path you choose!

G

I don't intend to become a concert pianist. A) I'm too old Don't believe in myself C) chronic performance nerves D) don't have the overwhelming desire. However, 16 years away from music has made me realise that if possible, I do want to be involved in music full time. So I'm hoping to explore various routes such as anything to do with theatre - rehearsal pianist/assistant assistant(!) musical director, accompanist etc. I watch the pianists who accompany the guys at the 'X Factor' rehearsals and think 'I could do that'!

The mistake I made 16 years ago was thinking that it was all or nothing. I either became a concert pianist, or quit. I wish someone had taken me aside earlier and shown me all the other options. Maybe chronic performance nerves would hinder a concert pianist - but nobody showed me that my plus points - perfect pitch - being able to play anything by ear - thoroughly enjoying light music - musicals etc might enable me to have a career in music.

I totally understand where everyone is coming from - going into a sensible well paid job - which is what I did, and I admire those who are happy to keep music as a hobby, but utimately I realised that for me, it was a mistake. Maybe in a few years I will realise that the grass isn't greener - but hey, what's life without risks!

For me music was the only subject I was any good at, besides art - and the latter really would have been a tough profession to get into. Creative people also tend to be the type who get an idea in their head and go off on tangent - that was and still is me all over - so I knew I would never fit into some sort of regular office based job where everything is exactly the same one day as the next.

I can't honestly point to a precise time in my life when I declared I wanted to become a musician, but it was probably around the age of 15. At the time, I didn't seem concerned about the possiblity of not being good enough, the driving force to succeed was so strong. Fortunately things worked out, despite there being traumatic domestic issues - the death of my father - which delayed the achievement by a few years. In some respects, I think all the adversities that stood in my way made me even more determined.

I've never regretted my decision.

I always enjoyed music as a child and at school was good at, but not exceptional, in singing and piano. I took and passed grade 8 piano at 18, definitely with no thoughts of becoming a professional musician of any sort. I then gave it up because at that age I didn't want to spend hours practising and wanted to do other things and also because I felt I had reached a ceiling that I couldn't get past. My teacher wanted me to do a teaching diploma, which I definitely didn't want to do. No way was I going to be a piano teacher! Forty years passed, in which time I got married and had two children and was also working - no time for music. I then resurrected my recorder playing (I had taught myself recorder at 11) and joined the Society of Recorder Players, where I have made many good friends and enjoyed may hours of playing. Then I started thinking about piano again. Not long after that, my mother gave me a sum of money which was enough to buy a digital piano, and started taking lessons again. After she died I bought a really good piano and thoughts turned to teaching (I was a qualified though lapsed school teacher). After retiring from my "day job" (couldn't wait!) I enrolled on the CT course, having acquired the necessary five students, and also started on cello. Recently I have joined the local orchestra, which is bringing a few challenges. My husband has also had his interest in playing drums re-ignited through taking part in a forums concert. Music is now a big part of both our lives and we wouldn't be without it. There are so many interesting musical people out there, many of whom have become friends.

I know a double bass player who was good enough to have made it as a full-time musician but decided to work in the insurance business instead and do music in his spare time. He's worked his way up in the insurance world and now earns an absolute fortune but has also never stopped playing the double bass and has had a fantastic time with that as well, playing in an enormous variety of bands and making a lot of recordings. He now lives in Australia.

However, one thing I'd point out is that although he's married they decided not to have children, so when he finishes work he has a lot of spare time to devote to his music. I do know family musicians who have a day jobs away from music but manage to find the time for music in the evenings and at weekends but there tends to be a bit of conflict over this as their wives would sometimes like them to spend more time with them and the kids and less time out reheasring and gigging. These guys often have to go after the better paid musical work as a way of justifying it to their wives! Hours and hours of rehearsal time tend not to go down too well either...

I also know successful working female musicians with kids but I don't know any who have a day job outside music. These women tend to fit in teaching around picking the kids up from school and they're often married to men who have a similar working pattern. In other words, if you're female and have kids, the demands of a full-time plus childcare duties would leave very little time for evening or weekend musical activity because apart from anything else you'd just be too exhausted!

So I'd say - find something well-paid in or out of music that you can do part-time once children arrive, as you won't have the wherewithal to do any music in your spare time otherwise!

Violinia

Wouldn't it be great to live a parallel life...?

I must have missed this thread previously., Certainly when I was about 17, with already an ALCM and Grade 8 organ (would have been distinction but for fouling up aural tests, unusually for me), all friends and family expected me to want to do music as a career. Actually it never even entered my head to do so!. I knew I would never have the patience and application to practise enough to become a performer, and I certainly didnt just want to end up teaching (again not enough patience), so I went off to Nottm Uni to do chemistry, which aways fascinated me. Here I am at 59 still in the industry. But I have had a pretty full life of music also, playing piano most days, church organ playing, choral singing (though not recently), and encouraging my children, now 28 and 30. I have had enormous pleasure from music all through my life, without the pressure that professionalism brings, and I hope I have many years left yet!

Alison, I loved your story. Best of luck in Singapore and with your part-time teaching. Looking forward to seeing more of your posts on the forum.

I studied music to A-level and had passed my grade 8 clarinet just before doing GCSEs throughout school I was in large numbers of groups and ensembles. I went on to university to study physics.

I don't regret that decision at all. I didn't manage to play as much as I hoped at university, there wasn't much that non-music students could get involved with and I lacked the confidence to branch out into the real world! The 1st few years I was working also proved a little lean on playing opportunities, but then my job was taking up all of my time/energy.

Over the past 5 or so years I've been able to join or dep with a number of groups, playing music I love. I've been able to take up the saxophone, and with limited success the flute. I've even found a group of like minded recorder players - good standard, no prima donnas, we all just play because we enjoy it.

It was hard to get involved in groups of the standard I desired at 1st as I'd moved into an area where I didn't have any contacts, and good clarinettists are not exactly a rare breed.

I do admire people with the skill and dedication to play for a living. For me though I have a great compromise. I have a job that pays the mortgage and buys my reeds and I can take part in what concerts I want to without having to worry about bringing in cash.

At first Music as a career didn't seem like it was going to be an option for me, as both my parents were musicians, and in my silly young immature state I thought that I didn't want to do the same thing as they were doing- how wrong I was! It all became clear last year, when I realised that I wasn't interested enough in Classics, and that I actually enjoyed music a lot more than I realised- I probably didn't get it before because GCSE Music just didn't do it for me...
Well, I suppose that if it all falls through, then life goes on!

Some interesting points have been raised here. CJB is totally right about there being too many very good clarinettists!

I wanted to do something with music, but wasn't quite sure what. I ended up studying music at university, and although I didn't consider myself good enough to pursue a performance career, still wanted to do something with music after graduating. I wasn't mad keen on the idea of becoming a classroom teacher, but went through the hoops of applying for a PGCE, but wasn't offered a place anywhere (applying and being rejected seemed far easier than having huuuuuuuuge arguments with my parents about what to do after university!).

Unfortunately, there were too many people chasing too few musical jobs, most of whom had more or better experience than me, so I ended up doing a very dull office job. During this time I carried on enjoying music, whether it was just getting the clarinet out of its box for a good play, hacking my way through some piano pieces, or just listening to other people perform.

Things changed a couple of years ago. My employers had a reorganisation, closing the office where I worked, and I faced redundancy. I'd had a few ideas about leaving to try my hand at being a clarinet teacher elsewhere, but lacked the courage to take the plunge. I'm the only one in the organisation who actually knows how to do what I do, so I agreed that I'd work part-time, which would ensure that what I did still happened, and also that I'd have the time and opportunity to build up the teaching. The teaching hasn't taken off in quite the way I'd hoped it would - I'm up against an awful lot of local competition - so plans to chuck in the employed job are currently on the back burner, but I feel I've got the best of both worlds: a regular salary, pension scheme, paid sick and holiday, and the opportunity to do music as well. The downside? My tax return is horrendously complicated!

thanks for your comment. janexxx. i'm just thinking how to move on now.

Music = Less income?

Sometime when I told friend that I want to move to music line, everyone will shock and ask me “isn’t good to stay at IT line? How much you can earn if you teach piano?” I think all the while the problem that always stops me to try is the money, income! Although I don’t have many commitment now, but, I still feel a bit of worry and nervous.

What I should do next? Actually I wish to involve some job that related to music, but, I don’t know how I can proceed that dream. Anyone can give me some idea?