Within the music industry, there are a wide variety of jobs and roles, varying from such roles as 'The Rodie', entitled with transporting musical equipment to the stage for a band; to a soundman, tasked with mixing band members and their respective instruments to create a balance of volume that fully emphasises each musician. In this task I have selected 3 roles in which I intend to research, ranging through production and performance, and how one can approach progression, within each, to achieve a high standard of professionalism within the industry.
There are a range of roles that come under music and education, one of which being the most obvious, a music teacher. Music is a key part in the education system, as it is said to play a significant role in brain development, motor skills, collaboration skills and much more. These skills are essential in day to day life, whether you aim to be, or are, a part of the music industry or not. Particularly, out of all the skills stated, collaboration skills are an essential soft skill to have when working in the Music industry, as to be a professional musician, in any of its respective fields, you must collaborate with others within the business. To provide an example, artists will, more often than not, collaborate with such industry workers as: Managers, who will help to provide the artist with events and gigs at which they can perform, negotiate with contracts and more generally handle the business aspects of that artist; Producers, who help guide the artist to result with a song that they envisioned; and possibly even Session musicians, who are hired to fill in for missing members of a band or will accompany an artist live or in the studio. This demonstrates the importance of having collaboration skills and therefore the importance of music teachers in the industry.
One more specific are in music and education that I am interested in is Music Therapy, which can be used within schools to help with the well-being of children, consisting of benefits to mental, emotional, physical, social and cognitive aspects, as stated at https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/8817-music-therapy. For this job, you will need a range of soft skills, the most important of these being: patience, as results may not be instant; communication, empathy - they must understand the needs of individual patients; creativity and flexibility. When researching the working life of a music therapist, the NHS website states that "You'll facilitate positive changes in people's emotional wellbeing and communication through engagement in live musical interaction". This can be achieved through such methods as compositional music therapy, where you and a patient will compose a song together, this typically being a method used with patients processing grief or who have low self esteem as it boosts confidence; improvisation music therapy, in by the patient will create a spontaneous piece of music, allowing the therapist to understand moods or feelings being expressed through such; receptive music therapy, whereby the therapist will play music that the client can respond to in there own way, whether that be dance, their own compositions or words, this typically being used for patients with anxiety as it is a calming method; and others. According to https://www.richmondmusictrust.org.uk/, During a music therapy session, both the client and the therapist take part in playing, singing and listening to music, the music played being largely improvisational and is less a music lesson but more an expression of the client through instrumentation, playing an instrument being encouraged by these therapists, However the music can be pre-composed by either the client or therapist which can be performed to one another, and sessions may even include musical games which both the client and therapist will play together, this all helping to build a relationship between the therapist and client.
More information in the video shown below
This video is by the BAMT (British Association for Music Therapy) and music therapist Alex Blood discusses what music therapy is and how it can be used to help others. In this video Alex recognises that for most people music is a way of de-stressing and relaxing, however music therapy is more direct, defining it as "a registered, clinical, psychological intervention", which he also states is delivered by trained music therapists and is regulated by the health and care professions council. He also compares it to talking therapy's like CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy), but mainly compares it to Psychoanalysis, and states that the skills for such are very transferrable, however rather than words they opt to use Music as the main method of communication.
In order to have a job in music and education, you'll be required to have a degree in music, teaching experience and a post graduate qualification. Ways that you could start moving in the direction to achieve this could be as simple as practicing or learning and instrument, perhaps even teaching people how to play one which could be a vital part of music and education. Another thing is to know Music theory. If you are teaching music at a GCSE Level it is mandatory to know music theory, so becoming well versed in music theory would definitely aid your progression. You could also contact teachers, music teachers or instrument teachers to see what skills stand out to an employer. Another thing that employers look for in music teacher or therapists is experience in the music industry, as you are able to apply that in your work and it can benefit your students, and when working in therapy it can help you find appropriate music to assist you with methods of such. A way that may help you get into music and education is through a PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate in Education, which gives you experience teaching and also learning things like music theory, how to manage a classrooms behaviour. In this you will spend most of your time in schools, learning ways of teaching and getting experience doing so, this helping you get a job at the school you take the course at or other schools as they will be looking for people with prior teaching experience or a qualification in that.
Income
private music teacher = whatever they decide there rate is
employed music teacher = average of 27,500 yearly
music therapist = entry level average of 30,000
Being a professional guitarist can come in many different varieties, some of the most popular approaches of being a professional guitarist in the music industry being:
When playing as a live session guitarist, you will be contacted by the artist, band or manager of the band, and you will be responsible for learning songs to a professional standard for that band or artist to play live. When hired as a live session musician, you may be filling in for a musician who cant make the gig or event in question, or you may be asked to play more permanently with the artist/band, perhaps even being asked to tour with them. When working in this kind of environment, it is important to uphold professionalism with the members of the band, the artist and the manager, making sure that you know the songs to a T and playing them as such, playing the way that the members want you to, being easy to communicate ideas with and also understanding how you fit in to your role, making sure to help the members put on their show the way they want to. it is very important to understand that you are hired to be flexible and to mould yourself to the way the band, artist and manager wants you to, and to not try and undermine their ideas, as you are trying to help them achieve there vision rather than tell them what they should do instead. However, some artists may ask for your opinion, in which case providing your professional outlook on such may be required. You must also be able to manage your time well, as being a professional session guitarist may mean that you play many gigs for many bands so being able to manage your time well is essential to be able to do this, as you have many bands you will need to learns songs for and attend to their gigs and rehearsals.
As a studio session guitarist, you may be hired privately by the artist, band or by their manager to record with them in the studio, however, you may also be hired by the producer, a production company or the record label, in which you may be hired privately or you may be provided with a job as part of the production company or label. When in this role, you may be required to write your own parts, usually with a prompt or idea provided by the artist, band, manager or producer. It is important to have good time management when confronted with a situation like this, as hiring a studio can cost a lot of money, some high end studios costing up to £200 an hour. It is also good to have improvisational skills to your disposable, as this also saves time and therefore money. All of the previously mentioned skills from the "live session guitarist" section also apply to this role, such as playing the songs to a professional standard, being flexible and able to mould yourself to the way the artist, band, manager or producer wants you to, as you are trying to help them achieve their vision; and trying not to undermine ideas and be open to all ideas, and being able to manage your time well.
In this video, Fredrik Halland talks about his experiences as a session musician. mainly talking about studio session work. He talks about how a lot of the time he is asked to jam over tracks and create a riff within the span of as short of times as 15 minute, this supports my point about time management and demonstrates how important it is to be able to work under time pressure. He also says within this video that being flexible is an important skill, as in his experience alot of producers will ask hi to play something different or play something specifically with more feel rather than technicality
https://www.careersinmusic.com states that a professional named Glasson finds that in his experience as a session musician he is getting roughly 4-7 gigs a week and says "being a Session Musician is all about the hustle", further proving that time management is a key skill to be a professional session musician, whether that be a studio or live session.
As a guitarist in a band, many of the skills and from studio session and live session guitar work apply, as being a guitarist in a band you will both have the opportunity to play live events or gigs, and record original music or covers in a studio. as a band member you have many different professionals who you will be working with, these listing from: Managers, who will help to organise the business side of the band and also try to book events or gigs; producers, who you will work with in the studio and discuss ideas to help you masterfully create and record songs by suggesting alterations to the songs, hiring session musicians if required and supervise the audio and mix of your track; labels, who will invest into your music; guitar techs, who will help you prepare your equipment, tune your guitar(s) and be on standby to provide you with another guitar or equipment if you require it or if issues arise with the current equipment on stage; Rodies, who will help move your kit on stage; photographers, who will take photos for your band in any setting, live or studio; videographers, who will take videos for your band in live or studio settings and record music videos for your band. According to www.theworkingguitarist.com, the most important skill to being a professional guitarist is 'fretboard knowledge', which they state is the ability to play any riff, melody or voicing everywhere on the fretboard without having to think about it, and they state that it is very important as in the industry you may be asked to play complex part and having knowledge of the fretboard assists you significantly. other important skills from my experience are: communication, as communicating with your band or manager about your availability for gigs or events is very important; time management, as you must be able to find time to write songs, go to rehearsals, put gigs into your calendar and show up to those gigs or events in good time; song writing skills, flexibility, as you may be asked by your band members to play something out of your comfort zone, or you may have to come to agreements over decisions; and commitment, as otherwise bands may find other more committed guitarists.
One thing you must do for all of these different sections is to ensure that you practice the guitar frequently, as understanding your instrument and having a skilled ability to play is something that is extremely important if you want to take any of these routes, also ensuring to practice a wide variety of genres as you may be offered work from bands and artists of all kinds of genres. You could do this by learning popular songs in a variety of genres and analysing what parts you play separate it from others, perhaps using a knowledge of music theory to better understand it. As just mentioned, this job role would also be assisted by learning music theory, which if you are well versed in can help you significantly when trying to create catchy riffs or guitar parts, and helps you better work with people like producers as if they ask you to create something specific, you have the musical knowledge to do that, and under time pressure if it is required of you. Another thing you can do is to try and play open mics, as they are a good introduction to playing in front of an audience and can help you with your confidence on stage. Since these roles are all very much self employed roles, it is important to advertise yourself, and a good way of doing this is by creating a social media accounts on Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook and others, where you show of your talents, this meaning that people who are considering hiring you can see you abilities and judge whether they think that you will be a good fit within they're band. This is also important because people on social media platforms, specifically Facebook, will put posts out saying they need a session guitarist or a guitarist to join their band, and having you skills and abilities attached to the account you will be reaching out to them on helps them easily view this. Another important part of creating a career as a professional guitarist is to network, so after gigs you play or others play, make sure to talk to people interest in your work or your services, perhaps informing them of your next gig or upcoming work/availability to work, dependent on who you're talking to. In every part of being a professional guitarist I have mentioned and others, it is very important to be kind and friendly, as politeness helps to build a relationship with people in the industry and it helps to be more approachable, perhaps meaning more opportunities.
Income
As a session musician or live musician, you income isn't stable as it depends on how much work you get or how much you charge for your services. However professionals who play gigs very frequently can make upwards of £54,600 a year according to https://www.careersinmusic.com
According to www.ukmusic.org, a Music producer "supports musicians and recording artists in a variety of ways in the recording and realisation of their music", and states that the support provided will vary for each individual project. This support is primarily creative, as a producer will assist artist in finalising the songs that they have created, generally to fit a mainstream sound. This can be done by changing the structure, removing or adding parts, changing melodies, adding more instrumentation, simplifying the instrumentation etc. Producers will also perform other roles and perform other duties such as gathering ideas, choosing and hiring session musicians, supervising the mixing process and, in some cases, supervise the mastering stage. As a producer, you will mainly be working with Artists and Bands, so it is important to have good team building skills and good negotiation skills, as the artists may have opposing creative views to you, so being able to communicate these skills with them in a professional manor is highly important to a creative relationship. Other highly important skills are project, time and budget management, as (for example) an artist or band will most likely be paying upwards of £100-150 for professional service on an album, according to https://www.twine.net/blog/music-producer-hourly-rates/, so being able to show and perform these skills is highly important to creating a professional career as a producer, otherwise artists may view your work as unprofessional and will deem you as not worth their money or time. To add to this, you must be efficient and precise with your work, as some musicians may only be able to afford a short time frame for their work to be competed, due to their budget or perhaps a pre-posted release date, so being able to manage your time efficiently while still upholding a professional standard of work is essential. As a producer, you must have a pre-existing history in music production, being able to do such things as:
Confidently be able to use a DAW, such as Logic, Ableton, Pro-tools etc.
Be able to set up and understand the workings of a studio, such as how to get audio from the live room to the control room
Be able to use an Audio Processing Device
as these are all requirements of a producers job because you will be working in a studio and will be performing these skills for the artists who have hired you.
To progress towards this chosen career, such things as studying music production at college will assist you forwards, as you will learn how to use a DAW, how to mix music, how to master music and how to release music, making this a good way of going forward to be a Producer. Another helpful skill is having learnt an instrument, as in by doing this, it will help you be able to create melodies, learn how to structure songs, through having played them on said instrument; create musical scores, which will be useful as you can provide session musicians you may be working with and more. Building a portfolio is essential, and a way you can start doing this is by working with local musicians and artists, perhaps at school or college, this giving you experience in the field and the industry and also helping you build a reputation. Another good way of building this reputation is by promoting yourself and your work on social media platforms and a website, making sure people can contact you for possible jobs and further building a reputation. "Scouting" is another way to gain experience and a name in the industry. Scouting is looking for artists who may need or want a producer. You can scout for artists at gigs or events, or by looking for artists on social media pages. This makes it important to have Networking skills, as in order to make these artists want you as their producer, you have to show them what you can offer them. To start out as a producer scouting for artists I would aim to look for smaller artists at band nights, where multiple artists play, and communicate with them after the show, making opportunities to show them your work and what they can expect when working with you, and if you find an artist who is interested, exchanging contacts so you can be notified on if they would like to hire you.