From music student to professional: the process of transition

Table 6: Skills found to facilitate smooth transition into professional music careers

Skills:

• Versatility

“I had to develop all these things because I ^,ve had to do all these things to make a living.”
(Classical, Portfolio musician)

• Improvisation

“I would probably follow the chord sequence as I’m improvising ... I’m much happier when

...I can just throw the paper away.” (Jazz, Portfolio musician)

• Composition/experimentation

“You kind of start to have, especially ifyou’re into more experimental stuff, you try to have a
personal sound, so you have bits of ideals.” (Jazz, Portfolio musician)

• Ability to memorize

“How can you be a good player but have to delve round in a bag to get the music out?”
(Classical, Portfolio musician)

• Knowledge of repertoire

“I’ve got quite a big repertoire now, so usually I can find things that don’t need too much
work.” (Classical, Portfolio musician)

• Individual practice

“The fundamental thing is practice. IfI haven’t done the practice, I might as well not bother

. this actually gives you the freedom to do your own expression and I think you see that
across all genres.” (Scottish traditional, Portfolio musician)

• Rehearsal with others

“It’s what you do with other musicians. . It’s about bonding on an intuitive level. The
more you do it the better it sounds.” (Popular, Portfolio musician)

• Mental rehearsal

“I’ll be going through things in my head and . I’m practising without even knowing I’m
actually practising.” (Classical, Portfolio musician)

• Stamina

“The work that I do tends to be stamina and strength based.” (Popular, Portfolio musician)

• Pre-concert routines

“So much has to be right when you get up there. they’re trying to create the right conditions
for themselves. It’s an emotional thing, as well as a physical, do the thing.” (Scottish
traditional, Portfolio musician)

• Self-promotion

“You get to know the promoters and they say „oh! yeah, you did a good job for us last year,
so we’d like you to come back this year’.” (Jazz, Portfolio musician)

• Organisation

“There’s a significant amount of logistical organising and to pretend otherwise is a recipe for
disaster.” (Jazz, Portfolio musician)

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