Welcome to Living Pianos, Robert Estrin here providing ways you can make money playing the piano. Can you make a living playing the piano? Did you know that there are tens of millions of piano students in China alone? And there are countless pianists in the entire world. However:
There are only around 200 pianists performing internationally in the great concert halls around the world.
There are close to 1,800 higher education schools granting music degrees in the United States alone. And each of these has piano majors graduating, hoping to become concert pianists. You might be discouraged by the whole idea of making a living as a pianist, but hang on a minute, because:
There are many ways to make a living playing the piano.
You’ll find that most people today who are making a living with the piano are people who are highly creative, not just in their art of playing the instrument but in their whole approach to how they bring the piano to people. After all, the piano has been around for centuries. It took hundreds of years for the piano to develop, but it’s been in its modern form since the latter part of the 1800s. Naturally, in that time period, there were some phenomenal pianists, from Liszt to Chopin and so many more.
In the early 20th century, the piano was the de facto home entertainment system in the United States!
The piano was tremendous, but it’s been on the decline, particularly in the United States, for over 100 years now. In China, the piano is really huge. There are hundreds of companies making pianos. And, as I said, there are about 40 or 50 million piano students in China! So at least in one part of the world, piano has risen in popularity. But let’s get back to how you can make money with the piano. There are many different ways. Obviously, playing solo piano concerts is tough. If you’re creative and you can figure out local series and what they’re looking for, you might just be able to find some possibilities for performing solo piano concerts. That is great because you are able to hone your craft and exploit what you’ve been trained for and spent your whole life lovingly working on.
Accompanying other musicians and collaborative playing in general can be richly rewarding.
There is some phenomenal chamber music repertoire for piano quartet or quintet. I was able to perform the Schumann Piano Quintet a couple of years ago. It’s a great piece. There are also great works by Brahms and Dvořák. There’s just spectacular music, and it’s quite an art form! It almost sounds like an orchestra because you have the string quartet plus a piano. It is one of the greatest ensembles, if you haven’t explored it. And there are many other opportunities for collaboration.
Almost all violin and cello solo music has piano parts that are fundamental to the works.
There is some great solo music for strings, by Bach in particular. Paganini and other composers did write solo music for violin and cello. But the vast majority of solo music for strings has integral piano parts that can be as demanding or even more demanding and intrinsic than the string parts. It can be a richly rewarding experience to accompany a soloist. But it’s not just string players. Virtually every orchestral instrument that has solo music, the vast majority of it is collaboration with the piano. Because of this, people are always looking for pianists. It can be a daunting task to think of all the music you have to learn. You might consider specializing. Maybe you’ll just learn a lot of vocal accompaniments. Maybe you’ll specialize in opera accompaniments or art songs. Maybe you played clarinet and are familiar with the literature, so you could specialize in learning accompaniments to clarinet music. You will find that virtually all instruments are looking for pianists to play their music with. So this is a great possibility!
What other possibilities are there in regards to performing?
There are other opportunities, whether it’s a musical theater production looking for somebody to play keyboard parts or rock bands, folk, country, or what have you. There are dance companies and schools that need pianists for rehearsals and performances. There are many different performing opportunities if you are versatile. Expanding the styles that you are comfortable with makes you much more marketable. This can provide you with more opportunities to play the piano.
Playing at church or in other places of worship can offer rich opportunities for musical collaboration.
There is a vibrant in-home concert scene in many communities in which people with good pianos in large enough homes host concerts and offer refreshments. Audience members all pay a fee to the artist. This provides important performing opportunities for musicians while enriching the lives of the people in the community. If you are creative, you may be able to work out musical programs in nursing homes or private schools offering a valuable experience for people of all ages.
Composers are always looking for opportunities to have their music performed.
Teaching is a tremendous way to share your craft.
You don’t necessarily have to get an advanced degree to teach piano. If you want to teach at the university or college level, a master’s degree is a prerequisite these days. A doctorate degree is very helpful because there are hundreds, if not thousands, of piano performance majors graduating each year in the United States and abroad, and they are all looking for these positions. So you have to do something to set yourself apart. I recommend not just getting advanced degrees, but trying to do something original so you can be noticed among the hundreds or thousands of applicants that schools receive for these positions. Something that is unique to you, some voice that you have, a vision about the piano in society today, or a specialty of repertoire. Maybe you love contemporary music and just want to help composers. That’s another great way to get performance opportunities.
Composers are always looking for opportunities to have their music performed.
If you love contemporary music and are willing to put in the work, you can find people who will pay you to play their music because they need performances. Otherwise, the music just sits somewhere, and nobody gets to hear it except maybe a machine playing it. What fun is that?
To teach privately, you don’t even need a degree!
You just have to have training to be able to know how to teach. There are people like myself who teach piano pedagogy, so you can get instruction in that. You don’t have to be a concert-level player to be a good teacher. In fact, there are many concert pianists who are not necessarily great teachers. Maybe they were child prodigies, and they have no idea how they do what they do. Someone who started later in life may not have a virtuosic technique, but may still understand how to convey what it takes to learn a piece of music. That knowledge could be passed on to piano students. It can be a tremendous experience to help people develop their piano playing.
There are many ways in which you can share your music on the piano.
Creating music for media is another way. You could offer original music for websites, films, or commercials. There are endless possibilities. Become adept at software and social media, because this is the way of the world. Maybe 100 years ago, it was possible just to play classical piano concerts. In some places in the world today, like Europe, may still be possible. But in this country, it’s a lost art to a great extent. And there are so many people vying for opportunities to perform. There are places like the Nixon Museum in Orange County that have people wanting to perform there with no fee whatsoever, playing for free! So there’s a lot of competition. You have to be creative! Think of all the different types of performances, teaching, and what you can do with media, social media, and technology to be able to bring piano to more people and to be able to make money doing it. So those are my suggestion for you. Anyone who has other suggestions, please let us know in the comments! Thanks again for joining me,Robert Estrin, here atLivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.
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6 thoughts on “How to Make Money Playing the Piano”
Professional pianists should not perform for free in any public venue. This is damaging to the profession and to all professional musicians. It may be competitive to get concerts but unless the venue is so high profile- like Carnegie Hall or Chicago Symphony Center and you are receiving additional benefits like a guaranteed review and professional audio and video recording and some sort of honorarium- just don’t do it! If you perform for a charity and want to donate your performance, ask them to pay you and then donate the funds back to the organization. As long as we musicians continue to perform for free after years of expensive training and education, the value of musicians’ life’s work will continually decline and become worthless over time. Everyone should pursue a career about which they are passionate, but musicians have to make a living just the same as any doctor or lawyer. If even one venue thinks they can get a string of musicians to perform for free then word gets around. All of a sudden, the only people who will be able to perform will be those who are independently wealthy or have wealthy sponsorship. And this becomes a matter of luck rather than merit. And there will be no value in your talent or hard work. When young aspiring pianists and their parents realize the life of struggle that will ensue, they will push their children to go into other careers instead. And therein lies the potential death of Classical Music. Hold up and support the value of musicians’ work and their live musical performances. Young pre-professional students should also refrain from performing for free in a public forum- unless it is for a worthy cause or for promotional purposes or a degree requirement or prize offered.
There are places you can perform and get paid if you are creative. There is a vibrant in-home concert scene in many communities in which people with good pianos in large enough homes host concerts and offer refreshments. Audience members all pay a fee to the artist. This provides important performing opportunities for musicians while enriching the lives of the people in the community.
Many churches are in need of pianists and compensate nicely for service.
Religious institutions oftentimes have extensive music programs. This is a significant avenue for many musicians to find an outlet for their musical talents.
Another large area is cocktail bar piano — Great American Songbook, melody line and chord symbols…. It’s a whole different mindset than classical. Easy to do, but you do it for hours on end.
For better arrangements, look for a book by Dan Coates — An intermediate to advanced classical pianist can just play what’s on the page and sound better than most of the lead sheet players.
That’s a great suggestion! The more styles you can play, the more opportunities there are to make money with the piano.