Musician Resume Example

Securing a position as a musical performer can be challenging. Positions for musicians are scarce, and good jobs can be highly competitive.

To get a role in the music industry, you’ll need a great musician resume, complete with your relevant experience, skills, awards, education, and other qualifications. Read on to learn how to make a musician resume that helps land you an audition with four expert writing tips.

Additionally, we include a musician resume template that you can use to get started on your own resume.

1. Start with your musician work experience

Hiring managers want to know if you have previous work experience as a musician. If you have some experience, create a dedicated “work experience” section on your musician resume, using reverse-chronological order to list previous positions.

You can divide your musician experience according to where you played, for example, by listing different orchestra, opera, musical theater, or chamber experiences that you have. Also, when listing work experience on your resume, you should include the following five pieces of information:

• Date(s) that you played
• Organization you played or worked for
• Instrument(s) you used
• Section or role you played (and chair, if relevant)
• Whether you were a substitute or a regular player

Here’s an example of properly formatted work experience on a musician resume:

2019: Utica Symphony Orchestra, Utica, NY (first violin section; orchestra is currently without contract)

If you’re a young aspiring musician, listing school performances, major recitals, and other small projects is also an acceptable way of showing that you have musical performance experience.

2. Showcase your skills as a musician

In addition to your work experience, employers will want to see what instruments or techniques you’re skilled in. That’s why it’s essential to have a detailed skills section on your resume when applying to jobs in the music industry.

In your skills section, you should highlight the following details:

• Hard and soft skills
• Instruments you’re proficient in
• Teaching skills
• Technical skills

Here are four examples of how to categorize your musician resume skills:

Soft skills:

• Interpersonal skills
• Communication skills
• Leadership skills
• Teamwork
• Adaptability & flexibility
• Creativity
• Critical thinking
• Mentoring & consulting
• Confidence

Teaching skills:

• Music instruction
• Assessment
• Music history
• Music theory
• Music composition
• Professional development
• Pitch, rhythm & timing

Performing skills:

• Individual instrument skills
• Symphony
• Opera
• Chamber orchestra
• Band
• Ensemble performances
• Pit orchestra
• Concerts
• Choral music

Technical skills:

• Recording equipment
• On-stage electronics
• Ableton Live
• Avid Pro tools
• Sony Acid Pro
• Track mixing

Here’s an example of musician skills on a resume:

3. Include your musical awards

Musical awards aren’t simply given away. Only the most talented composers and players are recognized for their hard work and dedication to mastering their craft.

If you’ve won any music awards, displaying them on your musician resume shows that you’re truly talented, and will increase your chances of being called in for an audition.

Here’s an example of how to list awards on a music resume:

2019 – Winner, American University Concerto Competition

2017 – Concertmaster, American University Symphony Orchestra

4. Finish strong with your education section

While plenty of musicians don’t have more than a high school degree, formal music education is still highly regarded, depending on what kind of position you want.

A great educational background can make all the difference in getting called for an audition, especially if you’re just getting started in your career.

Create a dedication education section on your musician resume, and ensure that you include the following information when listing your degree:

• Dates attended
• University name
• Degree

Here’s an example of how to list a degree on your musician resume:

2017: M.M. in Performance, Peabody Institute – Baltimore, MD

Lastly, if you don’t have any higher education experience, you can choose to include your high school education if you’re a recent graduate.

Remember to include any music-related experience you gathered in high school, such as relevant coursework, instruments you played, and band performances you participated in.

Musician resume template

Here’s a musician resume template that you can copy and paste into Microsoft Word or Google Docs.

Musician Resume Template

1. Resume Heading

FIRST AND LAST NAME

Email | Phone | Address | Linkedin 

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2. Resume Summary

Skilled Musician with [# of years] experience. Proficient in [instrument, playing in ___ music venue]. Seeking to leverage my expertise in [relevant musical skills] to fill [musician] position. Previous recipient of [music award]

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3. Work Experience

• Start each bullet point with the date(s) or year(s) you played
• Include current and previous musician positions, such as instrument played, and which chair you were in.
• Ensure that you indicate whether you were you regular player or a substitute

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4. Skills

• Highlight hard skills, such as instruments you’re proficient in, digital recording software you’re familiar with, and where you have experience playing (opera, orchestra, etc.)
• Include soft skills, such as having great interpersonal, leadership, teamwork, and adaptability skills

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5. Education

Degree Name / Major                                       Degree Name / Major
University, Location | Start Date – End               University, Location | Start Date – End