Guest Post, Chad Goodman: Sounding Good on Your Instrument is Simply Not Enough to Succeed

| Apr 12, 2016 |

Every music major should be told that on day one.

Walk into any music school and, chances are, the student population will be isolated in practice rooms. While college is a crucial time for students to practice and mature on their instruments, schools and teachers often place exclusive emphasis on practice and nothing else. Four years of solitary practice will have a student leave school a better instrumentalist than when they entered, but does not provide a firm foundation for students expecting to make a career out of music immediately following graduation.

It should not come as a surprise that music students are often unaware of the realities of the world that exists outside of school. After all, from a young age, a career in classical music is laid out for us as a clear path. As long as you practice, practice, practice, it will be as simple as connecting the dots.

Grade school years spent in youth symphonies and private lessons are dots that will connect to four years of undergraduate music studies and summer music festivals. Practice hard enough during those four years and it will connect to more dots: Master’s programs, Doctoral programs, and Artist Diplomas. After you’re finished with academia, you transition into a job.

In the case of most music students, however, the grad school dot and professional job dot will not connect the way the others did. As a matter of fact, there is no dot in sight.

Here’s the reality: In the real-world, it is your responsibility to create opportunities for yourself.

Most schools do not teach students that the development of a good relationship with the personnel manager of an orchestra can lead to a substitute gig. I landed my first orchestra gig by emailing an introduction and resume to the personnel manager of every orchestra within a 100 mile radius.

When one of them contacted me about needing a last minute sub, I replied to the email within the hour, spent the weekend learning the music, showed up 45 minutes early to the first rehearsal, and played my part.

As soon as I recognized that no one was just going to hand me gigs, I decided to create opportunities for myself and others in my local music community. Having studied conducting in graduate school alongside trumpet, I made the choice to start my own professional music ensemble. Not knowing anything about the business side of music (school only taught me to practice my instrument), I took a risk and threw myself into the deep end, accepting the fact that I would just have to learn as I go.

I founded and now serve as Artistic Director of Elevate Ensemble, an organization that in just two years has developed a loyal fanbase from the coveted 25-35 year old demographic, has a residency at San Francisco State University, and runs a composer-in-residence program that develops sustained relationships between composers and performers.

I got in touch with owners of music shops and school music teachers, offering my services as a trumpet instructor and coach. Those early steps were a tremendous help in building up my private studio. I also took the time to teach myself about the music publishing industry, choosing to self-publish Nielsen Duets, a book of 25 trumpet duet arrangements of piano pieces by Carl Nielsen.

No one should have to enter the post-academia music world without a solid foundational understanding of what it takes to make a living as a musician. There are business principles, communications skills, and teaching strategies that can and must be learned.

Rather than placing exclusive attention on music performance, let’s start preparing our students to recognize and practice the real-world skills that they’ll need in order to become successful musicians.

Chad Goodman is the Artistic Director of Elevate Ensemble. This Spring he will begin visiting universities and conservatories to present his lecture “You Just Earned a Music Degree. Now What?” in which he shares lessons learned about navigating the world as a working musician. For more information, please visit www.ChadGoodmanMusic.com