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How to tell my parents?
- Thread starter SMILEYSIXX
- Start date
mate. dont do it. i spent ages doing session bass playing thinking i could make it my big thing. the studio went under and i had nothing to show for it. im now at college doing electrical engineering. atleast that way i could find better things if music doesnt work out
- Apr 1, 2000
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- Endorsing Artist: Roscoe Guitars, DR Strings, Aguilar Amplification
It is. I've just noted how many music teachers I know that went into music education to be in a job close to what they love, then found out how far away it actually is.
Pacman said:
Agreed. The only reason to go into teaching is if you love teaching and expect to be good at it. Otherwise you will burn out.
- Apr 1, 2000
- 17,410
- 9,868
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- Endorsing Artist: Roscoe Guitars, DR Strings, Aguilar Amplification
I think alot of us have been in your shoes. I'm impressed that you know of one thing. You know you're going to college. As long as you do that, you'll figure things out and your parents should be happy knowing you're furthering your education. When I graduated high school, I moved to Las Vegas to play music and luckily found a career in sales to do in the daytime(and I've been in sales since). I found that having a day career allowed me to play in all original bands as opposed to lounge acts, six nights a week. I wanted the big payoff ! Did I succeed ? No , but I am staying at the Holiday Inn Express !
- Sep 9, 2007
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- Endorsing Artist: Eventide, GHS Strings, G&L Guitars, NS Design, Tsunami Cables
That's one of the most uninformed posts I've read in a while.
You have the summers off, but you're technically unemployed because it's a contract for nine months. Many of the teachers I know (some are immediate family) work summer jobs to help supplement their income because with all of the continuing education stipulations that are being added, they have to go back to school to continue to be certified. Plus, they don't get paid as well as you think.
When you ARE teaching during the school year, the last thing you have is "plenty of time for other stuff." Most of their evenings and some weekends are spent working on lesson plans, grading papers, etc.. As a few people have already stated, many music teachers do not have time to focus on their own musical endeavors.
If you last long enough to retire from teaching, you deserve a medal. It's quickly become one of the most thankless jobs in America, with a burnout rate around the 5 year mark.
If his parents were like mine (who were teachers), they told me to stay away from teaching if at all possible. And that was over ten years ago; they knew how things were changing.
The way teachers seem to be treated lately, I might not recommend going in to teaching, either. But that doesn't mean it can never work. I took lessons from a guy who got his M.A. in music. He became a band director for years, then retired around 50 or so. Then got a job as an adjunct instructor at a college. Also, he has played in a band for many years which, although not famous, does have good regional recognition. I haven't looked at his bank account, but he seems to have plenty of money. I think he is especially happy with his band. However, we're just talking to ourselves because the OP hasn't posted on TB in quite a long time. I'll just conclude by saying I agree that teaching does seem to be a thankless job. That doesn't mean everyone should shun it, although many probably should--all things considered.
- Sep 9, 2007
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- Endorsing Artist: Eventide, GHS Strings, G&L Guitars, NS Design, Tsunami Cables
Of course it can work; my parents both retired from teaching - music - and are actually doing better now financially than when they taught. That dealt more with very modest living and a lot of smart investments more than relying solely on a teacher's pension.
Compare what your former teacher had in terms of compensation, benefits, health insurance to what teachers have now. It's about half of what they had.
Teaching is not a job that you just go into because you get summers off and can retire early. It's really a calling, not something someone blindly recommends as a career option. My friends that are teachers either really live for that job, or are looking for something else.
Oh, I knew it was an old thread; I was hoping the OP would see it and update. But I didn't realise he/she hadn't posted in so long. Oh well.
Thanks for calling that out. My mother is a teacher and she had the same words for me. Having summers off=being unemployed for 3 months a year.
I don't have as much experience around music as some other posters here, but there's something that's bothering me...the OP's situation was clear, but what if you don't want to just perform in a band for a living? There seems to be so many other ways to make a living doing music than just sticking to a band and hoping that that band lasts forever.
There's always composition, sub work, theater/cruise ship work, consulting/coaching, sound design/editing, producing, and teaching (if your heart is truly into it), just to name a few examples. All of these methods can benefit from going to school for music. I'm sure there are many other options that I can't come up with.
Given the age we live in now, and the newfound possibities to learn about so many income steams at once, it doesn't seem logical to aim for one and only one while ignoring the others.
There's always composition, sub work, theater/cruise ship work, consulting/coaching, sound design/editing, producing, and teaching (if your heart is truly into it), just to name a few examples. All of these methods can benefit from going to school for music. I'm sure there are many other options that I can't come up with.
Given the age we live in now, and the newfound possibities to learn about so many income steams at once, it doesn't seem logical to aim for one and only one while ignoring the others.
- Sep 9, 2007
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- 4,977
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- Endorsing Artist: Eventide, GHS Strings, G&L Guitars, NS Design, Tsunami Cables
I think people just assume that since the students have the summers off, so do the teachers. Which they do, but it's because their contract is over so unless they chose to have their salary spread out over the entire year (which is an option), they're not getting any checks in the summer.
I saw someone on TV not long ago ranting and raving that teachers get paid too much. She said that as an attorney she was offended that her job was harder than a teacher's, but teachers had it easy. She was especially upset that teachers get paid over the summer for doing nothing, as she put it.
- Sep 9, 2007
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- 4,977
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- Endorsing Artist: Eventide, GHS Strings, G&L Guitars, NS Design, Tsunami Cables
Rocker949 said:
Yeah, that attorney has no clue. As I said, you can opt to have your salary spread our over 12 months, or have it for 9.
I can't imagine trying to help shape the future of our country is easier than being an attorney, but what do I know?
my advice (from someone who was considering the same thing a few years ago)...you don't need to go to berklee to be a career musician. you need to practice. if you are truly dedicated and you play as many gigs as you can, you'll make it. most of the guys i know who went to berklee (including my teacher who's a pretty in-demand session player) dropped out before graduating, for various reasons.
get into the best college you can, pick a degree that's both interesting and marketable, practice your @ss off on the side. i'm not going to tell you what your desires are, but at 21 i have a much different attitude towards music than i did at 16. part of that was a result of going to college and experiencing both musical and non-musical things that i would not have had the chance to experience otherwise.
get into the best college you can, pick a degree that's both interesting and marketable, practice your @ss off on the side. i'm not going to tell you what your desires are, but at 21 i have a much different attitude towards music than i did at 16. part of that was a result of going to college and experiencing both musical and non-musical things that i would not have had the chance to experience otherwise.
Hi guys. Just wanna let y'all know I'm caught in a similar situation. I'm 18 this year and deciding whether I should take a diploma in music (locals arts school) or a diploma in interactive and digital media.
I know that a career in music will be tough and i want to enjoy music, not eventually hate it. I've been thinking about this for months even before I graduated from school and just 2 days ago I was extremely sure that I'd go take the diploma in music, but I still had my doubts.
A few hours ago i changed my mind i thought that i wasnt being too practical. I dont want to struggle feeding my family in the future. 5 minutes later, i decided to take my chances and search "interactive and digital media" here on talkbass. Amazing how I found a bunch of people with almost the same situation as me. I wanna thank you guys for all the advice though they weren't directed at me but I still appreciate all of it. I'm now 90% sure I will take the diploma in interactive and digital media and in the process of obtaining that diploma, save up for my future education. I might want to head somewhere like Berklee to further my musical studies (actually that's my goal - I just want the interactive/digital media diploma as a backup plan).
So if all goes well, I have 5-7 years before I make that decision to go to Berklee or not. (as well as practice and really improve as much as i can) In the meantime, ill take that diploma in interactive and digital media, undergo national service (I'm Singaporean btw) before I hopefully go to Berklee!
I know that a career in music will be tough and i want to enjoy music, not eventually hate it. I've been thinking about this for months even before I graduated from school and just 2 days ago I was extremely sure that I'd go take the diploma in music, but I still had my doubts.
A few hours ago i changed my mind i thought that i wasnt being too practical. I dont want to struggle feeding my family in the future. 5 minutes later, i decided to take my chances and search "interactive and digital media" here on talkbass. Amazing how I found a bunch of people with almost the same situation as me. I wanna thank you guys for all the advice though they weren't directed at me but I still appreciate all of it. I'm now 90% sure I will take the diploma in interactive and digital media and in the process of obtaining that diploma, save up for my future education. I might want to head somewhere like Berklee to further my musical studies (actually that's my goal - I just want the interactive/digital media diploma as a backup plan).
So if all goes well, I have 5-7 years before I make that decision to go to Berklee or not. (as well as practice and really improve as much as i can) In the meantime, ill take that diploma in interactive and digital media, undergo national service (I'm Singaporean btw) before I hopefully go to Berklee!
