Posted by Rick Denney on July 03, 2002 at 10:14:10:
In Reply to: Music as a career? posted by James on July 02, 2002 at 22:30:50:
This advice applies to any pursuit:
1. Be flexible. If you want to be a professional musician, you must live where there's lots of paid live music. You'd be surprised how rarely this advice is taken. The more unwilling you are to move, the fewer choices you will have in what sort of work you do.
2. Be versatile. For a musician, that means playing in as many styles as possible, and in as many different ensembles as possible. The more specialized you are, the closer to world-class you have to be to survive.
3. Be committed. A professional musician has to be able to read nearly anything at sight, and has to enjoy practicing enough to keep the skills sharp. If you aren't willing to do what it takes to develop those skills, choose something else to do.
I've been paid to play on a few occasions, but I'm not a pro. I enjoy being an amateur, because it allows me to approach music on my own terms. Pros rarely get that privelege. Most pros take whatever gigs they can to pay the bills, even those gigs they don't enjoy. I can do as much or as little as I want (as long as it doesn't interfere with my day job, of course).
There's another truth: Most day jobs pay better than music, for the same amount of education, commitment, and willingness to endure stress. If you don't want to live with that (and most don't, so you'd be in good company), then look for a different direction.
Rick "who could use the same description in response to budding engineers" Denney