I don't know what to do in college

[Pete Caya]

Here's the deal, I'm nineteen and I want to be a musician for a living. The problem is that I don't think I can do it. I have been playing 1 year and 9 months and have achieved respectable skill in the area of chops, but I played with the University Jazz band the other day and got stomped on. I was asked to sight read a walking bass line, and got lost after the first 7 measures. The instructor seemed disappointed with my performance, but didn't say anything. I knew it was coming, and I can read and remember sheet music, but my sight reading has something to be desired. I don't think I can accomplish a living as a musician because I started so late. How am I supposed to compete with people like these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOs_kG8a5Eo

I'm a freshman in college, so I still have some time, but I can't think of anything I'd rather do than music. My alternatives are Accounting and Psychology, but even then, those are bearable, not enjoyable. I only want to be a musician.

Any input?

[Jake]

PRACTICE.

I'm sure you expected that response, but it's the best answer. 21 months is not a long time to have been playing an instrument. I played mallet percussion (xylophone/marimba) for 4 years in H.S., and I didn't have a respectable sight reading ability for melody until I was a senior. I could memorize any piece of music quickly, and could sight-read most purely rhythmic music, but I couldn't sight read mallet music real-time. It just took some practice, and I'm certainly no prodigy.

If you can memorize music and play the instrument at a college level, then you just need to pratice sight-reading. If you can hum the frequency corresponding to the note, you can walk into any guitar/piano store, pickup a book of arrangements, and try humming it to yourself.

19 is also not an age to get too worked up about what you want to do with the rest of your life. Follow your passion, investigate what is necessary to be successful, and choose to do it.

Are there any professional musicians on the forum can give a more specific response?

[Pianoman83]

First of all don't get discouraged. Most musicians going into college have at least 3-5 years experience playing music (with many that have close to a decade) through combinations of private lessons and ensembles (school related and otherwise). I've been in situations where I've had to compete for spots where my competition had nearly twenty years of experience despite being the same age as myself. The simple fact is that this business is tough. There will always be a player who has more chops, better intonation, and sight-reading skills.

So what are you to do?

Well first, stop comparing yourself to other players and focus on what you want to accomplish and how you will get there. If you let other people be your ruling factor, you will never develop a voice of your own as a musician. Look at Roark. He couldn't have gotten anywhere with his career if he was always comparing himself to other architects.

Second, realize that being a musician is a huge commitment of time that will rule over everything else in your life. If you're looking to have fun and party a lot and maybe hold down a job part time while going to school, you will quickly find yourself overwhelmed at the amount of practice time you need verses what you actually have. Outside of your peers in class, you realistically cannot have any sort of a social life. I would also advise against a job that requires more than a 15 hour per week commitment unless your financial situation dictates otherwise. If you must work, a campus job is the best option in this case, as they must work around your schedule.

Finally, realize that you have some work to get you to the level where you can handle being in a college jazz ensemble. To be frank, if you can't follow a walking bass line from sight, you're not ready to be in a college level jazz band.

To help with a walking bass line, buy yourself a copy of the Real Book in C. If you've listened to a lot of jazz, you'll recognize many of the charts as standards. Just practice reading through a couple of charts each practice session. Since the bass lines aren't written out in most cases, this will teach you to read by following chord changes.

Now as far as sight reading written material, counting is everything. If you have to make a choice between getting the right note and the right rhythm, go for the rhythm. By the time you find your right notes, the rest of the group is somewhere else and you're lost.

I would also recommend studying music theory and analyze the playing of bassists you like. If you feel comfortable with it, you should transcribe their solo's as well as this can be helpful in understanding what they are doing and has the added bonus of improving your music reading ability. It would also serve you well to find a drummer and a pianist/guitarist to read through charts. That way you can get comfortable working in a rhythm section and take what you learn back to your ensemble. Plus, if your group becomes good enough, you can play side gigs for money.

If that seems daunting, you might want to concentrate on your gen-eds first while becoming more sure of yourself as a musician. This is a lifelong journey so be sure to enjoy it. Although you will be quite busy for the next five-seven years (as if any music major gets out in four ha!) you should as much as possible stay connected to that which made you want to become a musician. If nothing else I hope the following video helps takes the edge off of everything.

[Myself]

I only want to be a musician.

You answered your own question.

[Greebo]

I started out in college as a music major. I started musical training at age 5 or 6 on piano and voice. I started playing brass in 3rd grade. I was offered a full scholarship to Oberlin, on tuba, turned it down, and went to WVU instead in voice. Problem was, I had no passion for music anymore - not sure I ever had a huge passion for it - I was steered into it by my folks, and I was good at it, so I did it. I play in a bell choir now, just to keep my finger in music a little.

So you're up against people like me, but who DO have a passion for it.

So, as a former future musician, let me just tell you - there is only one thing you can do - study and practice, and since you're "behind" you need to do it more than anyone else.

Your drive, your determination, and your focus to the exclusion of all else are what you will need to be a professional musician. Can you? Absolutely - you're starting late, but you've got every possibility. Just remember - don't compare yourself to people who came into school playing like I played - compare yourself to people who have played as long as you have. That's 6th graders, right now.

[KendallJ]

My alternatives are Accounting and Psychology, but even then, those are bearable, not enjoyable. I only want to be a musician.

Any input?

Everyone has given you some good advice if you choose to pursue. Maybe I'll offer a different approach. "I only want to be a musician." is a very strong statement. Have you considered what sorts of career conditions will make this a tough choice, and are you sure you'd still find such a career more enjoyable than another? In other words, if you choose to be a musician, and you find that you make a small living based upon your skills, is that ok?

For instance, an option if you don't perform is to teach. Would you find teaching music more enjoyable than accounting and psychology? Have you thought about what type of enjoyment you derive from music, and is it the type that makes for a lasting multi-decade commitment to the craft? Some people really enjoy something, but in reality they enjoy it the way one would as a hobby, and once they experience the actual work and effort it takes to make a go of it, they realize it's not quite as enjoyable, or not the same sort of enjoyment.

I know some professional musicians. My sister is one. I won't say her life has been easy, and there are times, that I think she knows she'd have done better in some other field, and is not sure the love of the music was worth making it a career. I also know many professionals (i.e. accountants, and psychologists) who have a side gig in a band, and love it.

[Pete Caya]

Thanks for the help everyone, I appreciate it. I was pretty upset when I wrote this and since writing have rethought my priorities. I don't think I can make it as a musician, period. I love it, but I lack the brilliance in it that I would need to really succeed to become a professional musician/composer. In effect I would be a Peter Keating, not a Howard Roark.

With that in mind I have decided that tonight I am going to assess my strengths and skills and make a decision on what career I want to go into based on it's compensation and how much I would like it.

Thanks everyone, I needed an objectivist perspective on this.

[Benpercent]

I love it, but I lack the brilliance in it that I would need to really succeed to become a professional musician/composer.

Ah, here's another problem. You're assuming that brilliance is intrinsic, that one is either born with it or not. This premise is very self-defeating and must be fixed otherwise you will view all the fields you come across in the same way. Rand commented on this (sorry, but I've forgotten where), saying that people who hold this premise, when they fail, do not ask "What do I need to learn?" but rather state "I'm just not made for this."

Here is a quote, that is within circulation on the homepage, that will suffice:

Men give me credit for some genius. All the genius I have lies in this; when I have a subject in hand, I study it profoundly. Day and night it is before me. My mind becomes pervaded with it. Then the effort that I have made is what people are pleased to call the fruit of genius. It is the fruit of labor and thought.

[Pete Caya]

The thing is that in order to have a chance of getting to where I want, I would have to drop out of college, take the rest of the year off, and join the Player's School of Music next year. Anticipating a music career at St.Bonaventure University is like going into a community college and expecting to become president. Also, I don't think I have the drive to make music any more than a hobby for myself, but right now I'm trying to figure out if I am trying to tell that to you or myself.

Either way, I have until the end of the semester to make a decision. I think I may take a double major in Finance and Accounting and from there become an entrepreneur.

Edited September 4, 2008 by Pete Caya

[JASKN]

Either way, I have until the end of the semester to make a decision. I think I may take a double major in Finance and Accounting and from there become an entrepreneur.

Not to trivialize your current thoughts, but, you actually have forever to decide!

Here's the way I see it: you have a few options in front of you right now. One of them, you know you like to do, but you have some (legitimate or not) reservations about it. For sure, you are just uncertain about where you might take everything. You could think, "Wow, I have to decide before time is up to change around my classes for this coming semester!" But in reality, you might not know by then. So, like you must, you'll take what you've decided by then, and make the best next decision you can.

The thing to remember is that there is no single "right" way to figure out what kind of work you want to do. You should keep trying, and if you get stuck for a bit, think, "Well, I don't know, but I'll keep at it until I'm happy with myself, and what I've decided." And there's no perfect, universal time frame that works for everyone with that. Consider yourself a success when you've landed on some work that you are completely happy with.

[tito]

19 is also not an age to get too worked up about what you want to do with the rest of your life. Follow your passion, investigate what is necessary to be successful, and choose to do it.

Try telling them that in the UK - you choose your school subjects at 15. At 16 you choose your college subjects. By 17 your application to university needs to have been submitted.