OK maybe I'm over thinking this one.....so don't laugh ::)
I just turned 22 and have been playing pretty seriously for the past 4 years. The past year, I have taken pains to learn the instrument as thoroughly as I can: theory and scales, soloing, notation, you know...the stuff beyond tab. Learning to really play, or trying to. You get my drift.
Anyhow, I've been listening to a lot of classic rock, and subsequently studying it historically, and it seems like all the musicians who "made it" (Jimmy Page, Hendrix, Beck, Clapton...) all started at a very young age. Even today, many of the bands who we listen to have memebers who started young. Then there's Britney, but thats another rant for another post.... ;D
My point is, is it too late to start a serioius career in music? I've been performing at a lot of open mikes as of late, had a few gigs, and want to play much more this summer. But I havne't logged as much time as many other musicians I know who've been at it a while, but are at a similar level in playing, and it seems as though I'm always lacking in comparison Does this trend have any merit, or is it all just work ethic and determination, no matter how long you've been playing, that makes a career happen or not?
Thanks very much
Matt
"Contrary to popular belief, Clapton is NOT God. The prospect that he is God probably had a large hand in driving him to drugs and booze. Thanks everyone."
-Guitar World :lol:
Hey Matt!
It is true that many talent-based careers are started very early (athletes, actors, musicians, etc), but that's often misleading. Yes it's easier to get really good at the guitar if you're 15 and don't have a job or girlfriend to take up much of your time. I won't pursue this analogy further... ;)
But music (and acting) are different than sports. You can start at anytime, and your career isn't limited by your strength and physical endurance. But you have to "make it" by the time you're 30-ish, or you'll get caught up by the rest of life's imperatives (family, money, etc).
The hardest part is giving music the highest priority in your adult life. Going through all the steps required to get noticed and published requires dedication and focus.
So it's not impossible to start as an adult, it's just a little easier if you're living at home where someone else is paying the bills and doing the laundry. ;D
Good Luck!
Laz
Thanks for the reply, Laz. I'll let you know when to look out for me in Guitar World. ;)
Matt
"Contrary to popular belief, Clapton is NOT God. The prospect that he is God probably had a large hand in driving him to drugs and booze. Thanks everyone."
-Guitar World :lol:
Wes Montgomery, one of the best guitarists EVER (if not the best), started playing guitar at 20.
that's one of thos questions that I've never heard an answer to, there's a whole bundle of them surrounding musicianship, don't worry about clarifying it too much, there's a lot of chance involved, swayable chance, but chance nevertheless
I don't follow my dreams, I just ask em' where they're going and catch up with them later.
-Mitch Hedburg
Did you see that!
Hurry though, because all talent and desire leaves your body the day you turn 35.
Just kidding, it's never too late
Hurry though, because all talent and desire leaves your body the day you turn 35.
Just kidding, it's never too late
Man if that was true. I'd have about a month left. I'm firmly in the camp, that no matter what your age, you can do whatever it is you desire. If you truly want to.
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming -- "WOW--What a Ride!"
nobody remembers Willie Nelson before he had grey hair.
That Alice in Chains guitarist, Jerry Cantrell, started playing at 18--so I heard. And their breakthrough album was around four years later.
It's a bummer that mainstream media is so fixated on connecting talent to youth. Talent is talent, eh?
http://www.keith-moore.net
Jam tracks, stories and
giant, killer teddy bears.
A lot of people start earlier on and if you discount most of the ones on major labels, there's a very large portion of artists out there who don't break into the market until they're in their 30's or 40's.
It's the same in every field. You can say that Isaac Asimov started publishing his work at 18, but Philip José Farmer, who is just as successful, started at 35.
Good grief !!!!! there is hope for me yet then :lol:
there's a very large portion of artists out there who don't break into the market until they're in their 30's or 40's.
Thanks a lot, that does wonders for my confidence.... i always new life started after 40 !!!! so Matty you have 20 odd years to get famous.
Ja'mir
I am a cloud within a cloud http://www.justjamir.com
you can hear my songs at :
Hi! I'm 38yrs old and I play really good, I should be making it any second now... I'm gonna try to replace that guy that plays for Van Halen...
Seriously, In my late teens early twenties I played in a bunch a bands
Most were ...well lame. but since I've been playing, and I really don't play too bad (3 years of lessons... and for the last 10 mo.s 2 hr a day, almost every day practice - noise session...ANYONE should sound halfway decent after that). I have a problem, I don't KNOW anyone that still plays!
I would like to find a group of burnouts that rarely leave the garage,
but I don't really know how to go about it. I read classifieds from time to time, but if they, the band advertising is close to my age, they are pretty much serious about it and well, I already have a life and I'm not THAT good anyways. I dunno should I stand around with a cardboard sign? :D
I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but when
you're a 22lb sledge, do you really have to be?
Michael Romeo started playing seriously when he was 18...
and you said you started when you were 18 playing seriously..
he is an absolutely fantasic guitarist in a sucessful band (Symphony X) and has his own tapping techniques and is a really really good guitarist..
he is hailed as "one of the better group" along with Satch / Vai / Malmsteen / Cooley / Angelo / Becker, them sorts of people..
so, point is.. he startef when you started, he was succesful..
if he can do it, why cant you?
I don't KNOW anyone that still plays!
I would like to find a group of burnouts that rarely leave the garage,
but I don't really know how to go about it.
If you have kids, then one way is to check around with their music teachers. We have found several adults like us, who used to play more seriously, but work and family became more important and we dropped it. Basically, I asked the head of the kids' music school if any of his students had parents that played (actually it was "Do you know any adult drummers?" :? ), and found more than enough.
Just last week, we jammed with 3 guys in that situation - and their kids too!
Good Luck!
Laz
