Since the beginning of May I’ve had a little more time to think and breathe and reflect on my life. And since this week I only have a 4 day work week (thank you summers!) I have even more time. I thought I was busy today because I had students from 10:30 to 8 but I have had plenty of breaks and already did a great workout and practiced some (can’t overdo it as I’m still getting back into shape and my thumb is a little sore.)
I’m not busy though, by any stretch of the imagination. I was able to do a bit of housecleaning as well, and I’ve been working on booking some things for our August trip while I have time now to research.
Normally, as you know, I am busy. And I hear a lot on the internet about how being busy is bad, and I read posts and blogs from other so-called freelancers who tell me I need to say no to more gigs and I need to search within and seek what I really want out of life and cut out the rest. That I should focus all my energy into my absolute goals, which definitely can’t have anything to do with teaching children or being in an orchestra, or any traditional freelancing. And I read these posts and see many people saying in the comments, yes, this is great, this is exactly what new graduates need to hear…and maybe I’m not as busy as I think if I’m reading this junk, BUT…
Nobody told me what to do when I graduated either. I looked around though, and I saw what other people were doing, and I tried to do that, but better, or at least, as good. I networked (that means I tried to be friendly but I also let people know I was seeking work), I practiced (gotta stay in shape, no matter what), and I wasn’t afraid of hard work. In this day and age, if you have bills, if you are actually trying to support yourself as a musician, you have to work a lot. I don’t see anybody telling me another way to do it. All the blogs I mention, the posts on social media, these don’t tell me a way to make enough money to pay bills, to save for a rainy day, to save for retirement. What I do, this pays enough, finally, after years of living here, and before that, what I did in Cleveland paid enough…I’ve definitely made mistakes along the way, but I have had a lot of freelance success, and I hope to continue.
I guess my thoughts are a bit rambled, and since I am a working musician, I won’t spend a lot of time revising this. I am just getting my thoughts down here. Basically I’m saying, take it all into consideration. Listen to a lot of people. But don’t assume you can make a good living without really working hard. And that means that yes, you will take some terrible gigs. But you will also get some wonderful gigs, and sometimes that terrible gig means you meet a person who later gets you a wonderful gig. You will have some terrible students, but you will also have some wonderful students, and if you are lucky, they will all be awesome people and perhaps not always great students. And don’t be afraid to ask people to pay you in advance, and to pay you a little bit more than they are comfortable doing so. And check your email often and be quick to respond to inquiries. And when you do have a gig, show up early and prepared, and be nice.
One of my friends had a quartet gig the other year and she said somebody came up to them (all female group) and said, well, I know you all have rich husbands supporting you. She was insulted, of course, on a variety of levels…but the fact is that some musicians you see out there DO have that. Some have rich parents supporting them. But others are just hustling, working hard, and having to do a bit more to get by. If you are trying to support yourself (and I highly recommend it, as the satisfaction is high), don’t beat yourself up for being tired and busy. Find the quiet time when you can. But work hard, take those gigs, and show up early, well prepared, and always, ALWAYS, with a beautiful sound.
And sometimes, maybe, maybe I work too hard. And sometimes I need to settle for a little less than perfection. And I definitely don’t have all the career answers, and probably in five years I will have a different opinion of this blog post…and maybe I’m being a little mean towards those well meaning people who post things, but I also know how monetizing things works, and that’s another question to ask yourself, if you are a new graduate, ask yourself what is the writer getting out of the blog post? Question things. And work hard. And did I mention, be nice and show up early?
I promise I’m still going to share my Colorado trip. It involves uploading and sorting pictures (so many!) so I’m putting it off until I have a larger chunk of time.
I’m exhausted, but so are so many other people. I’m sometimes frustrated, sometimes exhilarated, and having a good time teaching kids to play the violin (and adults too). I read other people’s advice on how to make it in the music world, and they recommend not doing a lot of things that I’ve done. Maybe I’ll write my own advice book. 
