I have a paid job, 2 afternoons a week as the Activities Organiser in a residential home. I play cards or dominoes, organise quizzes, and play the piano whilst they sing - mainly war time songs or traditional songs and hymns. They love it! It is so gratifying to see someone with dementia come out of their shell because of the music.

I`ve organised a concert this Friday - a violinist friend and I will play violin duets and violin/piano duos, and my daughter, who is a singer, is travelling down to Devon from London for a weekend break, and will join in the concert too.

I have to say it`s the best job I`ve ever had, (outside of my piano teaching)!

Just Helen,

What a great thread. And you certainly have a worthwhile job besides your music teaching, if you ask me.

Besides teaching music, I work in a 'materials laboratory', assisting geologists, chemists and physicists test soil samples and ground conditions for the local authority. It's a complete contrast with the music, and I'm grateful for it.

denmark

You've just given me some food for thought, helen! Up until last June I was a manager for people with learning disabilities by day, and a piano teacher in the evening. Due to a back injury, I am not able to work in nursing/care any more. I've been wondering how I can gain more confidence in my singing and piano playing..apart from my teaching practice. We have lots of old folks homes round here. I'll get in touch with some and see if they need an Activities Organiser or something similar.

Thanks.

Mum

(Much more interesting than it sounds)

I'm a Volunteer Reading Helper.

Fizzix

(Physics) not any fancy research stuff, it's more connected with measuring the activity and identification of radioactive nuclides within a matrix, or the sorts of very active radionuclides that get used in medical physics.

It's not quite as exciting as it sounds I'm afraid.

I'm just waiting for the first professional musician to admit to this!

Makes it sound such a wonderful place to work, full of positive people and fulfilling jobs! Having had a nephew work there part-time for a couple of years to see himself through college, I can confirm that you really would need the free private healthcare after 3 years service! (Sorry, rather off topic. )

None now. I used to be an Accounts Manager, doing the accounts for a hifi company up to trial balance. Hated it. Prior to that I was a paediatric nurse. Loved it. Now my sole income is music - wouldn't change it for the world. I still do accounts - my own and my husband's, but I don't get paid for that.

A cook, cleaner, laundrywoman, dogwalker, childminder, entertainer, nurse, comforter, chauffeur, teacher, menderofbrokentoys, nosewiper, and a hundred different other jobs too......... Oh, and a piano teacher in my spare time (What spare time?????!!! )

"What does it mean to be a Crew Member?

The secret's in the name.

Join us and you'll become part of a crew"

....how informative. You learn something new every day

Ah, I wondered when some brave soul would consider the unpaid jobs we have!

And I can add marker of A level Biology scripts to that as well!

I work for a music service, so not that different from my private teaching! Also play in occasional weddings etc. But I'm still waiting to hear how much of a job I've got next year....could be heading in a completely different direction!

I don't have a regular non-musical job, but I drive my car for the local volunteer bureau, usually taking people to a variety of medical appointments at the local hospitals, doctors' surgeries, dentists, opticians etc. It's been a great way to get to know the village byways and I've met lots of interesting people. I'm not paid for my time, but get a mileage allowance. There are very limited bus services in our area, but most of the people I take can't manage buses anyway.

CD's list of unpaid jobs reminds me of a story you may have heard ...

Mr J (family man - wife and two small kids) comes home from work and not having key to hand rings the bell. No-one comes but he can hear noisy kids inside . After minutes of searching he finds his key and opens the front door.

Chaos reins (sorry - reigns!) . There is rubbish in the hall, kids' toys everywhere. Shouts from another room. The kids rush over to him with sticky hands and faces. The kitchen floor is knee deep in discarded paper, boxes, and dirty washing. I could take you on a descriptive tour of the house, but you get the picture - the place is like a tip.

Mr J stares around at disbelief. and asks the kids ' where's mummy?'

Mrs J appears, cup of tea in hand. 'what is all this? what's happened ?' Mr J asks, horrified.

Mrs J smiles ' well - you know you often ask me what I do all day?


- today I didn't do any of it'.

(sorry - back on topic).

Thats excellent Maggie...

CD has said it all, really
I have one music pupil, and have played as an amateur in a few concerts, so that's the sum total of my musical employment.
When I'm not chief cook and bottlewasher, home administrator, co-ordinator of cleaning and maintenance, sessional electrician, gardener, provider of wide shoulders for emotional support, wife, mother, daughter, daughter-in-law etc, I do a spot of light medicine, in an area of extreme urban deprivation, but only part time...with all that full time domestic stuff, it's just as well.

Just like AnnC I used to have another job (travelling up and down our horrendous motorways selling industrial shelving and conveyor systems?!?!) but income has only been from music over the past 2 years and also like AnnC I wouldn't change it for the world! My company car, free laptop & free mobile calls etc were quite a bonus .. but not nearly as charming as my little white van complete with piano & cello xxxx

I'm a full time medical student and do weekend physiotherapy work too, so I'm kept fairly busy

Biomedical Scientist

Well I am kept quite busy as taxi-driver to two children, their mother, and a wife to my husband. General dogs-body at home, whilst every else wonders what I do at home all day.

Wouldn't it be easier to teach their mother to drive?

Love it!

Apart from the dog walking then I'm with you on this one! Also a supply teacher and run my own pre-school music and movement class. Oh and a bit of a side line with cake decorating!

I teach for Monkey Music, which do music classes for children from 3 months to 5 years. It's so much fun!
Also, this is my first post ever on this forum- very exciting! Hoping I've done it right.....

Hello Tres, welcome to the Forums

Yes, you did the post right

I am an artist in school holiday times.

I guess my main income is the private teaching. I love my job as musical director to one main group permanently and I dip in and out of other groups.

I finished my degree yesterday . I eventually would like to become a primary school teacher.

xx

Is the white van your music studio? .... brings a whole new meaning to "white van man"

Well I currently work part time as an office assistant and also as an extremely part time clarinet and saxophone teacher. However I have gotten very fed up with the office job over the last few weeks and have started thinking about a change. I don't think I will ever earn enough from teaching and playing to stop me from needing another job alongside, but the thought of sitting at a desk every weekday morning for the rest of my working life is quite depressing. Also the job isn't very rewarding to me - other than it pays. I want to be doing something more varied and interesting and be outside in the fresh air a lot more. So I've been looking into and getting advice on starting to do dog walking. I've got a dog and would love a job that would give me some more flexible hours and be able to spend more time with him too, which dog walking would do. But also it would be doing something that helps other people out, so I would feel I'm doing something worthwhile. So I'm currently looking into some basic qualifications that might be relevant - mainly because this would be a complete change and would help give me some confidence. This kind of job would also (hopefully) give me some more time to practise my instruments as at the moment I am limited to afternoons only. I'm hoping that getting into this combined with teaching (and occasional playing) will be a much better lifestyle for me. But I'm very much in the research stages at the moment so I'm not sure if any changes will be made anytime soon, but I'm feeling quite positive and interested, which i definitely haven't been feeling in my other job lately.

Lucid

Just had a little day dream where you were playing and the dogs were all sitting in a circle listening to you!

That would be quite a funny picture.

I work part time at an independent travel agents (as and when is ok for me and them), also note take for disabled students at university (oct - april/may), do after school performing arts clubs too (term time).

Hoping to do more after school clubs and less of the others!

Just starting to perform professionally too

Buy, do up and sell cars (mostly German and British classics / modern classics) in my spare time!

Nicia

For a while there I was only teaching and earning good money doing so! But the credit crunch has hit hard - just this month two families whose fathers lost their jobs at the same company had to finish lessons, giving me a £440 a month drop in income. So now i'm looking for some extra work!

I've done au-pair/babysitting work in the past, so that's probably what i'll be doing. The skills (and patience!) you learn interacting with the kids as an au-pair are useful for teaching so that keeps me motivated!

I like the idea of dog walking! My friend walks dogs and i've been along with her a few times. It's just so nice and relaxing and good for your health to be getting out for a walk!

I'm definitely not a 9 to 5 work for other people kind of person. I like freedom and flexibily so it's those little random jobs that I tend to go for.

Oh, and i'm also doing a BA in Philosophy through the Open University which keeps me pretty busy!

So glad I'm not the only one

Nicia

I'm in exactly the same situation ... I just can't seem to find anything at the moment.

I also do a range of other music-related p/t jobs:
- tutor with the OU
- tutor at Durham University
- church organist/choir director
- exam marker for International Baccalaureate
- RSCM Church Music Skills marker

Keeps me busy!

I work in IT. At the moment I am a support programmer, which means that I fix problems and add new capabilities to existing software. In the past I have filled half a dozen different roles in computing/IT, including being a director of a IT company.

I taught in state schools for four years, and though I was quite young at the time it still left me completely exhausted, so I returned to the IT business.

I have taught piano, enjoy teaching piano, and think that I would be a good influence on my students, but it is something I am looking forward to doing after retiring from my day job. I want to do enough to be enjoyable, and to do it well, but not so much that it would become stressfull - as it would no doubt be if it were my only source of income.

I could probably make a living now as a piano teacher, but for the same number of hours that I work in IT I would be left with a much smaller income. I also wonder if, after spending upwards of 30 hours a week with students, mostly one-on-one, plus time in preparation and also dashing about organizing opportunities for them to perform, I would have the energy for another 24 hours or more at the piano practicing - and whether my ears could stand so much exposure too.

I know that my own teacher hardly manages to practice at all. She plays extremely well, but that is because she did the work in the past to reach a high standard, so it does not take a huge amount of practice to maintain it.

I'm a qualified primary school teacher but at present all my work is unpaid. I'm a full time mum, cook, cleaner, bottle washer, padling pool filler, tower builder etc to 2 little ones. I'm a committee member at the preschool and so do a lot of stuff for them (voluntary basis). And somewhere around that I try to fit in my music

I once remember being part of a music group and we met to rehearse at someone's house which was overlooking a field. By the time we had finished the first few songs, there was a line of inquisitive cows staring at us from over the fence at the end of the garden......... I like to think they were listening and enjoying the music.......

I am a primary school teacher, and have just come to the end of a one year contract that has left me totally exhausted! I have hardly been on the forums as I have been SOOOOOO busy! I'm looking forward to spending much more time teaching music next year and perhaps moving into doing workshops and choirs/ensembles in schools as I love teaching large groups of children as well as small groups and individuals.

I have still managed to keep a few private pupils over this last chaotic year, and have loved it.

Likewise I've a full time job as a teacher - grammar school. Coupled with 5 or 6 weekly private piano pupils, I'm certainly not looking for anything extra to do.

LR