Comments on: The Working Musician: Military Jobs

By: Hussain

Hussain — Mon, 09 May 2011 05:07:21 +0000

Hi. i Hussain from abbottabad pakistan. i am music teacher but i want learn more music and also earn want to make this passion as a career. so if any one can help me in usa or u.k or any foreign country accept pakistan plz imform me at my i.d. thanks.

By: Hussain

Hussain — Mon, 09 May 2011 05:02:31 +0000

hi, i am a music teacher. i live in abbottabad Pakistan. sir i want to to learn music and do a comfortable job in a comfortable country where people like a music teacher or this passion so plz help me i will wait for your reply at my i.d. Thanks

By: Jordan Leigers

Jordan Leigers — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 18:10:36 +0000

Well, that’s great, but how about the other options we’ve got here? Would you mind publishing a further post about them too? Thanks!

By: Dallas SMM

Dallas SMM — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 17:07:34 +0000

Glad I found this tidbit on yahoo when I was surfing the web. Good STUFF!

By: Betty Matin

Betty Matin — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 15:41:27 +0000

Hi all, im from turkey so my english isnt that amazing. Please dont blame me. I read blogs to make my english better and i have to say that your blog was perfect readable for me, because the english is really clear-thinking and all the posts are perfect readable. I will keep on reading it, to improve my english even more. Thanks a lot

By: Candis Taverna

Candis Taverna — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 09:17:25 +0000

The simple message reminded me to focus on attracting what I really want. The opportunities are everywhere, and I have to be in a mindset of attraction. I have to concentrate on seeing what is possible, believing that what I want is that can happen, and then take whatever steps are appropriate for the task is easy and effortless. Also, I was reminded of the importance of being clear and specific in what I want. The clearer and more specific than I am, the easier it is to determine appropriate action.

By: 02B

02B — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 22:41:20 +0000

I served 7 years as a trumpet player in the US Army Band Field in S. Korea, Japan, and the US. I loved my job and had all of my bachelors and masters degrees paid for. I traveled to 11 countries and enjoyed the 30 days off per year.

By: Ryan Janus

Ryan Janus — Mon, 03 May 2010 02:59:23 +0000

Great post. I’m a saxophonist in the USAF Academy Band, Colorado Springs, CO. I agree wholeheartedly with all the pros, but I must disagree slightly with some of the cons. I won’t say discrimination is a non-issue, but I haven’t really witnessed much gay- or women-bashing in my 5 years so far. Remember, everyone in the unit were musicians before they were soldiers. Even our commander was a band director for a number of years before joining the Air Force. So we tend to think more like musicians and less like military men and women. I’ve actually experienced a large amount of creative freedom in our band. I even programmed a completely improvised sax quartet on our recital series – picture that being performed by four men in uniform. #9 should really be on the “pros” list. My first collateral duty was web design. I knew nothing about it, so the AF paid almost $4K for various classes to get me trained in those extremely useful skills. Now I’m a staff arranger/composer and supply tech, which means I order and manage thousands of dollars of purchases for the band every month. Great for my organizational skills, of which most musicians have very little. People may complain about collateral duties (I even wrote a big band chart called “Collateral Duty Blues”), but they all revolve around making the band run, so they are all useful for savvy musicians. I would even say #7 is a positive. We are going to these countries who have dubious views as Americans. Armed with guitars and drumsticks rather than M-16’s, we interact with the communities and create positive images of Americans and the American military. If we can get the younger generations to like us, they’ll be less likely to want to hurt us.

The most serious drawbacks are #2 and #4. It’s very difficult to have a side career outside the military. It doesn’t matter how great of a gig you have – if there’s a military gig that day, there’s no subbing out. Difficult, but not impossible. You have to plan ahead, putting in for time off months in advance. If the gig is really that great, there’s a good chance it will be booked far in advance. I took a whole week off recently so I could go to UC-Long Beach and do a clinic, premiere and recording of a new sax concerto by Pulitzer laureate Lewis Spratlan. I got spoiled teaching college where I hardly ever felt like I was working, but regardless, military gigs are great. The players are absolutely world class, and the music is of the highest level.

By: Camping

Camping — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:23:32 +0000

Just one thought though. Have you made composing this blog as your profession or do you do this within your extra time? Just wondering..

By: Military bands – the part-time option

Military bands – the part-time option — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 23:00:35 +0000

[...] Pimentel linked me to a post on The Savvy Musician by Dr. David Cutler about military bands. Dr. Cutler has lots of great information there about [...]