Don’t Sing by the Hour

I know this seems odd, even counter-intuitive, but don’t do it. Not if you can possibly help it. So, what exactly does it mean for singers to be paid by the hour?

The hourly wage is a relatively new concept in history with deep roots in the industrial revolution. It began in the factories of the 19th century, and by the dawn of the 20th, with the rise of labor unions, came a titanic civic struggle for decent hourly wages for honest work. The goal was to humanize work by making it possible to survive while not working oneself to death, just to make a living.

This struggle for fair pay also resonates in the world of singing. Singers, eager to secure opportunities and to make a living with their talents, often sign contracts that involve a set number of rehearsal hours. Or, they take on too many one-off gigs to make ends meet. This is a risky path that can lead to vocal burnout and, ultimately, financial instability.

“But I Love to Sing!”

Yes, we all get into singing for the love of it, and that includes the fun of actually being PAID to sing. But, there is something askew about linking a singing voice to a time-clock. That’s a hard reality that runs counter to how we are trained to think about work in our earliest childhood. From primary school onwards, we are steered towards the full-time, 40-hour per week job. But for singers? That’s just too much singing!

A trained singing voice is trying to do extraordinary things. Like a racehorse versus the plow horse, why on earth would you subject that race horse to the work-a-day equivalent of plowing a field? The question is not how to get enough singing work to pay our bills but, rather, defining our healthy upper limit of singing hours and learning to live well within that boundary.

The Pitfalls of Singing by the Hour

1. Overcommitment

Singers have a tendency to overcommit. I’ve seen singers trying to make a living by singing in professional choirs in combination with a weekly church job, a synagogue job, teaching voice, and endlessly auditioning and occasionally getting and performing operatic roles. This can be a disaster if you get sick–which you always will! When you get sick, you cancel your voice lesson to protect your voice, right? But, you can’t cancel contracted work or you won’t get paid! Pay for your rent, your food, your medical bills . . . everything! You end up robbing Peter to pay Paul.

2. The Cumulative Effects of “Little Jobs”

From our earliest days singing in the conservatory of music, singers are warned about the dangers of tackling music that is “too heavy” before their young voices are ready. No Verdi or other demanding opera roles until the voice has matured! Yet, singers often underestimate the impact of seemingly minor gigs like weddings, funerals, or rehearsals in church choirs. These “little jobs,” accumulating on our schedules like debt, can really add up and take you by surprise, often resulting in vocal strain and overall exhaustion.

How can a little rehearsal in church hurt you? It depends on what you were doing yesterday and what you will be doing tomorrow. I remember one clear example at my regular church job. One soprano had sung Madame Butterfly the night before. Yet, there she was Sunday morning trying to sing the day after such a commitment. It didn’t seem like much — just a few hymns and responsorials — but clearly she needed rest and wasn’t able to get it. She was brave and soldiered on, but that was quite a sobering moment.

3. Vocal Burnout & Counterexamples

There are many instances of singers who damaged or even ruined their voices singing too much, too soon. Maria Callas immediately jumps to mind, jet setting all over the world in her twenties singing very demanding and diverse roles in close succession. Tosca one night, Lucia di Lammermoor the next–too much, too soon! An interesting counterexample was the great early 20th century opera singer, Zinka Milanov. Apparently, her brother served as her vocal coach and set boundaries with impresarios to make sure that she was not over-sung. Another interesting exception was Jenny Lind, the “Swedish Nightingale,” who was quite capable of setting very stringent limits. Here is a dramatization, based on fact, of a conversation she had with PT Barnum before a concert tour, where she fully lays out her conditions for the tour. Very impressive!

Determining a Proper Hourly Wage for Singing

Crafting a sustainable singing schedule requires figuring out an appropriate hourly wage. A glance at this chart of minimum wage rates for the United States of America will be our jumping off point to make this calculation. (By the way, notice how widely the minimum wage varies from state to state?!) Let’s agree that, unlike office jobs, you should work less than 40 hours per week if every minute of it you’ll be singing. So, what’s the right amount? Let’s try a few models on for size.

20 Hours a Week of Singing

That’s a lot of singing — probably too much. But as a thought experiment, let’s assume four hours of singing per day, five days a week. Or, for those who work weekends (as do most singers), that’s about three singing hours a day, Tuesday through Sunday with Mondays off. How does that break down financially? Here goes…

If you’re working less than 40 hours per week, you need to earn more than the minimum wage. That’s 20 hours a week for singing-related work: rehearsals, singing in the opera, singing in a choir, and perhaps teaching voice or conducting a choir. [Wait! Do you get vocally fatigued teaching voice or conducting choirs? For me, that’s not an issue. But, I have known many who were continually losing their voices while teaching or conducting. Know thyself! If those activities wear out your voice, you will need to include those teaching/conducting hours in your total singing hours per week! ]

According to the MIT Living Wage Calculator, a single person working 40 hours a week in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania should earn a minimum of $22.29 per hour. (For two working adults with a child, the rate is $22.22 per hour). But, if you work only 20 hours a week, then the hourly wage for your singing income should logically be twice that: $22.29 X 2 = $44.58 per hour. Keep that in mind before you sign your next contract! For instance, a $60 weekly salary for a church choir gig with a two-hour Thursday rehearsal and two-hour Sunday service boils down to . . . drum-roll please . . . $15.00 per hour. OUCH! Not exactly our target amount of $44.58 per singing hour.

10 Hours a Week of Singing

If 20 hours per week of professional singing is too much, let’s try halving that amount and see what we come up with. Simply double the per hour wage from our previous example. What we’re after is the same amount earned per week with half the expenditure of time. That comes to 2 X $44.58 = $89.16. Hmmmm . . . that’s about $90 per hour. Is that unreasonable?

I think if you want to raise a family on singing wages alone, it is not unreasonable to expect $100 per singing hour, no matter how many or few hours you actually sing per week. But, who amongst us can command that? Really?! How on earth can you make a living wage without seriously over using your voice? Clearly, we need a better plan.

Diversification & Concentric Circles of Activity

Here are two models that I have found successful for myself, my students, and friends who sing.

Diversify: Get a Day Job and Sing at Night

So many do this. They bite the bullet and get a proper 9-to-5 job — hopefully at something they are well trained for and actually enjoy – but towards the goal of making a living. Then, they seize every moment they can to sing to their heart’s content. Depending on where you live, you can make a reasonably good side income this way. Many large cities in the United States, and certainly in Europe, have orchestras that need choir singers for performances of major works. Early music groups typically require musically gifted singers to tackle the demands of Bach and other Baroque music. And, what community doesn’t perform Messiah every year? In many cities these jobs actually pay, and pay enough to be worth your while.

I have known union laborers who sing opera at night after they get off work, secretaries who sound gorgeous as soloists with orchestras, lawyers who starred in and often run their local early music group. My favorite tenor, with whom I was cast several times in major operatic works, is an accountant! Many excellent singing musicians sing at their house of worship. It’s not a bad life–good work, if you can get it!

The advantage is clear when it comes to singing by the hour. You can calibrate exactly how much you sing by accepting only those contracts you can manage, vocally and regarding your time commitment. You’re not depending on singing for a living, so you can pick what works best for you with relative freedom. It’s nice not having to take a singing job if you don’t want to. You might end up liking singing more and actually lasting longer.

The Concentric Circles Model

If you can’t stand doing something extra-musical for a living, try the concentric circles concept. In a nutshell, the center of the circle is a job actually singing. The next circle out from that bull’s-eye of desire might be a related job in music. You could work in a music library. You could set costumes or run lighting for a local theater. You could teach singing, or teach another instrument to help preserve your voice. You could even blog about music! Where there’s a will there’s a way.

It helps that the public loves music. It’s astonishing how many doctors, lawyers, and Indian chiefs are closet musicians. They need it, and they may need the services of some like-minded spirit such as yourself with a deep understanding of music. I have one student who met the love of her life — a jazz pianist — while running a fundraiser for an early music group she had joined just out of college. Now they sing in clubs at night and have a wonderful life. So much good can come of keeping music foremost in all your activities. You might even make an actual living doing something related to music that keeps you close to what you love so much.

Conclusion

Make a plan. Commit to not overworking your voice. Once job opportunities start coming after college, pause and take the long view. Set aside time every month to ask yourself how much you’re singing and if you can possibly lighten your load in any way. Vocal trouble is a terrible curse and can really sneak up on you. Remember, it’s the little things that get you. If you’re singing a major role, clear the decks before and after that commitment. Don’t accept repeating hourly work, such as church and synagogue jobs, if you think you’ll be singing a lot of lead roles or solo singing of a demanding type.

Above all, treasure your instrument! It’s the only one you have, so you have the right to prioritize its safety. Life is a delicate balance between our needs and our wants. Make sure you are sensible in how you make a living, while including music in your life.