We recently connected with Pamela Bruce and have shared our conversation below.
Pamela, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
I chose music school because I knew as adults got older, they often lost touched with their art and stopped playing. I didn’t ever want to stop playing. As much as I knew that paying your bills with you art puts a lot of pressure on it, I knew it was the only way to guarantee I’d have no choice but to get good at it.
15 years after college, creativity looks different. It used to look like catching a feeling mid air, grabbing it, and slapping it somewhere concrete. Be it an instrument, a painting, a poem. It was a magic, urgent moment in time. One that was spontaneously present, one that often took me away from real life. I would get consumed by it. Abandon other responsibilities or relationships in its name.
Now I have to be creative every day. Even when I don’t want to do. And I have to find boundaries with my creativity to keep the rest of my life happy and healthy. It’s not a young lust. It’s matured. But that maturity has allowed me to build a really great career. I have a studio with 38 students that choose me to learn this art from. I have a performance career as a harpist. sometimes for weddings and funerals, other times with fairy wings on at a garden party. Its beautiful!
It takes a lot of creativity to keep it all going. I improvise on songs I get bored of playing again and again and again. I find new exciting ways of creating arrangements that lets me get as close to a full band as possible as a soloist. I invent music games to get kids excited to come learn this art form and stay dedicated. I draw pictures and write poems to bring music back to life when it becomes a bit monotonous . I go for walks and hikes and travel to remember you have to bring the world into your art. Being an entrepreneur also means being my own website designer, advertised, curriculum designer, social media manager , book keeper, accountant, videographer, audio engineer, promoter, etc. I’m not naturally good at any of that other stuff. But with the right spin of creativity, you figure it out. I have no other choice but to get good or fail. My creativities flexibility has been my biggest asset.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I own Prelude Studio.
I teach students of all ages and abilities how to play piano and/or harp. I teach in a very creative way that often involve other art modalities, body movement, games, and work closely with each student to incorporate their own interests into their education and music.
In addition to teaching, I also perform as a harpist. Weddings, funerals, cocktail hours, garden parties, birthday parties, bridal showers, you name it!
Feel free to check out www.preludestudio.com for videos of me and my students!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Creativity: You have to be creative when making music, otherwise you’re art wont be very good haha. But what I didn’t know in the beginning was how important creativity would become in other aspects of my business. The business side. The designing logons, figuring out promotion, designing a studio space conductive of learning, creative problem solving with bookkeeping, I could go on forever…
Flexibility: My college degree is in piano. A few years after college I got an injury that took away my ability to play. My days as a performing pianist were over. It was devastating. After 1.5 years of not playing I searched for an instrument that avoided my injury. I picked up a harp and started from scratch. Now here I am. Learning this instrument has opened countless doors for me. I would have never thought I would end up here. Divine intervention!
Playfulness/Thinking on your feel: When I teach I flow with whatever the student is throwing at me that day. I think that skill is especially important when working with kids. Whatever mood they arrive in or struggle they had with their homework, I’m able to quickly create a lesson that address those things. You can’t plan for that. Thats the beauty of working one on one with a child. Sometimes what they need that day is very different than what the curriculum says they need. I think thats why I have so much success with getting kids to develop a deeper bound with music.
We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?
I think it should be 65% all in 35% improvement.
Our natural strengths should be our main focus. Our main joy and contribution and natural gifts should be celebrated. But if you neglect the other parts- you might not get too far. I know far too many amazing musicians that don’t know how to do the other necessary work to get themselves out there and create something outside themselves. They play for themselves and work a job they don’t like very much.
I feel the same with students. Our lessons has to be a delicate balance of working on the things they naturally enjoy to keep them interested. and using that as a cool to improve the other aspects. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Some kids have amazingly musical ears but bad sight reading skills. Others are the opposite. When natural talent and good work ethic meet…Its unstoppable!
I personally am stubborn with the things I am not great at. I have daily battles with them, spending hours trying to improve them. I often forget to relax into the aspects I’m naturally good at and I often forget to enjoy the things that come with ease. It’s a good reminder to keep that balance in check.
i have a feeling it stemmed from our school system. We are forced to spend most of our time improving in the subjects we don’t do well in. Math homework took me YEARS to do and ate up so many hours getting after school tutoring. Imagine if instead, I used that time to pursue the arts?
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.preludestudio.com
- Instagram: prelude.studio.music
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