Thursday, August 21, 2008

Learn a Musical Instrument, Prepare for a Career

Invisible Career-Path Available Only to Musicians

For a skilled musician, there is an additional career path that is invisible to the non-musician. This is an additional benefit beyond the pleasure of playing music, the attention it brings, and the better academic performance than students who do not learn to play a musical instrument. It is a broad range of extra career opportunities that non-musicians never even consider.

But if you're a musician, you can apply. Let's take a look at these careers that are available only to musicians

Education: Are you a musician who has also studied education? If so, there are numerous music education opportunities that may interest you:

Music educator at a college, conservatory, university

Music teacher at secondary or elementary school

Private music instructor

Music supervisor

Choir director

Therapy: Are you a musician who has also studied psychiatry? You can practice the trade of music therapy in a wide array of settings. Some of the sources of employment for music therapists are the following:

Schools

Universities

Nursing Homes

Mental health clinics

Correctional Facilities

Private practice

Business: Ever wonder what it takes to work in business management? Besides business smarts, an ability to talk the language of music will take you places the non-musican cannot go:

Artist Manager or Agent

Talent Agent

Concert Promoter

Independent Radio Promoter

Music Business Entrepreneur

Music Business Consultant

Record Company Executive

Music Publisher

Tour Coordinator

Performance: Actors are more highly valued if they have a musical education. Today, with so few actors multi-skilled as they were in the era of the large studios, this can be a real advantage. Below are some of the jobs for which an actor who is also a musician may "incidentally" be qualified.

Performing artist

Soloist, instrumental or vocal

Studio musician

Background vocalist

Theatre musician

Accompanist

Church musician

Product demonstrator for instrument manufacturer

Movies / Video Games: If you study movies or video game production, a background as a musician will help you prepare for music-related jobs such as the following:

Conductor

Music Composer

Music Editor

Music Supervisor (to scout for music)

Arranger (to determine the mix of song elements per the conductor or producer's specifications)

Sound designer (of effects to accompany music score)

Jingle writer / composer

From education to video games, there are careers available for those who happen to have a background in music which the rest of us never see. Each of these fields requires time and study for proficiency, but they represent a career path that is nonexistent for non-musicians.

Sure, you already knew that playing music could improve your quality of life. Now you know it can improve the quality of your career.

Duane Shinn is the author of over 500 music books and music educational materials such as DVD's, CD's, musical games for kids, chord charts, musical software, and piano lesson instructional courses for adults. His book-CD-DVD course titled http://www.pianoplaying.com/ "How To Dress Up Naked Music On The Piano!" is used all around the world to teach improvisation and music arranging skills. He holds advanced degrees from Southern Oregon University and was the founder of Keyboard Workshop in Southern Oregon. He is the author of the popular free 101-week online e-mail newsletter titled http://www.playpiano.com/ "Amazing Secrets Of Exciting Piano Chords & Sizzling Chord Progressions" with over 70,000 current subscribers. Assisted by Phil Honstein.

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