Leaving My Job, to focus on guitar Options

[AdamB]

Hi,

So after a long time of talking about it, and planning for it, I'm leaving my job behind for a couple of years to focus on playing the guitar.

I've been a member here (mainly lurking in the darkness) for a long time, so I thought I'd post about what I'm up to, as I haven't yet spoken here much.

I have until now worked as an audio programmer in the video game industry, but decided to take some time out to concentrate on my own games projects and, most importantly, playing the guitar.

I still have some games work to finish on my own projects (I intend to release some of my own games, too! - you can read about my latest game project here), but I'm generally going to be spending around 10 hours a day, 5 days a week playing guitar for a good portion of the 2 years I have planned for. Well, if my mental state and/or hands don't give out! It's mainly an experiment to see 1) whether I can handle it over a long period of time, and 2) if it has any positive impact on my skills as a musician.

I have a blog at www.6stringsand16bits.com if you'd like to follow my activities. It's a bit bare at the moment, but I intend to fill the currently empty pages with posts about my video game and guitar related goings-on.

Any thoughts/ideas/comments/suggestions are welcomed!

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This post has been edited by AdamB: Feb 12 2015, 04:21 PM

[Spock]

That's a GREAT idea if you are able to do that. I would love to have that opportunity as my guitar playing is down to only a couple of hours on weekends now - which SUCKS!!!

There is just not enough time in the day for everything I want to accomplish, and being a really good guitarist is one of those things.


Anyway - your post reminded me of this article I read this week from The Onion...


Health Experts Recommend Standing Up At Desk, Leaving Office, Never Coming Back





ROCHESTER, MN—In an effort to help working individuals improve their fitness and well-being, experts at the Mayo Clinic issued a new set of health guidelines Thursday recommending that Americans stand up at their desk, leave their office, and never return.

“Many Americans spend a minimum of eight hours per day sitting in an office, but we observed significant physical and mental health benefits in subjects after just one instance of standing up, walking out the door, and never coming back to their place of work again,” said researcher Claudine Sparks, who explained that those who implemented the practice in their lives reported an improvement in mood and reduced stress that lasted for the remainder of the day, and which appeared to persist even into subsequent weeks.

“We encourage Americans to experiment with stretching their legs by strolling across their office and leaving all their responsibilities behind forever just one time to see how much better they feel. People tend to become more productive, motivated, and happy almost immediately. We found that you can also really get the blood flowing by pairing this activity with hurling your staff ID across the parking lot.” Sparks added that Americans could maximize positive effects by using their lunch break to walk until nothing looks familiar anymore and your old life is a distant memory.

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This post has been edited by Spock: Feb 12 2015, 04:49 PM

[Chris S.]

I think you have to follow you're heart, man!

You only get one life to live - and when you look back at it years from now you don't want to have to ask yourself "what if?".

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This post has been edited by Chris S.: Feb 12 2015, 04:53 PM

[Mertay]

Congrats! I like play flash based games on sites like armorgames and kongregate

As for guitar, starts strady. Directly jumping in an intense program can damage your hands, happened to a friend of mine whos a guitar teacher in a university.

To me guitar playing is more about knowing to make music anyway (although I like shred) so leaning theory soundbased (I do recommend piano too to understand harmony) can be a nice primary goal besides exercises. Finally, create a program as jumping into everything at once always fails.

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[PosterBoy]

Unless you have some accountability, specific goals and a solid GIT , Berklee like curriculum. I would say you are going to waste 2 years of your life and have very little to show for it.

Talking from experience of having a period of 15 months unemployed but with plenty of savings, I could have been so productive and recorded an album etc but I didn't even though I had every intention of doing so.

Maybe it's just me, but I think you'd have to be unusually focused and disciplined person to come away from this with results that would show that 2 years full time study had been done

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[Hajduk]

Congrats takes a lot of courage to chase what you love. Good luck

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[Kristofer Dahl]

When people follow their hearts I feel good about humanity. Congratulations, I am looking forward to following your journey!

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[Ben Higgins]

It's mainly an experiment to see 1) whether I can handle it over a long period of time, and 2) if it has any positive impact on my skills as a musician.

Hi Adam, it takes brass ones to make a change like that but from my perspective, with many years guitar playing and years of different jobs I would say:

Don't be hasty to throw away consistent employment. Money will solve more of your life's woes than guitar playing ever will.

Also, I could answer your questions now without needing to wait 2 years for the results.

1) No. Even the greats who practise for many hours a day had times where they didn't practice that much. I think the stories of certain players practising 8+ hours a day have to be taken with a pinch of salt and understood in context. They may have gone through periods of time where they may have spent that long on playing but I bet you it wasn't everyday, constantly for many years. They also may have spent much of that time composing it just jamming along to songs. It wouldn't have been constant 'work'. Also, setting yourself such a heft demand is more like an albatross around your neck. Guitar should be fun. The more you enjoy it, the more inspired you are to go to it the next day. With what you're proposing you'll burn right out, I guarantee it.
2) Yes. Of course it could. But then any practise can and should improve your skills as a musician.

If those 2 reasons are the only reasons for doing it I would say that such a choice is very questionable. I would expect someone to have a more concrete purpose for doing it, like 'I want to go to Berklee' or something... doing it just to find out if it's worth it seems a bit whimsical. BUT just to confuse things again they do say that the time to take risks is when you're young so by all means, read and think about what I said and then ignore it !

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[AdamB]

Thanks for the feedback guys,

Anyway - your post reminded me of this article I read this week from The Onion...

Ha, yea. I do feel like working in an office environment isn't the most healthy way to spend the bulk of your life. However, the places I've worked have generally taken good care of their staff. And working in an open plan office can be quite nice often times, you feel like there's a lot of people around and can start up conversations easily. I think at first I'll like being on my own time, but I expect after a lot of being alone practicing I'll probably start to miss the office thing. I don't think it'll be enough to stop me in my plans, I'll probably have to arrange regular meet-ups with friends and such to overcome this, though.

As for guitar, starts strady. Directly jumping in an intense program can damage your hands, happened to a friend of mine whos a guitar teacher in a university.

I am worried about my hands a little. I currently do 4->5 hours, but have gone up to around 8 hours in the past for short periods. I have on occasion had some trouble with pain in my fretting hand wrist, so I'm doing a lot of stretching and warming up at the beginning of my sessions. I think I should get used to playing more hours quite quickly though, as I already play for extended periods of time. Also I'll have weekends to recover, and will reign back my practice if I start to have problems.

Unless you have some accountability, specific goals and a solid GIT , Berklee like curriculum. I would say you are going to waste 2 years of your life and have very little to show for it.

Fair point, and it may well be the case! Only time will tell, I suppose. However, I feel it's something I need to explore, and now is the time to do it. I have yet to plan exactly what I'm going to be up to, though I do intend to plan it. I have a rough idea that I'm going to do say 5 hours of technique work in the morning, followed by another 5 hours divided up between sheet reading, singing-what-I-play/ear training, rhythm/groove practice, improv, writing and just jamming about. I also intend to make a good list of all the things I want to improve at - lists of scales I want to know, songs/licks/solos I want to know, etc. I will try my best to plan this stuff and be productive.

One idea I have is to set challenges. So, like a 'how much can I improve at sheet reading' within a set period of time - say 2 months or something, giving over the bulk of my practice time to it during that period. That way it'll sort of keep it interesting for myself (I can't sheet read well at all currently, and I've always wanted to be able to read sheets down), and give me focus on something for a set quantity of time. And it'd be interesting if nothing else to see how quickly one can improve when focused like that.

I'm also quite resourceful on my own - I'm largely self taught thus far. I'm also a self-taught programmer. I find I naturally spend a great deal of time and effort learning things without needing an institution or teacher to show me direction. Indeed, the times in my life when I have been in school/college/university, I found having to be in lectures etc. was more of a hindrance than a help to me, as I am a practical person - that is to say that I only really learn by 'doing'. I understand not everyone is like that, but I am. I also feel that with music, the limiting factor isn't some knowledge I could be told by a teacher at this point - I've a lot of areas I really need to vastly improve on, but there's very little technique wise or theory wise I either don't know or can't find out with google - I think now it's simply putting in the time to really get to know the instrument. There's also all the videos on GMC!

I think you have to follow you're heart, man!

Congrats smile.gif takes a lot of courage to chase what you love. Good luck

When people follow their hearts I feel good about humanity. wub.gif Congratulations, I am looking forward to following your journey!

Haha, thanks guys. I think whether it works out good or bad, it's at least going to be interesting! That's what I think life's really about, doing things that are interesting.

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[AdamB]

Also, I could answer your questions now without needing to wait 2 years for the results.

1) No. Even the greats who practise for many hours a day had times where they didn't practice that much. I think the stories of certain players practising 8+ hours a day have to be taken with a pinch of salt and understood in context. They may have gone through periods of time where they may have spent that long on playing but I bet you it wasn't everyday, constantly for many years. They also may have spent much of that time composing it just jamming along to songs. It wouldn't have been constant 'work'. Also, setting yourself such a heft demand is more like an albatross around your neck. Guitar should be fun. The more you enjoy it, the more inspired you are to go to it the next day. With what you're proposing you'll burn right out, I guarantee it.
2) Yes. Of course it could. But then any practise can and should improve your skills as a musician.

Thanks for the input, you're a great player and I appreciate it.

Yea I think what you say is probably the reality of it. I have thought about that, but think it'd still make an interesting experiment regardless, both for myself and anyone reading my blog about my work. I used to do up to around 8 hours when I was in uni, skipping lectures to play guitar. I enjoyed that but I don't think I was focused or consistent enough back then to get the most out of it, but I did make some big gains in my playing. As for the work thing, I can always find freelancing opportunities if I need to, so I think to an extent I can dip in and out of work as I choose to. And I can always make work for myself, making games and the like.

If those 2 reasons are the only reasons for doing it I would say that such a choice is very questionable. I would expect someone to have a more concrete purpose for doing it, like 'I want to go to Berklee' or something...

Well I guess that's a circular argument. Philosophically, is there ever a concrete reason for doing anything? I think all you can do is what you feel you need to at any given moment and be glad at the end of it that you took control of your own life.

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[klasaine]

Unless you have some accountability, specific goals and a solid GIT , Berklee like curriculum. I would say you are going to waste 2 years of your life and have very little to show for it.

Totally depends on the person.
Even if you don't attain your 'goal', you may have one of the most introspective and illuminating periods of your life. Having something to show for it can be as simple as less stress, a relaxed mind and possibly realizing that maybe music full time is not actually what you want to do or can attain(?). That's a lot.
I hate schedules. Figuring out how to become a musician was paramount for me in my late teens/early twenties. But that's just me.

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[Ben Higgins]

Thanks for the input, you're a great player and I appreciate it.

Yea I think what you say is probably the reality of it. I have thought about that, but think it'd still make an interesting experiment regardless, both for myself and anyone reading my blog about my work. I used to do up to around 8 hours when I was in uni, skipping lectures to play guitar. I enjoyed that but I don't think I was focused or consistent enough back then to get the most out of it, but I did make some big gains in my playing. As for the work thing, I can always find freelancing opportunities if I need to, so I think to an extent I can dip in and out of work as I choose to. And I can always make work for myself, making games and the like.



Well I guess that's a circular argument. Philosophically, is there ever a concrete reason for doing anything? I think all you can do is what you feel you need to at any given moment and be glad at the end of it that you took control of your own life.

You've clearly thought long and hard about it and made a rational decision so all the best to you, man As you said at the end, is there ever a reason that's better than another ? One man's reason could be another man's folly and so on... if the reason's good enough for you then it's good enough.

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[Todd Simpson]

Congrats! Just in practical terms though, have you saved up a bunch of money to live on? Just living costs a lot these days so having money for food, strings, rent, etc. Is pretty important. It's why most folks don't just up and quit their jobs. Are you going to be ok financially? Also, if you are using whatever savings you have, do you have any plan to generate income during this time? If not, when you run out of money, you will be in a bit of pickle ya know?

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[klasaine]

Ya know, it's been said many times ... If you don't try you'll forever regret NOT trying.
And ... if you have a plan to fall back on - you will.

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[Kristofer Dahl]

I think it's good you get balanced feedback here, big decisions should be thought of thoroughly and [maybe more importantly] felt for a long time, before action is taken.

However I feel I must share my opinion about the GIT / Berklee thing.

These schools are absolutely amazing for getting in the right context / connections. However, they can also be seen as extremely expensive clone factories.

Sure they can help you on the way, but if you have what it takes to build on the connections you have made there, then there is nothing preventing you from doing it where you are now (especially with the interwebz)

And if you do drop your steady income, burn all your savings (+ maybe take additional loans) to finance two years of Berklee...well even if you do make it in the music biz after that, you'll have a hard time recovering. Ouch!

If you have a burning desire to do something else, and you have thought a lot about it - then that desire will be your fuel to get you where you want. And that desire cannot be purchased.

Ya know, it's been said many times ... If you don't try you'll forever regret NOT trying.
And ... if you have a plan to fall back on - you will.

Amen Ken!

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[Todd Simpson]

Well said!! I know it's a drag trying to plan out all the "money things" and such. Especially when considering really expensive music schools that more often than not graduate you with wads of debt and very little chance of earning an income.

As KRIS said, you really can do it via the interwebs. It's important to make a plan and head towards being and economically viable entity, no matter what that entails. In short, you gotta eat, you gotta buy strings. So unless you win the lottery or have parents/sugar gal etc. to pay your way, life gets really expensive really quick. I'm all for following your dreams. But I"m also all for being a pragmatist.

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[klasaine]

I will add that the Berklee College of Music is no clone factory. It is one of the (if not THE) most unique music schools out there. Besides the quality of the education, the potential connections you make there can - if you take advantage of them - serve you the rest of your life.
*Grammy winners this year that attended Berklee College of Music - 18.

IMO the 'clones' come out of the fact that we all have essentially free and easy access to the exact same material. But you can't blame the info - that's passive. The recipient decides what he or she will do with it ...

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This post has been edited by klasaine: Feb 13 2015, 11:41 PM

[Kristofer Dahl]

IMO the 'clones' come out of the fact that we all have essentially free and easy access to the exact same material. But you can't blame the info - that's passive. The recipient decides what he or she will do with it ...

I guess you could blame the curriculum for how and which information is presented?

I can't really comment on details though, all the info I have about these schools are second hand. I know there is a lot of amazing teaching and chemistry going on there.

I also know for sure many people come to these schools with a big misconception about what the schools can accomplish for them. And just a few months could turn into a very expensive mistake.

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[klasaine]

I guess you could blame the curriculum for how and which information is presented?

Curricula is rarely ever to blame. Especially when there's a lot of it.
It's what the student absorbs and then what they choose to do with it.
Here's a list of some Berklee alumni ... http://www.ranker.com/list/famous-berklee-...eference?page=2
Pretty diverse list of folks.

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[Kristofer Dahl]

Yes, but that list is nothing compared to the one listing famous people who did not go there.

The fact that such a list is needed is alarming to me. Though I can of course understand why there is an interest.

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This post has been edited by Kristofer Dahl: Feb 13 2015, 11:56 PM