Hi everyone,
I recently started the thread "Job or Hobby?" (Job or Hobby?) and I kind of have a follow up question:
If you are not a full time working musician, what is your day job?
Yes, I do take an interest in my fellow TBers
I thought it would be fun to know where people are coming from and what kind of expertise (other than musical) there is on TB. Would also be fun to know if you feel that your day job or the skills you learned there helped you in your musical pursuits or vice versa?
Myself, I am a teacher in Germany. I teach kids from ages 10 to 19 in history and philosophy, preparing the higher grades for college and fulfilling the role of a basic educator in the lower grades ("no Franz, you can't just punch Fritz in the face and eat his lunch, that is not nice"). I really like my job, it is important work, no two days are the same. Apart from that it comes with a lot of benefits (for starters, I can't get fired) and is well paid.
It is also very demanding at times, so that means that I play bass and make music to relax and enjoy myself. I do not need any extra income from gigs and I don't have to prove anything to anybody.
My experiences as a musician have helped me a lot in my job. Standing in front of a class is a bit like stepping on stage as a bass player: People expect something from you, and it doesn't matter what's going on with you, in that moment you are there for them and you fulfill your role. Most of the times that is just being supportive of whats going on around you, and even when you are in the spotlight for a moment, it is not about you but about your audience/students. I know how important preparations are but I also know that no plan will ever work flawlessly and I can keep calm and improvise in tricky situations.
It also helped me the other way around: When playing in bands, I can see when something is not right with somebody, when conflicts coming up and I know how to talk to people to diffuse the situation. I know how to work out compromises. I have also completely lost stage fright, because if you have been in front of about thirty 14year olds who couldn't give a rat's dingleberry about what you want to show them, how cool is it to once in a while have a crowd that is actually enjoying the stuff you are offering?
How about you?
I recently started the thread "Job or Hobby?" (Job or Hobby?) and I kind of have a follow up question:
If you are not a full time working musician, what is your day job?
Yes, I do take an interest in my fellow TBers
I thought it would be fun to know where people are coming from and what kind of expertise (other than musical) there is on TB. Would also be fun to know if you feel that your day job or the skills you learned there helped you in your musical pursuits or vice versa?Myself, I am a teacher in Germany. I teach kids from ages 10 to 19 in history and philosophy, preparing the higher grades for college and fulfilling the role of a basic educator in the lower grades ("no Franz, you can't just punch Fritz in the face and eat his lunch, that is not nice"). I really like my job, it is important work, no two days are the same. Apart from that it comes with a lot of benefits (for starters, I can't get fired) and is well paid.
It is also very demanding at times, so that means that I play bass and make music to relax and enjoy myself. I do not need any extra income from gigs and I don't have to prove anything to anybody.
My experiences as a musician have helped me a lot in my job. Standing in front of a class is a bit like stepping on stage as a bass player: People expect something from you, and it doesn't matter what's going on with you, in that moment you are there for them and you fulfill your role. Most of the times that is just being supportive of whats going on around you, and even when you are in the spotlight for a moment, it is not about you but about your audience/students. I know how important preparations are but I also know that no plan will ever work flawlessly and I can keep calm and improvise in tricky situations.
It also helped me the other way around: When playing in bands, I can see when something is not right with somebody, when conflicts coming up and I know how to talk to people to diffuse the situation. I know how to work out compromises. I have also completely lost stage fright, because if you have been in front of about thirty 14year olds who couldn't give a rat's dingleberry about what you want to show them, how cool is it to once in a while have a crowd that is actually enjoying the stuff you are offering?
How about you?
