Advice on a new career

[kehaulani]

Often unsung hero of the market place: Middle School band.

We can get so caught up in the pecking order of prestigious positions that some (many?) of us wouldn't get caught dead considering a middle school job, especially at the beginning of our careers.

And yet, what else offers relatively steady work in music, with kids relatively eager to learn, not yet distracted by raging hormones and smart mouths, with work satisfaction to the teacher with the right goals and attitudes?

At the same time, it offers the enviable week-ends, holidays and vacations off that HS and University band program teachers do not have; time to pursue one's "outside" musical activities and potential additional income. Don't forget that those going for university positions teaching trumpet often go to a person who is involved up to their ears in the school's band program.
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"If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." Bird

Yamaha 8310Z Bobby Shew trumpet
Benge 3X Trumpet
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Adams F-1 Flghn

[rockford]

It's definitely tougher to find a music teaching job than in other fields. Adding middle school math and reading to your list of credentials can get you employed quicker with a reasonable amount of work. Gig on the weekends and teach music privately after school?
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Bill Siegfried
NY/Mt. Vernon Bach trumpets. Yamaha flugelhorn and piccolo A/Bb, Monette and Hammond mouthpieces. Fender and Peavey Cirrus Bass Guitars. Ampeg and Genz-Benz amps. Embraer 170/175/190.

[cjl]

You remember Joe Petrocelli (jpetrocelli) don't you? He did pretty much what you are suggesting, gave up on a professional playing career, sold many of his horns, and went into some aspect of the computer business. Perhaps you can find out how he did what he did.

A tubist I know, really fine player, worked many years as a university band assistant and in a music store while playing as much as he could. He got into a computer field (CAD related, I think) and was quite happy last I saw him. He still plays quite a bit and his life is much more stable now with the better job. His family figured heavily into his decision.

Now me, I am 55 and have almost always been a programmer. While I never worked for any company as sexy as Apple, I did work for many years for a cutting-edge defense contracter. I have always done music on the side. Programming is OK, but I have never jumped up early in the morning just to code a couple of methods before breakfast. I have gotten up early for years to practice before work or stayed up late to practice to be ready for whatever little gig I might have coming up. And I've always wondered what it would be like to spend your work day doing something you truly love. Or if I had tried music, would it have been a disaster? I'll never know; way too late to change my mind. I did try teaching briefly both in high school and middle school (math). Not for me so I went back to programming.

I'd be happy to offer you my opinions in greater detail. My email address is available in my current marketplace ads.

-- Joe

[Crazy Finn]

[kehaulani]

[TrumpetMD]

[Richard III]

Speaking as a student of many majors a long time ago, music ed. being one of them, we don't need somebody teaching who didn't start out wanting that or is doing it until something better comes along. I had lots of crappy teachers. If you are gifted in that area, by all means do it. But if you're not, please find something else. I've done other stuff. Do another two years of college and get a degree in something else you like. Or work for the government. I do. Three more years and I can retire. Then I can do more fun stuff.
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Richard

King 1130 Flugabone
King 12C mouthpiece

[cjl]

[cjl]

[Crazy Finn]

[jpetrocelli]

A friend told me he was searching for job hunting advice and ran across my name.

As cjl stated (18 months ago, lol), I did in fact completely quit an actual trumpet playing/teaching career and go into IT. I sold off all of my horns, all of my music (except my Arban Book and my main mouthpiece), and haven't touched a trumpet in nearly 4 years. I'm not going to lie and say it was easy to quit. It hurt my soul for a long time. But day by day, it hurt a little less.

4 years later I don't regret my decision at all. I'm currently a security engineer for a very very well known security company and am loving life. Things have happened very VERY fast for me and I'm doing extremely well.

I'm not going to spew out unwanted information, but if anyone desires advice or a way forward in the IT industry, coming from the music industry, please feel free to reach out to me. I'd be more than willing to talk. Just PM me. It'll get to me.
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Joe Petrocelli

[Diane Bruce]

I wanted to go into music but ended up in IT. My biggest regret was not keeping the chops up.

[tommy t.]

General Counsel (attorney) to the Massachusetts Port Authority in the 1980's and 90's was a graduate of Indiana U. music school. I didn't make it through music school and ended up as a partner in the ancient and honorable law firm, Ropes & Gray, of Boston.

If you are willing to spend a few years qualifying for a different career, I think that you will find that your music education is excellent preparation, primarily because it involves a kind of commitment and intensity that is not found in the normal state university liberal arts or humanities curriculum.

Good luck.

Tommy T.
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Actually, I hate music. I just do this for the money.

[gbshelbymi]

I switched from a Music Performance major (jazz studies) to computer science. After 2 years of CS classes, I interviewed for an intern position at IBM. The interviewer told me he was hiring me because of two factors: my GPA wasn't great but good enough, and he noticed that I was formerly a music major, and had done very well in composition and arranging courses. I asked him why that was relevant, and he stated that IBM has known since the early 60s that musicians tend to make great programmers. He said it's because the disciplines are extremely similar. There are a limited number of rules that you must follow but past that you have infinite creativity to make your program do whatever you want it to.

I've done great in the computer field, and have a job as a sales engineer for a large applications software company that pays VERY well. But, I finally realized last fall after not playing much at all for over 25 years how much I missed the horn, so that's when I started my comeback. I hope to be playing until they put me in the ground.

Good luck!
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Greg
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Getzen 3850 Custom - Kanstul 1525 Flugelhorn - Getzen Severinsen Eterna LB - 70s Bach 180ML37 - 70s Bach CL 229 25C - CarolBrass Pocket - 40 Conn 80A etc.

[jimspeedjae]

I did an undergraduate music degree and post graduate degree in musical performance. I was lucky and I played professionally for a few years.

I always knew I didn't want to teach and agree completely with the sentiment that if you don't want to teach, then stay away. Too many awful teachers working who fell into the professional and never found a way of falling back out.

I always knew I wanted to do something else in life though. So I went back to college, did an MSc in information systems and via a few jobs in educational technology I chose to set up my own business and work for myself.

My business is in helping smaller businesses transition existing services and functions online, as well developing some educational technology products of my own.

I enjoy it - working for yourself is a lifestyle choice, but does allow you to take gigs when they come along...I don't think I could ever be a worker bee in a larger business ever again.

Don't be scared of trying something new and if you do find yourself doing something you hate, get out of it and try something else.

[lipshurt]

When I was is college I did not want to teach but got my music Ed degree anyway. The I played professionally for a few years, making a job of gigging and teaching lessons. Gigging got me the contacts to teach lessons at the better high schools around. I found that teaching privately and being succesful at that led to contacts that helped me get full time teaching gigs at the better high schools where essentially 90 percent of the job is putting music together and getting it to sound good. Its about exactly the same thing as gigging, except sometimes the result is actually better:) cuz there is more rehearsal time.

There is marching season...no getting around it, but there is also the paid summer vacation....those equal out. And marching band is easy

I found middle school teaching to be a drag, with no music feel to it at all. And the time on the clock went super slow and I was tired at the end. High school zips by cuz you are putting music togther and want that clock to go SLOWER so you can get things sounding better. And that does not even wear you out.
Kids are rarely rarely any problem at all.

High school band is the most most under rated gig out there. Pays good, easy, fun and lots of time off. I do several gigs a week. I have two hours of practice time built into my schedule in a good room. And I'm always around musical people all day.

I did ten years of gigging before I decided full time teaching was for me, and then teaching only knocked out a faiely small percentage of my gigs.
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Mouthpiece Maker
vintage Trumpet design enthusiast
www.meeuwsenmouthpieces.com
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[gstump]

This subject has been troubling for me on several levels. Many years ago when I was taking high school students, I had a very bright kid from a really good public school band program. He was a good musician but had a very unusual characteristic sound. I tried and tried to get a more mainstream sound from him without success. After he graduated I never heard from him and had no idea where he went to school and in what field.

To my surprise he contacted me around ten years later. He went to the University of Michigan as a performance major and completed his BA and MM. He called because he was very bitter. He never was able to win a spot in an orchestra or wind ensemble or symphonic band at college. He did play in a lessor concert band. He wanted to sue the university! He wanted advice about putting together a cautionary program for students seeking a career in the music business. To say the least, this was a very painful phone call. I wondered if I was part of the problem. He never said he wanted to be a player.

Then there is the responsibly and accountability of our major music schools. At two Orchestra Summits at the University of Michigan, we (the professional orchestra players representatives) suggested that the music schools provide additional courses of study in marketing, business and other fields that would help graduating music majors find jobs to augment or even replace a career in music. Major music schools collectively graduate literally thousands of performance majors with very little chance of ever finding a job as a full time orchestral musician. Offering a Masters Degree in Orchestral Music Performance with no backup plan would be like offering a degree in NBA or NFL Performance. Orchestra managements are more and more wanting the players to be involved in promotion, marketing and educational services. This should be a no brainer for schools like the U of M but you can image what kind of response we got at the Orchestra Summit!

Thanks for reading my rant. Good luck OP and if and when you change careers I hope you keep your gift of music in some way.
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Schilke B5
Couesnon Flug (1967)
Funk Brothers Horn Section/Caruso Student

[tommy t.]

[homebilly]

audio post engineer

that is what i transitioned into when i stopped playing trumpet
for 12 years. big money. long days holed up in a studio.
very musical in concept and idiots that have failed up telling you what sounds good. yeah, right. more sound effects.

get your protools chops together and get to it!

ron
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ron meza (deadbeat jazz musician) & (TH 5 post ghost neighborhood watch ringleader)
waiting for Fed-Ex to deliver a $50 trumpet to my door. shipping was prepaid by seller of course!
http://ronmeza.com
http://highdefinitionbigband.com

[zackh411]

I recognized early on. My degree is in chemistry. I'm studying to get into Dental School next fall. I figure that if I want to perform at a professional level, all I have to do is practice until I can and find the right teachers when I need them. I don't need a piece of paper to go out and play trumpet, and I never really wanted to teach.
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~Zack

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