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MUSIC CAREER GUIDE 2020/2021 Every little thing gonna be alright Music2 Success at School is a national careers website for students aged 11-19, as well as their teachers, careers advisors, parents and other influencers. Young people can learn about their future career options through no-nonsense careers advice related to their own experiences. As well as covering topics such as career paths, industries, apprenticeships, university and employability skills, we connect schools and students to employers and universities through opportunities on our site and our interactive forums. Millions of young people and their influencers have visited our site for advice and information to help them plan for the future. Go to successatschool.org for more information. Copyright Success at School Ltd 2020 AboutSuccess at School3 MUSIC CAREER GUIDE 05 What is music? 06 How will music prepare me for work? 10 Should I choose music? 12 T-levels Contents 15 Why work experience matters 18 How to future-proof your career 14 Job roles 30 Everything you need to know about gap years 20 Spotlight job 32 University 22 Interviews 26 Apprenticeships 34 Your action plan4 Music is all around us. It’s on the radio, in shops, on TV, in films and in clubs, concert halls and theatres. It’s a really important part of all our lives – and studying music can open up a wide variety of careers in the composition, performance, recording and distribution of this music. As well as pointing to many different career paths, it can also equip you with important transferable skills, including the ability to listen, cooperate, think creatively and perform to an audience. Becoming a performing musician isn’t an easy path and requires dedication, focus and determination. It can also be more like a lifestyle choice than simply a career path. However, studying music can lead to much more than just being a performer – in fact, performers often have other strands to their career including teaching, examining, recording or writing about music. It can also be something you do alongside other subjects and can lead to a lifelong appreciation of and engagement with your favourite types of music. If you have your sights set on a career in music, you need to decide whether to pursue it at music college, university or further education college. You will also need to find an institution or course that caters to the kind of music you’re interested in. The transferable skills you pick up in music can also help you in any career – with teamwork, presentation and creativity highly sought-after by employers across industries. It can be hugely rewarding to turn your passion for music into a career and, with energy and determination, it is possible! Emily Ashton Classical musician Fretwork Viol Consort Foreword5 Music is everywhere. You hear it in nature in birdsong. Throughout history, people have used music and songs to tell stories and pass on knowledge. We use music to entertain, to help us relax and to evoke emotions. Music isn’t just your favourite artists on Spotify or the radio. It’s the soundtrack to films and TV shows. It’s an integral part of advertising. It’s a form of expression. Studying music is about far more than learning to play an instrument, although that is useful. It’s about understanding all the elements that go into a composition. It also explores performance and how you can use music in a variety of ways. You’ll learn to analyse music and uncover the social context in which it was written. A session musician will play an instrument for different artists, while a songwriter will use their understanding of music to write captivating tunes. There are also technical roles in music, such as sound engineers who make sure musicians sound their best in the studio or on stage. You can also use your skills outside of music. A special effects technician uses their knowledge of sound to create audio and visual effects for video games, movies and TV. Historians may refer to the music or songs from a particular historical period to understand more about what society was like. What is music?6 5 workplace skills you’ll learn in music Analysis In class: You’ll analyse music across a variety of genres. You’ll need to consider pieces based on their musical elements, the musical context and the musical language. You’ll form judgements about the music you listen to based on your analysis. At work: Analytical thinking is sought after in many jobs. An accountant will need to analyse figures and complex financial information to make sure everything is in order. Market research analysts use the data they collect to make recommendations about the best way to market a product or business. How will music prepare me for work? Composition In class: You’ll learn how to develop your musical ideas into well-rounded musical pieces. As well as using instruments, you can compose using digital technology. You’ll learn how to bring different elements together to create music to fit a brief and you’ll compose a piece without any direction. At work: A DJ will bring together different pieces of music and blend them into a seamless set. A festival organiser needs to think about how different artists will complement each other on a line up. Music editors work on films and TV shows to develop the soundtrack that sets the mood of the finished production. They work with the composer to make sure the music sets the right tone. Creativity In class: You’ll be encouraged to use your creativity to write your own pieces of music. You’ll also need to think about how you can take an innovative approach to performing well-known songs or pieces to make them your own. At work: Creativity is useful in many jobs. If you’re a digital marketer you’ll need to create campaigns that stand out and attract people’s attention. If you teach a musical instrument, you’ll need to come up with different ways of teaching skills to suit different students. Listening In class: When you appraise music, you’ll practise attentive listening and aural perception. You’ll learn to distinguish between the different elements of a piece. You’ll need to talk about what you hear with others in your class too and listen to their views. At work: Being able to listen closely is essential in many jobs. A counsellor will need to listen attentively to their patients. A salesperson needs to listen to the needs of the customer or business they’re selling to and adapt their offering accordingly. Teamwork In class: You’ll explore playing music as part of a group or ensemble. You’ll talk and share your creative ideas. When you’re playing music you need to listen carefully to what everyone else is doing and respond accordingly. At work: Most jobs involve being part of a team. If you work as a marketing assistant, you’ll share ideas about how to run campaigns with the rest of your team. As a construction engineer, you’ll be part of a big team working on a single project. Communicating clearly is essential to make sure everyone knows what they need to do and when.MUSIC CAREER GUIDE ...and 2 you may not have thought of Concentration In class: Playing an instrument requires concentration. You’ll need to put in hours of practice to develop your skills. When you’re editing digital music, you need to listen carefully and pay close attention to all the elements to make sure they work as one. At work: There are times in many jobs when you need to concentrate. A surgeon has to be incredibly focused when they’re in the operating theatre. An analytical chemist needs to concentrate when they’re performing experiments to make them as precise as possible. Presentation In class: You’ll perform your music and compositions in front of others. You will also have to prepare a programme note for each of your compositions, explaining your intention and what techniques and tools you used to create your composition. At work: Presenting to other people is an essential skill in many jobs. Environmental scientists sometimes need to present their work and findings at conferences of their peers. They’ll often prepare explanatory material to hand out too. Business development managers need to pitch to clients for new business and clearly explain the benefits of choosing their company. 78 Learn about the elements of expressive control within a musical performance. These include tempo, dynamics, phrasing and articulation. Where you produce music using digital tools, they also include a choice of timbres and dynamic processing such as compression and EQ. Expressing emotion through your voice is important in many jobs. If you’re a politician you need to understand how to pace a speech and control your voice. Actors also benefit from this kind of knowledge to allow them to tailor their performances to different scripts. KnowledgeHow will it help me at work? Develop detailed knowledge of the western classical tradition of music. This will involve looking at the works of famous composers such as Mozart, Chopin and Brahms. You’ll listen to and evaluate pieces across 3 main genres: baroque, classical and romantic. You’ll learn to identify the different elements that make up solo concertos, operas and piano music. If you play a classical instrument you will need to know about different styles of classical music and how to play them if you have ambitions of performing as part of an orchestra. Orchestra conductors, meanwhile, need to understand every element of each piece of music to direct the musicians in their performance. Understand the historical, social and cultural contexts in which music is created and performed. Explore how this has evolved over time. As well as the music itself, you’ll learn about different performance venues and how music can influence an audience. Music is an important part of our culture and can teach us about society and events from the past. A music librarian will organise, catalogue and preserve collections of music. This can include recordings and sheet music. Understanding the cultural, historical and social contexts of music is essential for a film or TV score writer who creates scores for movies or shows, particularly those set in specific historical periods. 5 ways your music know-how will help you at work9 MUSIC CAREER GUIDE Explore what musical elements are commonly used in pop music, as well as how musicians within this genre use them to create catchy and successful tunes. You’ll evaluate songs from artists such as Beyoncé, Stevie Wonder and Muse. You’ll need to know about musical elements including sonority, timbre, harmony, melody and structure. If you go on to become a music critic or music journalist, you need to be able to listen to the latest releases and understand them on a deeper level. You’ll need to compare artists, as well as identify musical elements that particularly stand out in songs. A booking agent might work for a venue or festival organiser. They need to pick out the most exciting artists to perform and will need a thorough understanding of pop music. KnowledgeHow will it help me at work? You’ll learn to read and write music. This is known as staff notation. You’ll also learn about chords and the associated chord symbols that are used in written music. You’ll also need to provide a staff noted sheet for your composition as part of the programme note you submit with your recording. Any musician will benefit from being able to read sheet music. But being able to learn to read a different language is useful in a variety of jobs. Video game developers need to learn to read and write in various programming languages. People in roles like international aid workers will benefit from having the skills to learn the basics of new languages quickly.Next >