Monday, March 27, 2023
Are you a young musician who is serious about their instrument and wants to make a career out of music? Are you a director who has a student who wants to make a living performing music? There's one avenue for this that some people might not be aware of or think of right away, and that is a career in the military as a musician.
The military is a great way to make a career playing your instrument that has a lot of great benefits. I can speak from experience about this because I was an Air Force bandsman for 26 years. I grew up near the Air Force Academy, so I was already familiar with this career, having grown up taking lessons from a military musician. As far as the benefits I mentioned, first, of course is performing! As a military musician I performed thousands of times in my long career for literally millions of people, some very distinguished, like the President of the United States for instance. I also took part in performances that were extremely varied. Everything from performances with such notable guest artists like jazz masters Louie Bellson (drummer with Duke Ellington and others), Phil Woods (jazz saxophonist best known for his solo on Billy Joel's hit "Just the Way you Are"), Ron Carter (Grammy award winning jazz bassist), and Eddie Daniels (Grammy award winning jazz clarinetist and saxophonist); popular singers Amy Grant (contemporary Christian pop singer), and Peter Cetera (lead singer with Chicago); and young up-and-coming musicians like Veronica Swift (jazz vocalist in New York), to name a few, to public concerts and tours in all 48 of the continental states, to ceremonies for international leaders, to Full Honors Funerals for fallen military members, to Presidential Inaugurations and State Funerals, to jazz shows for military dinners. I also got to take part in making recordings at least once or twice a year.
Additionally, being a member of the military has many other benefits, like full health care, education benefits, and a retirement pension. You also get 30 days paid vacation per year right from the start, as well as clothing, food and housing allowance that is tax free. The military also provides the finest musical instruments for its musicians, as well as supplies like reeds, strings, and mouthpieces.
My advice to you if you want to pursue this career is to practice diligently and get private lessons from a great teacher! Although it's not an entrance requirement to have a college degree in music, you will have to play at the level of an advanced college music major to win a position in a military band. The auditions are at an extremely high level and are very competitive, with sometimes over 50 applicants showing up for an audition for one vacancy. The premier bands in Washington DC and the respective service academy bands are even more competitive and difficult to win a position in than the regional or field bands, but there you get to start at a higher pay rate and have a permanent assignment. Being a member of the United States Air Force Band in Washington DC for the majority of my 26-year career definitely stretched me as a player being in the presence of a lot of really fabulous musicians.
From personal experience I can also add that if you are a saxophonist who is a doubler, work on those doubles and be the best you can be at each. I was an extremely valuable player to the Air Force Band because of my ability to play not only saxophone (my main instrument), but clarinets and flute as well at a high level. As a high school player, I took lessons on all these instruments and because of that (and practicing!) I was able to fill in on each of these instruments when needed for various reasons. Additionally, being able to play both classical music and jazz on those instruments that are used in both (trumpet, trombone, sax, rhythm section) makes you even more valuable as a player to a service band.
The large service bands in the nation's capital all have many component bands within the organization, like a ceremonial band, a concert band, a jazz band, a choral group, a rock band, and a string group, so there's something for everyone. The Air Force Band even has positions for accordionist, harpist, and bagpiper! You can look for current openings on the service bands' websites.
So, give it some serious thought and consider whether you want to "Aim High" and "Be All You Can Be" as a military musician serving our country while getting paid to play your instrument.
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David Stump is a repair technician for Palen Music in Columbia Missouri, where he started in July 2022. David attended band instrument repair school at Badger State Repair in Elkhorn, Wisconsin from 2021 to early 2022. Previous to this he was bass clarinetist in the USAF band in Washington DC from 2000 until his retirement in 2020, and saxophonist at the USAF Heritage of America band at Langley Air Force base, Virginia from 1994 until 2000. He majored in saxophone performance at Indiana University where he received bachelor's and master's degrees, studying with the world renowned saxophonist Eugene Rousseau. The son of a band teacher and a piano teacher, David grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and began playing clarinet at age 9 and saxophone at age 10. |
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