Re: I need motivation!!


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TubeNet BBS ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by Bill on July 02, 2001 at 02:03:03:

In Reply to: I need motivation!! posted by Burned out on June 23, 2001 at 20:52:19:

I am a professional tuba player who teaches elementary school (not band, but regular 6-hour classroom teaching). I used to be a high school, then a junior high school (middle school) band director. I realized thinking music, music, music all the time was burning me out and I actually hated to see my tubas.

Because of a family emergency (my dad became very sick and I had to take care of him for over a year) I had to relocate from a different part of the world to stay with my dad until my mom retired so she could take care of him. (I did this with my own wife and two adolescent daughters! I don't recommend this for anyone unless they're absolutely certain their marriage is rock solid!) Because of what I was doing with my dad I had to take a night job and I worked for almost six months as a security guard for a fruit packing house, while doing limited professional and church playing on the weekends. Eventually, I realized through that life that I worked with professional musicians on weekends and kids who could care less during the week. Something had to go when I went back to teaching and it was music education.

Now I have multiple degrees in tuba performance and both professional and personal experiences nobody can top! I do records when I can, play for weddings, orchestras, and fill in wherever they can use a tuba player who's willing to do anything (so long as it's family oriented.)

You see, one thing a lot of young musicians don't realize is that if you spend your time studying and working with music, it can't be your hobby, no matter how much you think you like it!

My suggestion to you is to find a hobby that music has very little to do with. Experiment with gourmet cooking, rebuild your 1975 AMC Pacer, ride a bicycle up to the mountains, write a mystery novel, donate some time to a charity, or go to the beach and watch pretty girls (if you're not married, my wife told me). Expand your life to include things which you can't get out of music. Don't listen to music in the car after a gig! And I personally hate talkradio so I listen to Old Time Radio programs. My love of Old Time Radio developed into a well-founded love of popular history and now I also enjoy writing about different fads of the past professionally (though I think it's still a hobby; I don't have to do it!) This sometimes involves music, even tuba playing (though not my own), but it comes at it from such a different angle that it's hard to burn out from it.

My best wishes and prayers go with you that you make the right decision for your life. Maybe you're not cut out to be a musician. Maybe you just need a long vacation to a tropical island (if you've got the time and the bucks!) Mostly, don't worry about what you're going through. We've all been there!


Bill



Follow Ups: