Equipping musicians for professional success

Flexibility in style and genre is essential to making music your profession.
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Music is a fulfilling profession. It has enabled me to immerse myself in many creative projects, to draw an income with which to provide for my growing family and to work within an environment where learning, practising, and future development and exploration always exists.

If asked how to achieve this, my reply would be to focus on the need to develop a variety of particular skills. This can be a potentially contentious issue, as creative projects are often seen as the core of a “real” musician. The balance is to nurture a portfolio of skill-sets that enhance musicianship and commercialisation, in that musicians need to keep pace with the changing musical culture to ensure viability within the Australian market in the 21st century.

For a musician today and tomorrow, specialisation is more than proficiency of an instrument(s) or one style of music. Skills need to be enhanced through being cognisant of many different styles of music, have substantial ear-training and improvisation comprehension, and the embrace technology. An equipped musician needs to ‘strive’ to hear and have the ability to understand what is heard. Of course this is a huge challenge but a challenge that gives the musician more freedom and knowledge to express themselves.

Why does this ‘knowledge’ help with music in the 21st century? I believe music that is played or reproduced from past periods of time, can be performed with new interpretations that give the music new energy and not just be played strictly as it has been played in the past. Music needs to be infused with researched influences of today so the music can develop. Furthermore, musicians today have the opportunity to develop styles such as swing and improvisation skills of jazz, the phrasing of classical music, melodic and rhythmic characteristics of Brazilian Choro or the modal and rhythmic characteristics of Indian music.

The advent of technology within the music realm has had both positive and questionable repercussions. While the computer has taken over some roles once played by musicians (such as performance) it has opened up many opportunities for employment and artistic outcomes. Music technology now inhabits our lives whether on the television, radio, online, live music, background music or even ringtones. For the 21st century musician to utilise these mediums there is a need to understand technology using music notation software programs such as Sibelius or Finale and recording software programs such as Protools, Logic or Cubase.

Diversity in music education was evidenced to me recently when chatting to a well-known Melbourne musician who described the piano and voice lessons his daughter was receiving. The focus was based on learning songs as a strategy for developing aural skills, understanding diatonic harmony and improvisation while still enjoying a musical outcome. Over a 2 month period the young girl had learnt 4 chords as a basic understanding of diatonic harmony  (I vi  IV V chords). As a result she could accompany herself on over 20 songs that she had ‘worked out’ from listening to the radio and CDs; she understood the fact that musical (diatonic) formulas are inherent in many popular songs. This knowledge inspired her to learn more chords, more repertoire and further developed her skills in improvisation and composition. At the same time this young girl was learning to read music by playing classical piano repertoire and entering AMEB exams (Australian Music Examination Board).

At the 2012 Melbourne Festival, which was sponsored in part by Monash University, I had the opportunity to hear and perform with American violinist Tim Fain. Fain’s skill-set, diversity and ability to perform at the highest level illustrated a musician I believe to be an excellent example of the 21st musician. This was demonstrated admirably through his performances of Portals for violin, computer music and visuals named. His other concert at the festival was with students and staff from the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music – Monash University. This program included classical compositions from the eighteenth and 20th centuries, improvisations over an Indian Raga, improvisations over a pop tune by Sting (Police) and a jazz-influenced composition by Australian musician and Monash University staff member – Jordan Murray. Tim Fain performed at an informed and high standard on each style of music but importantly, bought flexibility and vitality to his interpretation of each of these diverse styles.

Finally, the key for the 21st century musician is to have flexibility and be able to adapt to the changing face of music and technology.

Robert Burke
About the Author
Robert Burke is Head of the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music at Monash University and a successful jazz performer.