What are the best day jobs for musicians?

If you have to augment your income with non-musical work, there are some day-gigs out there that with a little creativity and the right mind-set, can really pay off

I’ve never met as musician who wanted to have a day job, never. But, for most of us, gold records and stadium gigs are but a dream. Reality is, from time to time, you will have to augment your income with some kind of work that does not involve holding your instrument. Instead of getting bummed out about it, you will fare better by simply finding the day job that is right for you, and make it work for you. Below are a few suggestions. Some may seem obvious or un-desirable. The perfect day job will vary from person to person as much of this has to do with your temperament and personality. No matter what you do, do it with the right attitude, be creative, see is not as a punishment but a means to an end, and make it work for you!

Guitar Teacher – This is an opportunity to start your own business, set your own hours, and set your rates. Most musicians find teaching a very rewarding experience.

Music Retail – This is a great opportunity to network within the business. Many would roll their eyes at working in a music store, but much of this depends obviously on the store and the people you work with. But if you are a real hustler, you can do well with sales, have access to the latest equipment, and (hopefully) deep discounts on the gear you need. You will most often be interacting with other musicians, so you can spend your whole day networking. Talk to people, learn about what’s going on; possible gigs, openings, etc… This is all up to you to make it a great opportunity.

Guitar Product Specialist – This is someone who works for a company that makes guitar products. Let’s say you work for Digitech. The company has come out with a new digital guitar processor. It would be your responsibility to travel to music stores and demo that product. You might also do special in-store clinics to get youn players excited about that product. Of course if you are a great player with serious chops, you will really inspire other players to use this new digital guitar processor. For the right person, this could be an opportunity to travel and meet new people, and show off your own great playing!

Guitar Music Transcriber – Ever notice how many instructional books, CDs and DVDs there are out there that teach you how to play a certain song or songs by a certain guitar player? Well, someone has to transcribe that music. If you stay in school (hint hint) and really build up your ear-training skills, you could be a world-class transcriber. In the process, you would develop a world-class repertoire of songs you know how to play.

Karaoke Production – Before you laugh; I once bumped into a friend who I had not seen in years. I asked him what he had been up to. He told me that he and his partner had started a business producing music for Karaoke companies. The companies tell him what songs they want, and he reproduces vocal-less versions of those songs. They great thing about this gig was that he and his partner set their own hours, and delivered everything their work via Fed-Ex (this was in the pre-internet days, so of course even better, you could probably use FTP to send your finished work over the internet) End result, you can work when it suits you and where you want, not keeping regular hours or having to punch a clock.

Club Date – Wedding Band – Party Band – Again, before you roll your eyes, think about this: Most musicians make between $50 and $150 a night doing gigs, with $150 being the high end of pay for a typical night of playing cover tunes, etc.. in a bar. This is non-union, no Broadway work. Hard to get and low-paying. Well, the first time I did a club-date / Corporate E Vent gig and got paid $500 for 2 hours of work, I was sold. Suddenly my un-realized dreams of playing along-side Jimmy Page at Madison Square Garden didn’t matter so much.

In Summary, Look, We’d all love to be Rock Stars, but very very few get to enjoy that privilege. So, get over it and start making money. There are many many more opportunities for a guitarist to make a living. I struggled at first, not only financially, but also emotionally. I thought certain things weren’t “Cool”. Well, the sooner you get over that, the sooner you can count yourself among those who make their living holding a guitar. There is nothing wrong with having a day-job. We’ve all done it at some point. But if music is what you love, and you would prefer to make 100% of your living playing music, then relax, open up your mind, be flexible, and get ready to hustle. It ain’t gonna be easy, and there is a lot of competition. But if you are smart, hungry, patient, focused and creative, then you can do it. Most important for now is to stay in school and make the most out of your education. So go to a good school, and keep the partying to a minimum. Try and really make those years at school count and you will have the tools you need to be a successful working musician. Good Luck!