I want music-making to be a part of my life

evolucian

Pffft... you guys have it easy. I recently bought a little 49 key controller. Playing piano has been an afterthought for a while now. My goal is to play Rachmaninov's "Morceaux de Fantaisie" in two years (yeah, I know. Rach mostly features only in the Licentiate degrees... high hopes). Obviously I'll upgrade to an 88 key soon....ish. Problem is, I'm a guitarist. Now its like I'm constantly tapping and it just feels unnatural.

I'd go with what Alan said. Never had a heart attack but did have one of them standing blackouts from anger... and severe chest pains thereafter. Thank goodness I got out of dealing with fussy customers who didn't know right from wrong. Not that I'm making a lot of money, but the bills at least get paid.

So do what you enjoy I guess. Even hobo's have fun. ?

nick_D01

hey norio (and the rest of ya)

been meaning to contribute to this post with something:

i'm sure you probably seen it at some point, but make some time right away to watch 'the pursuit of happyness'. its a movie with a powerful message. touches alot on what alan and a couple of the other ou's have mentioned. also, a belief that i've adopted in my life is you only have one life to live, so why live it being unhappy ? ?

Seventhson

Yeah for me its about wanting to make it a career but I know thats vertically impossible.
Sometimes I feel like I am wasting time by practising singing and playing guitar.

I go to karaoke just so I can sing in front of a crowd. Usually get the crowd cheering after I sang.
bah

Mannemarak

Daniel Stuart wrote Yeah for me its about wanting to make it a career but I know thats vertically impossible.

Maybe try doing it horizontally?? ?

deefstes

:roflmao:

Mannemarak wrote
Daniel Stuart wrote Yeah for me its about wanting to make it a career but I know thats vertically impossible.

Maybe try doing it horizontally?? ?

Nitebob

I go to sleep at around 23:00 every night. Up at 04:45. I practise 20-30minutes every morning, and am stil at work by 06:00. I spend 2 nights a week on either composing practicing or recording. The major advantage here is I'm not married.

To me, work is a way to subsidise my music. If I don't play daily, might as well sell it all....

Norio you said that if you don't sleep, you'll burn out, but your hobby should be part of your relaxation....

RJN

Great Thread.

I was at this very same crossroads once before. I stopped playing guitar for about 3 years straight. When i told my parents that i was about to sell all of my gear they suggest that i rather keep it in storage at their house. After three years It felt like I had no real outlet for some bottled up emotions.

I then realised that what was missing. My gear, my music. I phoned up the folks , collected all my gear. Phoned up a Amp tech, had everything serviced and quickly started playing again.

My career and family frequently gets in the way of practise but music has , and always will be a big part of my life.

Here is what I do :

My cheapie F-310 Acoustic is strategically positioned in the TV room. Whenever i sit down before dinner or when I get home , I try to have a quick 30 minute session. After dinner when the soaps are on , im off to the study where my Rig is plugged in and ready to go . I then burn another 45 minutes.

I try to keep to this at least 3 times a week , excluding weekends.

This is working for me at the moment but i fear this will have to change once I return to my studies.

Sometimes two weeks goes by without any practise. The only person I blame is myself. Reason is , Guitar playing to me is equally important as the other things ive got going on.

I think it comes down to efficient "Time Management" ?

Bob-Dubery

At a certain level music should be no more difficult to integrate into one's life than, say, skate boarding, building ships in a bottle or stamp collecting. If you do any of those and do them diligently you need to balance the various demands on your time and the need to keep a roof over your head and food on the table.

I also don't think it's invalid in any way to make music on a part-time basis. I've told before about the interview in which Richard Thompson was asked to name some of the people he liked to play music with when he wasn't on the road or recording albums (Thompson's main residence is in LA). I guess the interviewer was thinking of people that Thompson is known to hang with from time to time such as Bonnie Raitt, Henry Kaiser or David Lindley. Instead the answer went something like "I won't name them because you won't have heard of them. There are lots of people in this city who are very good players and enjoy making music but are not in my fortunate position of being able to make a living out of music. So they have 9 to 5 jobs in Silicon Valley and play as and where they can. I like to jam with some of them."

There's more than one way to make music a part of your life, and who's to say that the anonymous unknowns that Thompson describes above don't get as much satisfaction as he does from sitting down and playing?

Conrad

It also helps having a supportive partner. I make money from music but nowhere near enough to support me...does this mean I stop playing? No chance in hell! I have even had people tell me to give it up and focus on my career (which I do anyway), people telling me they are "moeg vir hierdie Spaanse k%k" and even some musicians that just wanted to make sure I leave the industry. The reality is, I don't have a choice. I have to play because the music is playing in my heart and mind. Ignoring it only results in creative constipation.

So what I do now is write, record and perform music with people who love the music more than themselves and I work fulltime / overtime as well. It requires a major effort, but it's something I love so I do it.

Conrad

Norio wrote How many of you guys feel like this? - You're frustrated coz you have so much work to do and when you're not working, you're keeping things tied together at home - grocery shopping, watering the lawn, whatever. And, specifically, you're frustrated because you REALLY want to go to lessons and improve your playing, you really want to start recording yourself on your BR-600 (or PC or whatever ?) and improve your phrasing and composing skills but you just don't see how. Maybe you get to play for an hour or two once every two weeks and you REALLY enjoy it but there's just no space to do it more often?

I'm really wondering how you guys cope with that frustration. I keep telling myself I need to make the time but between 7am and 10pm, 6 days a week, it's work, work, work. I have to sleep or I'll burn out, so what do you do?

Personally I keep telling myself that my hard work will pay off when all of my projects are running on autopilot (aiming for about 2-3 years from now) and making me passive income and that works and it keeps me going but, man, 2-3 years is a long way away when all you wanna do is be awesome NOW ?

(I'm not even talking about making a career out of music. Just making music for your own enjoyment and, sure, for the entertainment of your friends and family. :-[)

OK but I do think (for someone with your working hours) you are keeping a nice balance Norio because even this site is a success story in the industry of the art you love. Also, you seem to plan ahead and I have no doubt you are improving.
I do think it will be better to scale down on your work hours (if at all possible) though.

Nitebob

Conrad wrote
Norio wrote How many of you guys feel like this? - You're frustrated coz you have so much work to do and when you're not working, you're keeping things tied together at home - grocery shopping, watering the lawn, whatever. And, specifically, you're frustrated because you REALLY want to go to lessons and improve your playing, you really want to start recording yourself on your BR-600 (or PC or whatever ?) and improve your phrasing and composing skills but you just don't see how. Maybe you get to play for an hour or two once every two weeks and you REALLY enjoy it but there's just no space to do it more often?

I'm really wondering how you guys cope with that frustration. I keep telling myself I need to make the time but between 7am and 10pm, 6 days a week, it's work, work, work. I have to sleep or I'll burn out, so what do you do?

Personally I keep telling myself that my hard work will pay off when all of my projects are running on autopilot (aiming for about 2-3 years from now) and making me passive income and that works and it keeps me going but, man, 2-3 years is a long way away when all you wanna do is be awesome NOW ?

(I'm not even talking about making a career out of music. Just making music for your own enjoyment and, sure, for the entertainment of your friends and family. :-[)
+1 on this...if it wasn't for this site I'd have to actually focus on my work during work hours, that would be nerve wrecking, at least this way my mind is still on my gutar...

OK but I do think (for someone with your working hours) you are keeping a nice balance Norio because even this site is a success story in the industry of the art you love. Also, you seem to plan ahead and I have no doubt you are improving.
I do think it will be better to scale down on your work hours (if at all possible) though.

« Previous Page