My Dream Job

As assignment from the book I’m reading right now, The Savvy Musician, I’m going to write out my “dream job” or where I’d like to be in 5-10 years.

My dream job would be…

1. Make some money online with eBook sales and writing gigs.
2. Teaching 20-30 hours/week privately or having a full time teaching gig at a university or college. The big factor is that I want to be in a position that I can choose students. I would only teach classical guitar.
3. Play 10-20 concerts/year for a reasonable fee. I want take home more money than I spent on the gig. These would be recital performances, not private parties or weddings. Not that I don’t like doing those things, I do, and I would continue doing them. I just like the idea of learning a concert program and going “on tour” with it.
4. Releasing recordings. I’m not sure that I would charge for recordings. I would probably give away the download for free, but sell CDs at recitals and such.

So what am I doing to accomplish these goals?

Part of my reason for starting The Classical Guitar Blog was that I though it would make me rich. As I got more and more into it, it became a labor of love, and I realized I had a new purpose behind my blogging. To me it’s about building a community, and connecting with other guitarists and classical guitar enthusiasts. If that turns into a meaningful profit someday, I’ll be happy, but it’s not a terribly big deal. The non-monetary compensation I receive for blogging and my online activities in the form of reputation and networking is worth more than any money I could ever make. It’d be great to do something like Matt Warnock does and write for various online and print magazines.

I already teach, and am gaining experience rapidly. One of the big reasons I decided to pursue graduate studies is that it would open up doors to be, at minimum, an adjunct instructor at a college. At best, it could lead to a full time position. That said, it’s not a big deal. There are lots of people who want to learn guitar, and I’m good at getting the best out of my students. I’d just like to be in a position where I have a waiting list and focus mainly on classical guitar instruction.

I’m starting to realize how hard it is to get concerts. Getting my name out there with the blog and other activities will certainly help. I get my first taste of playing “recital” concerts outside of school this coming spring. We’ll see how that goes! At some point, when I have more experience, I’d love to release recordings. Because I believe in transparency, I put my recital videos up on Youtube. That’s the first step, I think.

Posted on September 13, 2009 in Life, Music Business