SHR4C007R~001 25100307 Research Portfolio – Written/Video

by

Jacob McDonald 25100307

Assignment Topic

In this assignment I will cover what qualifications and experience I will need to work in the music industry and how my personal qualities, skill and knowledge which I have gathered will bring success in my field. Furthermore, I will also address what the duties and responsibilities which will be used in the day-to-day life of my profession. There could also financial and legal issues which could impact my life as a musician which will also be covered. And as a concert pianist I would need to use marketing and promotion to help influence my career. Also, there is the possibility that I could deal with intellectual and personal challenges which would possibly be presented in the profession. There will also be developmental opportunities that will be available both to me now and in the future which I could use. I will support my findings using my research which will be referenced.  

My Introduction

I am a pianist from north-western England who has been playing the piano for over 6 years. I got into music from both a want for a hobby and also interest from hearing it over time from films, games and listening to other people play instruments. I started with private teachers from a local music shop which teaches piano, guitar, drums and bass. They taught me how to read notes, do grade 5 music theory and one teacher gave me aural lessons teaching me how to play songs by ear using relative pitch. During the covid lockdown I practiced quite heavily and progressed through many different pieces of music which were gradually getting more and more difficult. This made me put a lot more attention towards upgrading my technique. When I joined college I had a new private teacher who got me used to performing in piano competitions and pupil concerts. This teacher had a preference to focus on technical aspects such as scales and arpeggios but also on the sound I was producing while playing pieces like projecting the melody and balancing the accompaniment. With this teacher, I studied usually 2 pieces at a time and performed them at any events I had the opportunity to play at also adding them to my repertoire list. At the time, I did fairly difficult technical pieces such as Chopin’s Etude Op. 10 No. 1. This was to train my arms and shoulders to rotate and for the notes to be rhythmically accurate at high speeds. After college, I attended Chetham’s summer school for 10 days to be taught by concert pianists and see music students from around the world. Now, I am studying at Leeds Conservatoire with the wish to perform music on a stage at live venues.

What are the (academic and professional) qualifications and/or experience required to enter the profession?

To become a concert pianist studying with professional teachers and attending a high-rated music school is mandatory. The teachers will teach you what they had to learn themselves so in a way you are standing on the shoulders of giants. A music school will also give you opportunities to perform in front of crowds of other musicians which is completely different to playing by yourself in a practice room. And at a music school you will also have lessons with high level teachers. It is also mandatory to attend concerts and festivals to showcase your talents and gain exposure and for a bit of competition of course. With decent exposure you can have the chance to play with renown orchestras or conductors at music events and even maybe have a recording signed (Interview Guy Editorial Team, 2025: Steps 1-5).

What knowledge, skills and personal qualities/attributes are needed for success within the profession?

A lot of pianists just focus on the technical aspects but the quality of your sound especially in a massive concert hall with acoustics matters a lot. You have to listen to yourself and be critical. You are trying to convince the audience so listening skills matter a lot (Noah Murphy, 2024). For a performance I believe that having made a good memory is highly crucial. Not only should you use kinaesthetic memory but also have backups like using sheet music which requires good sight reading which is a lot of pattern memorisation. While your learning a piece theory comes into play a lot. Classical music follows the rules of tonal harmony quite strictly it helps to do a harmonic analysis to understand the chord progressions this can also make it easier to remember a piece (admin,2025).

What are the duties and responsibilities of the profession – what does a typical day’s work involve?

Every pianist seems to have their own way to practice but the usual consensus is that in depth practice is usually preferred rather than duration. It is better to practice for 3-4 good hours consistently than to go over that and do pointless practice and end up burning yourself out and eventually lead to strain injuries. Beginners and intermediate pianists obviously do less but the fundamentals such as practicing scales and arpeggios and Hanon is still there they could be doing around 20 minutes a day on technique alone but as an advanced to concert level pianist should do closer to an hour. After your technical work you should then work on your pieces preferably slow deliberate practice in chunks. At the end you could do work on intervals to train your relative pitch and some theory books. Beginners doing their exams have similar structure to a concert pianist. The article made my (Sharbel Dalal, 2025) gives me a good idea to what a solid practice regime looks like.

What are the main financial and legal issues that impact on this profession?

It seems that a lot of classical musicians do not earn enough money to live on. This post mentions “the Musicians Union says over half of classical musicians are struggling to make ends meet” (Economy Team, 2018). These musicians are relying mostly off pay from the venues which rely off money from sponsors or ticket sales. A lot of people expect performers to perform for free. Especially since classical music isn’t played often in many places except performance halls. Unlike with other genres of music, copyright isn’t as problematic with classical music because many of its works are in the legal domain because of the 70 years after death law. However, there is some caveats. There are more aspects to consider such as the score, arrangements and musical performance. Modern arrangements and transcriptions may be protected by copyright laws. It can be tricky, 70 years after a composer passes away their works are in the public domain which is free to be used by anyone so it can be distributed and showed in public free of charge (Pablo Olóndriz, 2023).

What would the potential marketing and promotional aspects of this profession look like?

As I discussed earlier in the essay it is quite essential that a pianist does competitions not only for the qualifications but for the promotional aspects as well. Winning a piano competition is huge for getting marketing and promotion because your name is spread across other professionals and many concert pianists have gotten their opportunities from winning concerts. It gives you opportunities to play with orchestras, have your music recorded or even signed to a label and even play at massive music venues (Interview Guy Editorial Team, 2025: Step 5).

What are the intellectual and personal challenges presented by the profession and how might these be dealt with? 

A common personal challenge that can be presented to any on-stage performer is the issue of stage fright. It is a deep seated anxiety which comes with the pressure of performing in front of a large audience or crowd. Your body releases adrenaline and cortisol which can make your hands shake and mind spin which isn’t ideal when you are performing. People who deal with this may have memory lapses which can be hard to recover from. It is very common and is deeply rooted in our biological survival instincts. The way to deal with stage fright seems to come in many ways. A lot of people seem to think a change of mindset helps where you care deeply about your performance and framing your nervousness as actual excitement. A lot of mental preparation might help and exercising with also eating well beforehand. At a conservatoire it is good because I get lots of small performance opportunities which might help condition my mind to getting used to playing in front of an audience. (Robert, 2025)

What career-progression/development opportunities are available within the profession?

There are quite a few progression and development opportunities available, most opportunities can be done at the same time. Private teaching is an excellent opportunity, it allows you to choose your own hours so you can be your own boss. This means that you can have a week off whenever you feel like it and it allows you to have a lot of free time so you could also compose for a film, advert or try making session music. You could also make content for social media such as YouTube, if you became big enough you could make a small income off that. Self released music or released by a record music could earn you money in royalties. People most successful in this industry are not only good at music but also at making business.

(neha, 2025)

Conclusion

In conclusion, I have covered everything that I will encounter in the music industry such as what is required to enter my desired career, the knowledge which is required to be successful, what daily life at work looks like, what financial and legal issues I could encounter, how to market and promote myself as a musician, what personal challenges I could face like stage fright and what developmental opportunities are available. While writing this research project I have learned new pathways and ideas for my future career and also what I should be careful about, such as legal issues and stage fright. Taking the research into account I can now adjust and plan better for my future.

Bibliography