Arts IRL

 

Background

Over the last 10 years, I’ve enjoyed an exceptional career as a classically trained musician performing in orchestras, movie sound tracks, TV shows, and promotional advertising. In addition to my performance career, I successfully built and managed a private lesson teaching business that I grew from the ground up as a way to put myself through college. Upon auditing for my bachelor’s degree, I was awarded a full-ride scholarship to the Baylor school of music. Four years later, I auditioned for a master’s program in LA and was granted another full-ride scholarship to one of the most prestigious music schools on the west coast – The Colburn School; a conservatory with an acceptance rate of less than 1%. 

Professional musicians are much like athletes. Preparation is everything. In college, my days as a musician were spent practicing 4-6 hours per day during the week. Weekends, we were performing concerts and solo performances for audiences reaching, at times, over 1,000. I spent my evenings developing curriculum for my students and studying recordings of famous orchestral musicians. Occasionally, I took time to roller blade by the beach in Santa Monica. 😉

Shortly after graduate school, my career was ended by a painful shoulder injury. I could no longer bear the weight of my instrument, or so much as lift 5lbs. I was charged with rebuilding my life from the ground up. My resume was completely music related and my knowledge of business and industry specific jobs were next to nothing. I applied to everything under the sun and learned to vouch for my soft skills* in interviews. I learned that businesses (especially in sales) often times look for candidates possessing a combination of 5 things: discipline, patience, time management, resilience, and a team mentality.

I realized that these 5 traits are the very foundation of a successful musician – I just had to learn how to sell my skill set during an interview. For my friends who are looking into careers outside of music, whether it be a part-time job or a full-time job, I’ve outlined the 5 transferable “soft skills” you already have to show your value and WIN THE JOB. 

1, 2. Discipline/Patience

Musicians make good problem solvers. When you’re charged with learning a new piece of music, you have to develop the discipline to pick apart every detail of the music and create long term strategies to solve each challenging passage. We learn to approach a problem from multiple perspectives. We have a sense of patience that enables us to repeat activities over a long period of time without becoming discouraged or losing sight of the long term goal. Sometimes, I would practice the same 2 minute passage for an hour every day, just to solidify a smooth upcoming performance. 

3. Time management

Musicians have the ability to prioritize and use time efficiently. The performing musician must frequently prepare for a concert with inadequate time. We learn to tackle the most challenging passages first to generate the best outcome. We learn to block our time according to energy levels and focus streams. After hours of pouring over the same passage with less than satisfactory results, we learn to move on and come back to it later. 

4. Resilience 

Failure is not just your own when you play in a symphony – a missed cue in the clarinets could result in the debacle of the following flute entrance. If one person has an off day, it is up to the section to uphold the integrity of the music. Disappointment is a daily occurrence in an occupation carved from perfection. Yet, an orchestra is comprised of individuals who prepare so well, that a minor mishap is taught to be an opportunity to thrive in the next moment. Music is fast paced, it is unforgiving, it is soul binding, it is what gives emotion a voice. When charged with such a heavy challenge, once can only experience every present moment as an opportunity to step up to the plate and swing hard every time. 

5. Teamwork 

Outside of individual practice, musicians spend half of the day collaborating with other orchestra members to rehearse symphonies. We spend hours discussing how a phrase should be played or how to blend into each other’s sound, for the enjoyment of the audience. It’s rare to find an individual who possesses the ability to spend hours alone, preparing a product, only to then engage with a room of 80 people to create a unified masterpiece. 

Final

Musicians are an extremely detail oriented, driven, resilient group with time management skills to devote days of preparation to a final product. We are problem solvers, leaders, and listeners. Our empathy is what makes us attuned to human emotion, which leads to successful collaborations with different personality types. Often times in the business world, a degree outside of an MBA is underappreciated due to an assumed “lack of experience” painted on a musician’s resume. A music career should be celebrated, no matter if it resides in the past, present, or future. The dedication to an art requiring such emotional and intellectual energy is unmatched and provides an individual with the capacity to overcome daily challenges in the workplace. 

For my friends who are pursuing jobs outside of music or if you are curious about other industries, please leave me a comment below if you would like to see more content related to finding the right company to work for, how to write a meaningful resume, where to apply, interviewing, etc. I’m happy to share my experiences and offer the knowledge I’ve gained over the past two years from seasoned business colleagues. Cheers!

*Soft Skills – personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively and harmoniously with other people. Dictionary.com