Piano work is one of the dreams that anyone who loves the piano should have at least once in their dreams.
However, the reality is that there are only a handful of people who make a living as pianists. Although you may see famous people doing it on TV or YouTube, very few people actually try it. Also, even if your child dreams of a career in piano, many parents may not be able to wholeheartedly support their child due to income and stability concerns.
However, there are actually many piano-related jobs, and some of them are quite realistic . Piano work is very attractive if you like the piano because you can earn money while doing what you love, and you can also make the people listening to it happy.
Since music has no language, anyone around the world can enjoy it, and the piano is one of the most popular musical instruments. If you become famous for your piano-related work, you can be successful in any job you want in the world .
This time, we will introduce nine professions related to piano, their stability, average annual income, difficulty level, and charm.
Occupations related to piano
From here, I will explain the professions related to the piano and their characteristics. We also evaluate income, stability, and difficulty on a three-level scale. I will introduce nine professions here, but there are actually many more. Find a job that matches your dreams and goals.
(Explanation of ★☆ mark)
Income amount: The more ★, the more income
Stability: The more ★ there are, the more stable it is.
Difficulty: The more ★ there are, the more difficult it is.
①Concert pianist
Income amount: ★★★
Stability: ★★☆
Difficulty: ★★★
First of all, everyone dreams of making a living by hosting concerts. He is what many people think of as a professional pianist. Some people work as individuals, while others belong to an agency such as a band and receive a salary (remuneration).
income
The average annual salary for a concert pianist is approximately 6.5 million yen in Japan, approximately 9.5 million yen in the United States, and approximately 8 million yen in Europe (as of July 2022), making it a profession where you can expect a fairly high income . You can earn more than in many professions that you can only get after studying hard (such as pharmacist or veterinarian). In fact, famous people easily have annual incomes of over 100 million yen.
stability
In order to earn a stable income as a concert pianist, you need not only the skill to play the piano, but also popularity and achievements Anyone can hold a concert, but if many people don't come, you'll end up in the red. Unless you increase your fan base by increasing your fan base by winning prizes in competitions, appearing on social media and TV, or steadily gaining good reviews at small concerts, it will be difficult to make a stable living just by doing this. Probably.
However, on the other hand, once you get on the wave, you can continue to earn a stable income regardless of your age . One of the characteristics is that there are many people who are very active even in their old age. One of the attractions of my job is that, unlike regular athletes, I can be active as a professional for a long time.
difficulty
a difficult job that requires someone with excellent skills, a passion for music and the piano, and a track record of winning prizes in competitions . If I were to give you a sports analogy, it would be a professional baseball player. There are many young baseball players all over the country, but only a small number of them become professionals. Achieving this requires extraordinary effort and talent.
②Event pianist
Income amount: ★★☆
Stability: ★☆☆
Difficulty: ★★☆
Next, I am an event pianist who performs at weddings, parties, hotels, cruise ships, etc. Some people are employed by hotels and other companies and receive a salary, while others work as freelancers.
income
The annual income of an event pianist depends on how much work you can do (or whether there is a demand for it), so it's hard to know. It seems that there are many people whose annual income easily exceeds 10 million yen, but the average is 3 million yen to 4 million yen. slightly lower than the average annual salary of a salaried worker .
The hourly wage is often quite high, exceeding 10,000 yen, but it requires practice time to get involved. Also, depending on the event, you may need to spend money to prepare appropriate costumes.
stability
Event pianists have a lot of work to do, for example, on weekends and holidays when there are many events such as weddings, and around Christmas when there are many events, and they don't have much work to do during the daytime on other weekdays. For this reason, many people who work freelance work part-time . The reality is that unless you are employed by a company that plans events, a wedding hall, a hotel, etc. and receive a salary, it is not a very stable job.
difficulty
Compared to concert pianists, event pianists do not require as much outstanding skill, so a relatively easy job to get a job as . It is not necessarily necessary to win a prize at a competition or get good grades at a high-level music school. Of course, some level of piano playing skills are required.
③Piano teacher
Income amount: ★☆☆～★★★
Stability: ★★☆～★★★
Difficulty: ★☆☆～★★★
Piano teacher is one of the most popular piano jobs. At the same time, an important job to pass down the piano to the next generation .
Some people teach piano at universities or music schools, while others open their own classrooms and teach.
Piano teachers differ greatly in their characteristics, with those teaching for beginners to intermediate players and those teaching advanced to professionals.
income
One is that there is a big difference in income. Naturally, teachers who teach high-level students earn more . On average, teachers who teach beginners to intermediate piano players earn between 2 million and 3 million yen per year, while teachers who teach advanced players at music schools (university piano majors) generally earn more than 6 million yen. If you are a piano teacher for beginners, it may be a little difficult to make a living from this alone.
stability
Another difference is stability. In the case of teachers for advanced to professional students, the stability is relatively high, as they either belong to a school or work exclusively with someone to teach. On the other hand, if you are a teacher for beginners to intermediate students, there are many teachers and classrooms doing the same thing, so competition is fierce, and if you can't attract students, it will be difficult to make an income. In particular, there are many piano beginners who get frustrated and quit, so it is a pain that even once we have a group of students, it is not stable.
difficulty
Finally, the difficulty of becoming a piano teacher is also different. If you want to teach beginners to intermediate players, you can do it if you have piano skills at or above the intermediate level, so it is a relatively easy job to get into. On the other hand, when teaching advanced to professional students, it is very difficult because you need to have professional-level skills or the sensitivity appropriate to that level.
For teachers who teach "beginners to intermediate players", lessons are generally held on weekday evenings or on Saturdays and Sundays, so they may teach classes while working as a housewife (househusband) or engage in other music activities such as composing music or being an event pianist. There are many people who work while doing other jobs, such as childcare workers, or other jobs such as childcare workers. If you look at it from a different perspective, one of my characteristics is that I have a lot of free time.
skills to teach others '' and ``skills to find out what's working and what's not' ' are more important than ``skills for playing the piano.'' Those who aim to become piano teachers should train to communicate well with people they dislike or are not good at, as well as listen to the performances of people who are worse than them and think about what they can improve on. Let's do it now.
④Music therapist
Income amount: ★☆☆
Stability: ★★☆
Difficulty: ★★☆
If you are interested in the ``power of music to affect emotions and the mind'' or ``healing music,'' becoming a music therapist is the perfect career for you.
This may be a job that you are not used to hearing about. As the name suggests, a music therapist a person who uses music in medical and welfare settings . I play the piano or compose music myself, and I play it to people with disabilities, the elderly, and children, helping them to rehabilitate their minds and relieve stress.
income
of a music therapist is not high . The average salary is said to be 2 to 3 million yen, and it may be difficult to make a living from this alone. Of course, if you become a top-notch music therapist or become a member of a major medical corporation, you can earn more than twice the average salary. However, overall income is low.
stability
This is a job that is active in the medical and welfare fields, so once you get the job, it is relatively stable. Demand for music therapy is particularly high in Japan, where there are many elderly people, so it may not be an industry that will go out of business.
On the other hand, the reality is that many nursing homes are playing pre-made healing music from speakers. Music therapists are not often needed in these nursing homes. As a result, there are extremely few job openings compared to the demand for music If anything, it may be more realistic to distribute the songs you perform or compose on YouTube, Spotify, etc. and receive copyright and advertising revenue. Of course, only a handful of people succeed in this, so it is still a rather difficult job.
difficulty
Music therapist is a private qualification, not a national qualification (though efforts are being made to convert it to a national qualification). Therefore, at present, anyone can apply as a music therapist even if they do not have any qualifications, and anyone with a certain level of piano skills, knowledge, and musicality can work as a music therapist. However, as mentioned in the "Stability" section, there are few job openings, so as a result, the difficulty level is a little high. Of course, there are many jobs that you can get if you have a qualification, but you need to be careful because in order to obtain a qualification, you not only have to pass an exam, but you also need to attend a specific school.
If you would like to know more about the qualifications of a music therapist, please check the website of the Japanese Music Therapy Society.
Japan is an aging society with a low birthrate, so the proportion of elderly people will continue to increase. In other words, there is still room for demand for music therapy to grow. It is quite possible that music therapy will become more widespread in society in the future, and that the value of live piano performances will increase. I personally think that the income, stability, and difficulty of finding a job as a music therapist will continue to improve, making it a job with a bright future
⑤Piano tuner
Income amount: ★☆☆
Stability: ★★☆
Difficulty: ★★☆
Although many people now play using electronic pianos or keyboards, there are still acoustic pianos out there and they are still being manufactured. the piano .
Although my work is not directly related to piano skills, I often try playing the piano to check its condition during tuning. You can make full use of the sensations you develop in your fingers through piano practice.
Some piano tuners work as individuals, but many are affiliated with musical instrument stores or instrument manufacturing companies. A tuner I know runs his own small musical instrument store and also does tuning work.
income
The annual income of a piano tuner is between 2 million and 8 million yen, with the average being around 3 million yen, which is slightly less than the average annual income of a salaried worker. If you just look at it, it doesn't look too bad.
However, in reality, it is rare for people to make a living solely from piano tuning, and most people also do other jobs at the same time . Of course, there are those who work individually as well as those who belong to a company. In addition to selling musical instruments, I also run piano classes, and am involved in the planning and production of new musical instruments.While I am involved in tuning, I also do other music-related work.
The average price for a piano tuning is about 20,000 yen. The work takes less than 3 hours, so the hourly wage is quite high. However, piano tuning is only done once a year (even for those who are conscious about it), so it's not like they have to do it every day. Therefore, the reality is that the annual income from just piano tuning is quite low.
stability
Piano tuning is so-called maintenance, so you will receive work from the same customer on a regular basis. Therefore, as long as you can build a relationship of trust with your customers, it is a fairly stable job in the long run . In some cases, we may work exclusively with a professional pianist.
However, due to price competition and the entry of major manufacturers, the reality is that it is difficult to acquire new customers if you start your own tuning business. For this reason, it is common for someone to sell musical instruments while also taking on the maintenance of the pianos they purchase.
difficulty
Piano tuner is a job that requires a national qualification, so in order to do this job, it is essential to pass a national exam. However, even though it is a national qualification, it is not extremely difficult. There are grades 1 to 3, so you can take the exam in stages.
By the way, perfect pitch is not required. Tuning is done using equipment such as a tuner, so even if you don't have perfect pitch, you can aim for it with confidence.
⑥Session pianist (studio musician)
Income amount: ★☆☆
Stability: ★☆☆
Difficulty: ★☆☆
A session pianist is an occupation that often performs primarily as an assistant. Even in bands without a pianist (keyboardist), there are quite a lot of songs that have a piano playing in the background. You receive compensation for recording such songs and appearing in live performances. Although he is similar to an event pianist, he is a little different in the sense that he plays a set score in harmony with the surrounding music (he does not play in a noticeable way).
Session pianists generally work independently without being affiliated with any organization. Some artists may belong to a major music agency and work as assistants to other artists belonging to the same agency.
income
Although the annual income as a session pianist varies from 1 million yen to 4 million yen, it is generally a relatively low annual income .
The average price for a single event is 5,000 to 20,000 yen, and prices for live performances by popular artists are even higher. Your income will increase depending on the amount of work you receive, but the demand is not so great that you can do many jobs every day. Therefore, the reality is that many people work as session pianists as an extension of their hobby from time to time, while usually working at another job.
stability
There are many people who do this as a hobby, not just those who do it full-time, so competition is fierce and demand is high. There are not many jobs available, especially in rural areas, and many people work in urban areas. Artists go in and out of fashion rapidly, so even if you are able to work exclusively with a popular artist, it is a pain that it is never stable
difficulty
Anyone with at least intermediate piano skills can become a session pianist. There are no special requirements for excellent musicality or compositional sense, and the difficulty level of becoming a session pianist is generally low.
Of course, competition is fierce, so whether or not you actually get the job is another matter. If you don't have any connections, you will be competing with other session pianists just by playing the piano, so it will be relatively difficult. Also, it is important to note that younger people are more likely to be hired because they often appear in public as performers.
⑦YouTuber (SNS performer)
Income amount: ★☆☆～★★★
Stability: ★☆☆～★★☆
Difficulty: ★☆☆～★★★
What has become popular in recent years is the ability to earn advertising revenue by distributing videos of your own performance on video sites such as YouTube. I'm sure many of you know several pianists who are active as YouTubers.
There are various services other than YouTube for video distribution, but here we will explain using YouTube as a premise.
income
As you know, there is a huge difference in annual income as a YouTuber, so it is difficult to generalize.
There are people who earn more than a few million yen every month, and there are many people who post a lot of videos but are unable to monetize their videos and earn zero yen.。
Generally speaking, in addition to income from video advertisements, YouTubers also receive opportunities from companies to create videos (for example, product introductions), which can generate income. However, in the field of piano, there are very few such projects worldwide. Instead, you may receive other offers other than videos, such as appearing on TV or appearing in commercials. Of course, only a handful of people get these jobs, so don't get your hopes up.
stability
YouTube has a channel subscription function, so if you increase the number of fans who subscribe to your channel, you can earn a certain amount of stable income.
However, just like TV talent, fashions come and go. There are many piano YouTubers whose recent videos have few views compared to the number of subscribers, so not a stable job in the long run.
difficulty
Anyone can debut as a YouTuber as long as they have a piano and equipment for streaming and recording. great thing about piano YouTubers is that they can be active without showing their faces by only showing their hands and keys (Of course, the more famous people are shown, the more their faces are shown.)
extremely difficult to earn enough money to live on this job alone . An unknown person will not suddenly have 1 million subscribers. No matter how good your technique or musicality is, you need to continue to stream steadily and steadily .
it takes more than a year to start making your first income from YouTube In other words, I have to continue distributing videos as a volunteer with no income for one year. If you are a student who has time until you get a job, or someone who plays the piano as an extension of your hobby, and you aspire to become a YouTuber, it would be wise to start playing now. The important thing for YouTubers is to continue streaming. Even if you don't earn as much as you expected, have a strong will to accept the results and continue streaming.
⑧Composer (arranger)
Income amount: ★★☆～★★★
Stability: ★★☆～★★★
Difficulty: ★★☆～★★★
I am a composer who creates music of various genres.
At first glance, it may not seem to be directly related to the piano, but many composers have experience with the piano or guitar. Practicing the piano also lays the foundation for becoming a composer .
Some composers work for music agencies, while others work as freelancers. Of course, there are many people who initially work for a company and then become freelance after gaining experience.
income
Composers' incomes are relatively high among music-related jobs.
If you work for a music agency, you can earn about the average annual salary of a salaried worker (approximately 4 million yen), and if you work as a freelancer, you can earn more than the average annual salary of a salaried worker.
When I compose a song for a company, etc., it often costs more than 100,000 yen for one song, and if I have my own style to some extent or if the project is easy to express with my own sensibilities, , you can compose music without spending much time. This means you can earn a lot of money in a short amount of time .
In the case of composing music such as Pop songs, the main source of income is not from direct composing income, but from royalties that are earned little by little each time the song is used. However, in the case of arranging songs such as Pop music, direct compensation is often paid.
stability
In fact, there is more demand for music composition than most people think . In addition to songs with songs, unique music is all around us, such as music used in corporate promotional videos, theme songs for shopping malls, and in-store BGM at restaurants. Of course, if an individual has a track record or is well known, the stability will be higher.
Another feature of our work is that we receive many repeat projects From a company's perspective, they would like to avoid changing the company's image by changing composers. Therefore, if we are provided with a song that we are satisfied with to some extent, we will want to ask the same person to compose it next time. From the composer's perspective, they can receive stable requests for work.
job stability is quite high in terms of high demand and high repeat rate .
However, one thing that concerns me is that the quality of songs created by AI is increasing year by year. At the moment, it is still not as good as the music composed by humans, but in the future, AI may gradually take away jobs and the stability of work may decline.
difficulty
When you hear the word ``composer,'' you may have the image of ``a difficult job that only highly sensitive and talented people can do.''
This half correct and half wrong .
There are rules in music such as ``If you combine this sound with this sound, you will feel good when listening to it,'' or ``If you listen to this sound after this sound, you will feel safe.'' Most of the time, these rules are true. We will create a song by combining them. For example, it's like putting together a puzzle . Based on this puzzle, I will express my own sensibilities and images in a song. Although there are some people who can create music using only their senses, most people create music based on knowledge of this law.
Even if you don't have a particularly good sensibility or sense of composition, anyone can compose music if they study the laws of music (music theory) thoroughly. Music theory is explained in many books sold at bookstores and on the internet. You can acquire knowledge without attending a specialized school.
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