7 paying gigs for advanced pianists

In a perfect world, those who love to play the piano for other people would make their living from their recordings and from playing high-paying concerts. In the real world, most professional musicians feed themselves and their families through multiple streams of income. In a recent article, “How To Succeed in Music,” I highlighted the advice of nine successful musicians, all of whom found ways to avoid the dreaded “starving artist” trap. In this post I offer concrete ways to make money in music—regardless of where you live.

Before embarking on a career as a professional pianist, it’s important to remember that the first and and most important requirement for “going pro” is to be well-trained, play at a professional level, and to possess a real love for music and the job of sharing it with others. Do your homework at the piano. Pay for those lessons with a qualified teacher. Commit to practicing and continuing education, knowing that this work isn’t just preparation, it’s a way of life that will continue for as long as you play the piano—professional or not. There’s always something new to learn. The best professional pianists know that being a musician is a lifetime of exploration.

The second big prerequisite to being a professional musician is committing to being self-directed and (in most instances) self-employed. Few salaried jobs exist for pianists and those that do are extremely competitive to land. The rest of us piece together a portfolio of income-producing jobs in order to earn a living wage. Here are 7 paying gigs that are likely to be available to pianists no matter where they live.

Piano teaching

The majority of professional pianists teach lessons. Whether it be through a school or private instruction, teaching is a wonderful way to pass along our love of music to new generations of pianists. An added bonus is schedule flexibility, which allows teachers to accept other paid work in addition to their lessons.

The popularity of piano lessons makes it easy for teachers to attract students and build a lucrative studio. Unfortunately, lack of regulation (at least in the US) means that there are many unqualified teachers taking money from unsuspecting people in exchange for shoddy instruction. Don’t be one of these teachers. Study with a master instructor, join a professional organization, and commit to proper training before you start your studio.  In the US, the premier professional organization for independent music teachers is MTNA. In the UK, it’s ABRSM. In Canada, it’s RCM. In other words, each country has a professional organization that’s easily accessed through a little online research. These associations offer invaluable training for people hoping to teach piano.

Collaborative Pianist

Pianists who are willing to accompany other musicians are in demand everywhere. Instrumental soloists and singers need pianists, and frequently these jobs can be accessed through local high schools and colleges. Private voice and instrumental teachers are also excellent places to find work as a collaborative pianist and most music teachers are thrilled to have another pianist who is willing to accompany their students and (at times) themselves.

Collaborative pianists need to possess several important skills in order to be successful: 1) they must be solid sight-readers; 2) they need to know how to follow a soloist; 3) they need to be flexible; 4) they need to possess calm personalities and get along easily with other people.

If you are new to playing collaborative piano, my post How to accompany a soloist covers the basics of working with singers and instrumentalists. Collaborative pianists of all levels of experience will benefit from the wisdom pianist Chris Foley shares on his long-running blog, The Collaborative Piano Blog.

Wedding Pianist

Regardless of where you live, people still get married and many of them choose to hire pianists to play for the ceremony. Weddings are mostly seasonal work with the bulk of them occurring over the summer months. Once a pianist has a reputation for being a reliable wedding musician it’s not difficult to book one or more nuptials per weekend. I’ve outlined the joys and the challenges of this kind of work in my post How to play piano for a wedding.

Church Pianist

For pianists hoping to find steady, salaried work, there are few positions more reliable than being a church pianist. Advanced pianists who work well with others and are sensitive to the spiritual leanings of their congregation can enjoy lifelong work in this capacity, and they soon find that their presence at the piano each week leads to other opportunities such as playing for weddings or teaching students. I outlined the personal and professional things pianists need to know about playing in churches in this post: How to be a church pianist.

Restaurant Pianist

Restaurants, hotels, wineries, corporate parties, events—all of these things offer income opportunities for pianists. Enterprising pianists who possess a flair and the passion for this work—as well as their own keyboards—can manufacture gigs for themselves in places that perhaps haven’t featured musicians. I’ve shared tips on how to be successful in this job in How to play the piano in a restaurant.

Community Choir Pianist

Does your city have a community choir or two? If so, this is a possible source of income for pianists who enjoy playing vocal parts, can play open score, and work well with other musicians. For more about what’s required for this job, read How to accompany a choir.

Musical Theater Pianist

There are few groups of people more fun than a room full of actors, and every amateur or school theatrical group needs a pianist if they choose to do musicals. Being a musical theater pianist requires a lot of patience, a sense of humor, comfort reading open score, and the ability to improvise and transpose when needed. Pianists who do this work must also commit to learning the script, doing whatever the director asks in rehearsals, and supporting the actors even when they stray from the script.

Years ago I wrote an article for American Music Teacher about teaching piano students to play for musical theater productions. The advice also applies to adult pianists looking to break into this kind of work. You can find the article here: The Pit: teaching instrumental students to play musical theater.

Photo by Jason Leung, courtesy of UpSplash