Basics

What if every music school or “conservatory” emphasized what’s really happening out there now as part of their basic teaching curriculum, instead of what was happening 15 years ago?

– “classical” musicians are no longer limited to an orchestra, solo, or chamber music career. 

– because of technology and all the platforms available to convey your own idea, project, or concept, nobody can hold you back.

– that whatever you do in the arts can make a huge difference in any community, not just “big” cities or markets. It just depends on whether you can discern what that particular community needs and wants.

I believe that most people yearn for something artistic they can meaningfully connect with, and that might change their thinking. Maybe even their life. Or how they feel when they go to your event or interact with you in some other way. 

That’s not always obvious if you’ve spent a lot of your life in a practice room (or onstage), but it’s the truth. 

4 thoughts on “Basics”

  1. I agree with this but, surely, you are aware of the many “entrepreuner” type programs which most every music school is offering these days? They may not be mandatory but they are out there.

    Nice to have you back!!

    Reply
    • Thanks for your comment. Almost all of the collegiate “arts entrepreneur” programs I’ve seen are terrific (at least for a start) and I’m very happy to see that sort of program more commonplace now. But they seem to be somewhat generic and kind of basic, given the possibilities today, which are really different than even a few years ago. Three things come to mind:

      – every “top” music school or conservatory should offer a somewhat refined course of this nature.
      – in 2019, that course should absolutely be mandatory (if you’re really going to be honest with your students)
      – perhaps most importantly, the individual teachers themselves must include this sort of thinking as part of their curriculum (not always so easy on top of teaching technique and repertoire).

      Reply
  2. I agree one thousand per cent on all three points! Especially number 2. It is essential that young musicians develop these skills. (Quite different from when I graduated music school back in the stone age.)

    I’ve talked to a lot of young musicians. I tell them: If you truly love music and want to make it your life’s work, you will but it most likely will not be one hundred percent of what you do and THAT IS OKAY. It doesn’t mean that you’re not talented or didn’t practice hard enough. Be prepared, be well rounded, learn everything you can about as many different areas of the music business as possible, etc., etc.

    Reply
  3. Excellent Food For Thought, glad you brought it up. People in general don’t like to talk about money, and artists in particular can be nonplussed on the subject. Community musicians past and present Cobble together careers with a mix of gigs, weddings, students, orchestral work in season and side jobs. The new opportunity is because technology allows everyone to participate. Even if you play obscure music in a small town, far away from anything traditionally “artistically”
    important. So yes, back to the basics for networking and marketing. Also Plunge into the new with the internet (gasp), blogs, self-publishing and of course YouTube and social media. Can we play an instrument designed 400 years ago yet do our work in The Cloud?

    Reply

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