I’ve written numerous blogs on life as a musician. I’m an opera singer, voice teacher, pianist, piano teacher, modest organist and choir director. So which one of the previous list will make me rich? I’ve always said “music doesn’t pay the mortgage.” Many times it doesn’t pay much of anything!

I read recently about a male opera singer who is entering the prime time of his career. He is stepping away from the business because it just isn’t paying a real salary. I don’t know this man but I did read he is a very wonderful bass, singing with the top opera companies. But, the money he’s paid isn’t stupendous and the opera houses don’t pay for travel and hotel accommodations. So do the math…he has to pay expenses out of the money he’s paid for singing. Someone I know from a number of years ago knew a well-known opera singer in the USA and said that the singer told him, “If you’re in the group of 30 or so world-renowned opera singers, there’s an absolute pot of money. If you’re not, you starve.” And it sounds now like the money is less and less there in general.

I learned a long time ago that performing on a more local level would never bring in a ton of money. I eventually got my Masters Degree in Applied Music Pedagogy (private teaching) and went into that. I enjoy that very much as well. However, it’s the financial thing again. I researched how much a private teacher should be charging and found a list of credentials with the correct lesson fees attached for how many degrees you have and years you’ve been teaching, etc. Well, I’m not charging close to that nor have I ever been paid close to that by any studio I’ve worked for. Why? People won’t pay for top-notch, educated teachers unless, of course, you have a reputation for making the serious music student into a star in a short period of time.

A lot of people don’t realize what it takes to master an instrument and relate that to a student who is starting from scratch. It’s tough stuff, folks. And, you have to tailor the same lesson a bit differently to each student you have. No one person learns the same as another. Hence, you have to be able to “read” your students and teach them the same lesson accordingly.

Instrumentalists can run around playing “gigs” with different groups…”pickup” orchestras, musical shows, weddings, etc. It is viable and many do that but, you run around a lot. It’s exhausting. And you still will probably have to have a steady job in something in order to make any real money.

Lots of us have other jobs. I worked insurance, admin assistant for a couple of companies, and finally ran a church office for 23 years. It gave me benefits and a decent schedule so that I could also do my music after hours. Yes, you still run around a lot but at least you can pay the mortgage and buy food. Ha!

Now I’m not saying don’t follow your dreams but, do have some idea initially when you decide to become a professional as to how much income you will bring in and how many jobs you need to have in order to live solely on your dream job. Being a computer tech engineer may not be such a bad idea after all if it brings in a real salary, benefits, and you can somewhat set your schedule to not wipe out your music schedule. Talk about us being creative artists!

And sometimes, after 40 years of teaching, and being a lifelong musician, you just take a step back and see where the next adventure in music is headed. This is where I am right now. I’m tired of a lot of things and where they’re going or not going. So, I’m taking a step back and seeing how the future looks. Where to look. As usual, the creative artist. And I never forget what my long-time voice and pedagogy teacher said, “Don’t give away the only thing you have to sell.”

And…where are you in your life? Happy or in the same rut or…??? Think about it…over pie of course. We need pie for situations like this. It’s our “happy place.” Ha! Cheers!

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