Two questions

Hi Coolnama,

You are clearly a smart man, as you are asking two pretty crucial questions. A great many people start out with high hopes of being good musically, but never really think through either of those questions. Sadly, this all too often means that at some stage they get discouraged, put down their instrument and drift off to other pastimes. A big percentage of beginners never make it to intermediate stage, let alone nail their goal of mastery. The good news is that - based on the steady stream of comments and questions that you've made at this forum - I'd say that you're almost certainly going to be among the ones that win through. :)

We all hit patches when our motivation and progress seems to falter - that's natural. There are probably many ways through, but I can only tell you what has worked for me. It includes buying more gear :shock: (I can now switch from playing mediocre guitar to mediocre keyboards or awful clarinet, etc... and that seems to help keep the interest going), and learning more about recording on a computer (it's amazing how useful it is to be able to do multiple takes, and either choose the best one or even stitch something together by editing the good bits... :o ) . I've also found it very helpful to spend time with 'musical buddies' - people who are either ahead of me, and willing to help, or in a similar position and enjoy trying to solve the problems together. You also find that you can share the load, and make good music by each contributing something quite simple but which can still add up to a good sound.

But the single biggest thing that helps keep me confident and cheerful is going back and doing really simple stuff and making it sound better. As your sense of rhythm, timing and touch improves you can go back and make something better from a small handful of notes or the most basic three chords. It's good to press on and add new skills and try and nail more complex things but it's also very encouraging to go back and have some fun with simpler things. It can be a real boost to the confidence to remind yourself that there are a few things that you can do reasonably well now that were impossible when you first picked up the guitar. You also eventually realise that music is never actually 'finished' - you just get more and more skilled at a wider range of things.

Your second question is also one that many people don't seem to ask early enough. Each year heaps of new graduates are turned out by a number of different colleges and courses, just in the city near me alone. Goodness knows where they think they'll all get jobs??? I know many people who work (or have worked) in the music industry here, but not one of them has made a full time career only from performing. A few have had reasonable spans as performers, but at some stage they still needed other strings to their bows, such as teaching, working in music shops, doing a bit of recording or management or promotional work, etc. My guess is that the most stable and reliable would be teaching, and there's always a demand for guitar teachers who are genuinely dedicated (and skilled) in the business of teaching, rather than being just players looking for extra cash.

It's sometimes said that the most useful phrase that music graduate can learn is “Would you like fries with that Sir?” but I think that “Hi! How did you go with those chords we looked at last week?” is a much better bet. If you can combine that with a bit of gigging, then so much the better, and who knows where that might lead? One thing that might help you is to get in touch with the appropriate music colleges in your area. You might need to make a few calls, and be persistent about it, but you should eventually be able to talk to somebody on the staff who can answer questions. Ask them what the job prospects are, and where their graduates have actually GOT work. Also ask them what you could do to prepare yourself in advance, for entry. Try and talk to as many people as you can too, as your first answer(s) might be unrealistically gloomy or too optimistic. Try for a range.

Good luck with it all anyway. I have a hunch you'll be playing for a lot longer yet. :wink:

Cheers,

Chris

Thank you Chris for that great reply, you have really encouraged me to keep playing, since I cant buy equipment Im thinking of buying some books :D. What I am doing right now is trying to find alot of things that I cant do, and work on them, like for example, hitting notes in the darkness and trying to guess what they are, Im going to continue working on that, because i find its good to have long range goals ( like going to university ) and short-range goals like having a better ear.

I should get somebody to answer my questions, maybe I can go online and contact the local Conservatorio ( lol my real dream is going to Berklee, or Julliards, but those are dreams, far away dreams :P ) over the internet, and contact them and ask them questions about their programs, and all the different courses and have them explain the different courses.

Atentamente

-Mell

What can I possibly add to what Chris has already said? He's right about going back to the simple stuff. Things that you could play adequately at some point can now sound great. Also, there are things that I couldn't play two years ago. Now when I'm cleaning up my music room I run across them and give them another try. And they're not so hard after all.

The "musical buddies" comment was also a good one. Whether you're in a band or join a choir or meet people in a music class, you can learn from each other.

You've got to ask yourself what you're good at and what you like to do. Music is a very broad field. There's performing, song writing, arranging, recording, and teaching (classroom and private lessons). Very few performers can make a living at it, but if that's what you love to do, you can find a way to survive. Maybe you wouldn't like teaching classes. The next time you're in a class at your school, think about what it's like being the person up front. It's not all about the music. You have to deal with all kinds of behavior issues, kids failing or not being very interested in what you're saying. You will be hanging around with teachers more than other musicians. Maybe you don't want the hassle of running a business, which is what you do when you give private lessons. It would be great if you could talk to people who are in different fields of music to get an idea what their world is really like.

There are bound to be careers in music that you haven't even thought of. I have a friend who really wants to play in a symphony orchestra in a big city and has a Masters in music. He's in his late twenties and hasn't been able to land that dream job yet and maybe never will. But he's playing in a string quartet on cruise ships. So he's making a living at performing and also having great adventures. Some people travel around playing at Renaissance fairs.

Oh no not Renaisance fairs, its like that commercial of Credit Check.com where they play at a renaisance fair because they didnt check their credit :shock:.

lol but seriously.

To be a music/guitar teacher would be so awesome! I have always wanted to be a teacher, but I never loved teaching enough, and didnt feel passionate about teaching anything. But music is different, some people are afraid of me O_O, because any chance I get Ill teach somebody a new chord or a scale, most people arent interested in what makes up these chords or scales, but I could teach them what they are made up of.

Being paid to do this would be a huge plus, some kid even asked me to give him some classes, but since I cant drive I told him to get a real teacher, and when I was 16 Id teach him :P.

But maybe teaching guitar/music, oh cause thats another thing, I wanna be able to teach people music too, like how to read sheet music ( well Im still working on that myself, but soon enough :P ) and what chords are made up of, and harmony ( working on that too :P ) and other stuff Ill learn on my way there.

But maybe teaching this, wont be enough cause of many reasons, so then there is like gigging and maybe working at a music shop ( and maybe later even start my own music shop/school/studio/ :O) and other stuff like that.