Making a living playing a piano isn’t easy. Like most careers in arts it takes a great deal of time, determination, talent and in most cases a great deal of luck before you are playing to sold out crowds in places like the Kennedy Center and Madison Square Garden. The good news is that if piano playing is your passion and you cannot imagine yourself doing anything else for a living there are many ways you can use the piano, such as teaching piano lessons and playing piano accompaniment that will pay your bills while you wait for you big break.

Teaching Piano Lessons

Many aspiring piano players supplement their income by teaching piano lessons. The lessons are a regular source of income that they can rely on. The amount of money you can charge per piano lesson depends on several different factors. The more experienced you are the more you will be able to charge per lesson. Every region has its own cost of living and that often determines how much disposable income people have available for luxuries like piano lessons. You will also have to decide if you will be teaching your students how to play the piano in your home, or if you will travel to your student’s homes.

Playing Accompaniment

Many aspiring musicians are amazed to find that they can actually make a really good living playing piano accompaniment. Once they have started to establish themselves as a gifted piano accompaniment player they often find themselves asked to play for larger and larger groups of people. It is not unheard of for a piano accompanist to eventually get a job playing piano and keyboard for a band.

When playing a piano accompaniment you have to remember that you will not be playing the melody, which is the other person’s job. You will be responsible for playing the harmony. When you are playing the piano accompaniment you should play the chord with your right hand, reserving your left hand to play the chords root.

When you are playing a piano accompaniment it is important to remember that you are suppose to be complimenting the other instrument or voice, not over powering it. A person with a great deal of experience playing piano accompaniment will know how to listen to the other person, they will know when to slow the tempo or increase it.

Playing piano accompaniments isn’t going to launch you directly to piano playing stardom but it is a good way to start.