A funny thing happened as I got out of bed this morning. I began to think about some pieces I had composed and produced for my portfolio at Berklee, and it hit me: it’s been 5 years since I walked at that graduation ceremony. 5 years already! So I thought I’d take a moment to reflect on this past half-decade, and to share my experiences so far with the many who have just finished music degrees and are entering the workforce.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aretha Franklin says her bit at the Berklee 2006 commencement after a very inspiring speech by Melissa Ethridge. Both received honorary doctorates that year.

I have to say it’s been a tumultuous, exciting, devastating, joyous, and in general an incredible 5 years, a period which I would say has been marked by incredible personal and musical growth. They say the real learning happens after college, and boy they ain’t kidding.

I didn’t pursue music whole-heartedly after college. In fact, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. The funny thing is that at the time I was upset to learn that it might take 5-10 years to accomplish virtually anything in any career. On top of this, there was student loan debt and the incredible pressure of feeling like I had to decide right away what I planned on doing for the rest of my life. This was hard to stomach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Berklee Commencement 2006. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen more people unsure of their futures in one place before.

Fear has a funny way of clouding our judgement and impairing our decision making. So despite my newly acquired (and very expensive) training I spent little time on music outside of private teaching and occasional gigs as they came my way. After stints in sales and sales management and co-running a small business, I finally snapped out of my funk and realized that my career goals have changed very little since I was a teenager – that deep inside, I really wanted to get advanced degrees in music and teach, compose, perform, produce, and so on. Always have, and damn the musician bug, I probably always will.

If there’s something to be learned, it’s this: all was not lost, and the skills I gained in other fields have helped me tremendously in my music career. Those initial experiences provided me with valuable insight and experience in areas such as effective communication, how to contact “leads” and close “sales” (prospective gigs), as well as some ideas on inspiring and motivating others through study and practice of the subject (I highly suggest reading 100 Ways to Motivate Others by Steve Chandler and Scott Richardson). I learned how to run a business, and there is no bigger truth in the music industry than “you are your own business!”

So have I set the world on fire? Worked on the music for a Hollywood film? Written a McDonalds jingle that will pay me $50,000 this year? Won a Grammy? No. Not yet anyway. However, my career is in full swing: I’m almost done with a master’s degree, have a busy private teaching studio with a multitude of talent, perform with some incredible musicians, and am developing a large and varied body of compositions. For this I am incredibly grateful, as I’ve learned that the journey is to be relished at least as much as the destination. So if it takes me another 5-10 years to take my career to the next level, I welcome it!

To the recent swarm of music school graduates, all I can say to you is just GO FOR IT. Don’t allow your judgement to be clouded by fear or distractions. And if you are still wanting to become a professional musician, don’t become downtrodden by temporary distractions or diversions of your energy and focus. Take everything along the way as a learning experience and figure out how to apply it to your own music careers.