What is Music Education For?

If you teach geography, what percentage of your students would go on to be Meteorologists or Geologists? Not many I’d guess. If we used the same logic with teaching music, it begs the question. ‘What is the purposes of teaching music at school? Is it to provide students with an appreciation of music that will enhance their lives in years to come or is it for musically gifted.

What percentage of students in a year group go on to specialise in music?

Here’s my thinking? When I see a U shaped valley or a natural bridge, or a blowhole, my heart soars. What I learnt in Geography becomes very real for me. Maybe that’s what the aim should be when music is taught. It should be to help appreciate, and to provide a deeper level of understanding of music. We may not all go on to be musicians, but music will play an important role in our lives. What do you think?

O-Generator - Trouble - Coldplay - Piano Melody

How Much Does A Musician Earn?

How much does the average musician earn? It’s a strange one. But it’s not something musicians talk openly about. In fact it can be a big bluff. It’s an interesting question, alongside, how do you make a living in music? Here’s a very interesting discussion I had with a pretty successful film composer (out of respect I’ve decided not to divulge his name).

Sibelius Music Software (based in the UK) commissioned me to research a film composition project. This was a whole new world for me.  Sibelius are obviously linked to the great and good in this arena. So I shadowed the film composer during the making of a US/UK movie. The majority of music was written in his beautiful cottage in the heart of quintessential English countryside. This is where we got into the discussion on what it is to make a living in music. This is my interpretation of the theory he had on music earning. It’s totally unscientific, but it got me thinking. 

‘To earn £5000, you could be working part time as a musician, say in a decent covers band that plays regularly. To earn up to £10,000, you would be someone working full time in music, touring and picking up a variety of gigs and sessions, etc. To get to £15,000 - £25,000, you have regular touring (bigger bands), gigs, sessions or are in an orchestra. In the higher tax income bracket £36,000 - £50,000 you are a successful composer, top session player, lead in an orchestra, etc. Over £100,000, well you can take a guess at the musicians and composers in this bracket. But what percentage of the music fraternity would this be. Probably less than 2%.’ 

Now this was based on the fact that we never really talk to one another about how much we earn. So I posed this synopsis to my musician colleagues. Some rubbished it, for some it rang very true. I then received my PRS (Performing Rights Society, UK) magazine, stating that the average earnings of a musician in the UK is £16,000 a year!

So in many ways, the film composer was not a million miles away. But, it made me wonder. If my parents had been told the average wage you earn in the career your son is about to embark on is £16,000, I’m not sure what they would have said. It’s a good job there’s something called ‘passion’ that remains the primary motivating factor to get involved in music in the first place.

Head above Music

Check out what the musicians over at Head above Music think of the O-Generator Acoustic App.
http://tinyurl.com/494hyju

O-Generator - BlackBird - The Beatles - Guitar Melody

Palm Sounds: O-Generator Acoustic Music Maker Review

Palm Sounds: O-Generator Acoustic Music Maker Review

O-Generator - When September Ends - Green Day - Guitar Melody