Letter No. 22 [establishing your music studio: CV]
Dear Friend,
we’ve made it to our resumes! If you missed the other letters in this series, here are the links to core beliefs, studio policy, and interviews.
Now, you probably already have a resume—or a few—for previous work, but we want to cater this resume specifically to music and teaching. That being said, there are a few key areas to cover: objective, education, experience (performance and teaching), volunteer opportunities, membership in professional organizations, and references.
objective:
This should be about one sentence, and is the most concise version of your core beliefs.
Education:
What is your music education? Do you have a degree in pedagogy or music? Do you have your master’s and/or doctorate degree(s)? Have you attended conferences, earned teaching certificates, and/or taken private lessons with well-known musicians?
Experience—performance:
This can include accompanying (like choir rehearsals and performances, instrumental accompanying—college juries, recitals, masterclasses, etc.), gigs, and recitals.
Experience—teaching:
A few examples of the kinds of teaching you might have experience in: private lessons, group lessons, adult/child, theory, genres besides classical music (like jazz), and teaching independently and/or with an organization.
I also include other teaching experiences in my CV—I tutored English at my university’s writing center for three years and also taught swim lessons for about five years. While not music-related, these experiences show I can be responsible, am capable of teaching, and have experience working with many different kinds of people in varying situations.
Volunteer opportunities:
Have you given benefit concerts, played at charity events, or played at a church or an organization for free? Volunteer administrative or teaching roles are also excellent to include in this section.
If you don’t have many volunteer opportunities to share, I highly recommend seeking out places you can share music with people. Music has such an impact, and as individuals who study it, we have a very accessible, easy way—literally at our fingertips—to serve our communities. Nursing homes and hospitals are great places to start your search if you’d like to give a recital there or initiate a Christmas carol sing-along.
Membership in Professional Organizations:
Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) is the largest nation-wide association for music teachers, and provides conferences, networking opportunities, and further education for teachers. Prospective students can also find you through this association.
States also have additional associations, unions, or teachers’ organizations you can join, and you can include these as well.
References:
References can be other teachers, parents of students, former professors, administrators of musical organizations, or recognized individuals from your community. Make sure you include the correct email address and/or phone number for each reference, and of course ask each person if they would be willing to be a reference on your resume before you add them.
Extra Notes:
Include the place, city, and state your experience took place at, if applicable. Example:
Choose one format for relaying your dates, and start with the most recent. Make sure all the dates line up and that it’s easy to connect the subject matter with the date. Example:
If you’ve covered these aspects, parents, teachers, and school administrators should have a clear summary of your musical education and experience, and with the additional insight from your social media accounts and website, they should feel confident about whether or not they want to pursue lessons or collaboration with you.
I’ve included a link to my CV on my website studio page to make the process as stream-line as possible, but if you don’t feel comfortable putting your CV on your website, you can create an option for parents to request it, or show it to parents during your interview.
Next week, I’ll be going over creating a website—something I believe is absolutely necessary for successfully networking in today’s society.
Talk soon,
Tara